Mules 54 (or 53)-River Road 7

The Mules ventured   to Amarillo to play River Road Friday night.  Coming off the big win against Littlefield last week and expecting River Road to be a probable win could have spelled disaster for the Mules, who needed to win this one to be assured of the district title; instead they kept their heads in the game and won big, 54-7, and gave lots of back-up players the chance to see some action.

There was no play clock, the scoreboard decided to act up, the field was wet, therefore  the ball wet, and it was cold. Thank goodness there was no wind. The scoreboard acting up is probably why there is some disagreement over the score. When it finally was turned back on and ran for the remainder of the game, it showed 53 for the Mules. The Clovis News Journal said 54; the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal said 53. My calculator says 54. Considering River Road definitely had 7, I think it is safe to say the Mules won and go on.

The first quarter was all Muleshoe, 20-0. Interestingly enough, the second quarter saw River Road make their only score  of the night  on an overload play with a student body sweep. Whoa! Listen to me try to use all that technical football jargon! They took the Mules by surprise with that one, and tried a few other fancy plays, but we made adjustments and stopped them. So the second quarter the score was 20-7, Muleshoe.

The third quarter saw quarterback Beau Avila start things off on the Mules first possession and then he handed things over to Caleb Wood, who gained lots of good experience, playing the rest of the game. Several other players, some who had just been moved up from JV, also saw lots of good playing time during the second half.

The Mules went on to score 21 points the third quarter and 13 points the fourth quarter, only missed two PAT attempts, and had a good night overall. We had 581 total yards to River Road’s 222. It was Senior Night at River Road, not a pleasant game for the seniors, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Next week is the last district game against Childress here. The regular season is winding down and the playoffs will be gearing up. Come for the long-standing traditional turkey and dressing pre-game meal and hunker down for a good game.

Mule Mania is alive and well!