Mules 40, Shallowater 56

I have put off writing about this first game of the season because it was not a happy game. It was the night of the blue moon, and something happened that, of late, only happens about once in a blue moon; Muleshoe lost a football game. Shallowater owned the night, Shallowater made two quick touchdowns right off the bat. We score toward the end of the first quarter, but they answer with two more touchdowns. We manage another, but can’t manage one more right before the half, which hurts, and the score is 28-12 Shallowater at the half. And it just goes downhill from there. The Mules, to their credit, didn’t give up, and they could have. It was one of those game where it seemed the opponent scored every time they had the ball. We had moments of inspiration followed by incomplete passes and one interception and were able to put 40 points on the board, but that wasn’t enough. From my perspective, for whatever that’s worth, which I realize is nothing,  we were playing a 3-A team with more depth on the bench, our quarterback was gaining lots of varsity experience, our tackling was not quite up to par, the team perhaps let the pressure of pre-season expectations psych them out, our coaches have their work cut out for them, and we will do better in the next game. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Count this as one of those character-building experiences, learn from it, and move on. Next week Portales comes to town. Be there. The Mules need that 12th Man in the stands.