No Joy in Muleville

There is no joy in Muleville; the mighty Mules' winning streak has struck out. River Road dealt a disappointing blow Friday night beating the Mules in the last two minutes of the game. Final score: 25-21.

We missed the kick-off; the ticket line was five people deep and about sixty feet long with a grand total of two ticket windows-kind of like Wal-Mart during rush hour. River Road scored first and ended the first quarter 6-0. The second quarter was no better, in fact worse, since River Road scored again. The half ends with a replay due to a penalty called on the defensive team, River Road, since a time period, or a game, for that matter, can't end on a defensive penalty. The Mules throw a Hail Mary pass that gets intercepted, which could have made things really bad, but thank goodness, the Mules stop the perpetrator, and the half ends 12-0, a situation we have not seen in many a game. Third quarter begins with hope even though the Mules throw an interception that should have been a touchdown. River Road can't make their first down and when they punt, Larry Richardson runs it back 90 yards to score, which was very exciting, and the Mules are back in the game-12-7. Then later we throw another interception but also make an interception  and score early in the 4th quarter. The score is now 12-14 and we are ahead. We even make another touchdown but it is called back on an illegal substitution. But another touchdown is made after River Road is hit with a penalty on a horsecollar tackle and we score, so it is now 12-21, our lead.

So at this point things are looking pretty good, right? Wrong. Fickle momentum leaves our good graces and River Road scores with 3:20 on the clock. It is now 18-21, and we could still win, until we couldn't handle River Road's onside kick, and River Road got the ball back, and yes, they passed for the cementing touchdown, and we are behind 25-21. As I recall, we don't have a good record with onside kicks. We finally got the ball back with barely enough time to create a miracle, but couldn't make a first down and lost the ball; therefore the game was all over with 58.6 left on the clock.

The Mules may have lost the game, but they still built an historic 25-1 winning streak that was great fun for all of us and an experience the players will never forget. Shoot, it is an experience none of us will forget.

Way to be, Mules. We are all proud of you.