Mules 41, Levelland 20

It was a perfect night for football, chilly but comfortable, with only a slight breeze and a good crowd to watch the Mules beat the Lobos 41-20. The Mules kick off, and on the second play of the game when the Lobos made a run for the goal line, I was a bit concerned that this was not a good way to start a game against a larger, in this case 3A, team. But not to worry; the boys rose to the occasion and stopped the Lobos’ drive, got the ball back and with 6:35 on the clock, Junior Baca strikes first blood, followed by Nacho Elizalde’s point after,  and the score is 7-0. The Lobos answer on their next possession with a touchdown but the two-point conversion fails. Time: 4:59; score: 7-6. But with 4:15 on the clock, after quarterback Caleb Wood makes a good run, Joel Regalado takes it in for another touchdown, and with another good Elizalde kick, the score is now 14-6. Ray Martinez breaks up the Lobos’ next possession by intercepting a pass, which leads to a touchdown run by Austin Ross and another good kick, and the score stands at 21-6 with 1:46 left on the clock. The second quarter was pretty much all Mules and lots of flags. Ray Martinez runs in another TD with 9:18 on the clock, and the PAT makes the score 28-6. After Saul Sanchez recovers a fumble, Austin Ross makes a good run, and Ray Martinez catches, perhaps traps,  a pass that is deemed incomplete, followed by another incomplete pass, and we punt for the first time in the game. Several called and uncalled penalties later, Martinez intercepts another ball, Ross catches a pass, Baca scores, the kick is good, and the score is 35-6. When Levelland gets the ball, we commit pass interference, they get called for blocking, Chris Cage deflects a pass, which Ross recovers. The defense saved the day, and the first half ends with the score of 35-7, Muleshoe ahead. The third quarter begins with the Lobos kicking off and Martinez takes the ball in for the TD with 8:48 on the board. The attempted point-after kick hits the goal posts, so the score is now 41-6. The Lobos keep the ball for a while on this drive and make some yards. But the Mules put on a good goal-line stand and hold them at the 6- yard line when the quarter ends, and the score stays 41-6. All that changes, however, in the fourth quarter when we have to punt, and with the clock showing 8:44 they score but lose the extra point, and the score is now 41-12. We make a quarterback change to Austin Ross, who throws an interception. But we manage to hold them on the 10-yard line but then can’t move the ball ourselves, and they get the ball again until Lupe Campos makes an interception, and everything is going fine. Until out of nowhere the Lobos intercept and run 60 yards for a touchdown. Then they manage to make the two-point conversion good, and suddenly the score jumps to 41-20 with 1:27 left in the game. After the kick-off, we let the final time run off the clock, and the Mules are victorious 41-20.  Mule Mania is on the move next week, playing at Roosevelt. Go Mules!.