Tonight was Senior Night for the Mules, and their going-away present was the district trophy, presented to them by Supt. Gene Sheets after the game. They were already district champs; the win tonight merely the icing on the cake.
The game started out with a bang in our favor with a 65-yard return by Saul Elizalde and three plays later QB Caleb Wood passes back to him for a touchdown. With 10:42 on the clock the score is already Muleshoe 7, Childress 0. After Childress can’t make their first down, Wood’s first pass on the next possession ends up being intercepted, but we get it right back after Childress tries and fails on a faked punt. Isaac Baca then makes one of his signature runs, barreling through the line and carrying all his tacklers with him, setting up the touchdown run by Wood. So now the score is 14-0. Once again Childress can’t make a first down and punts, only to have Ryan Deleon bumble the catch, which puts the next play on the 3-yard line, way too close to the Mules’ end zone, as it turns out, because Wood then falls there, which of course, gives Childress a safety. The score is now 14-2. Childress manages to almost make a TD, but Adelido Godinez ruins the play for them and the first quarter is over.
The second quarter starts with the Mules not making a first down and having to punt, but then holding Childress and making them punt, and the Mules block it and get to go on to score again pretty quickly. Godinez takes it in and Elizalde kicks the PAT, making the score 21-2. After Childress makes one first down they still have to give up the ball again, and Ryan Deleon makes an 80-yard run and Elizalde kicks again to make the score 28-2. Childress has to give up the ball again, not making a first down, and we try a little reverse hand-off after catching the punt and bauble it. The Mules make up for it on the next play making our own first down, but alas, can’t turn it into a TD, and the half ends with the score 28-2.
Childress receives to begin the third quarter and gives a determined effort when they make their 4th down and 1/2 yard to go, but then give up the ball on the next series when it is 4th and 13 to go and have to punt. This next series gives the Mules a little trouble, but at least it does use up some of the clock, and considering it is getting a bit cold by now, suited me just fine. After that when Childress gets the ball back, they actually get three first downs in a row and turn it into a TD but miss the point-after, so the score is 28-8, which gives the game a slightly different flavor, especially since the Mules now seem a little flat. However, on the next series Wood fires them up a bit with a nice 60-yard run for a touchdown, which is, sadly, called back for a holding penalty against the Mules.
So the fourth quarter starts with the same score, 28-8, and we can’t get anything going. But Childress does, and they manage to score and make the extra point, and the score is now 28-15. It could be a totally different ball game now. So Isaac Baca does another one of his carry-everyone-with-him plays and gets things going again by setting things up for Ray Martinez to score, but that one, too, is called back for Mules holding. They don’t let that stop them, however, and a few plays later Isaac Baca does score, the PAT is good, and it is now 35-15. That feels a little better. Childress can’t do anything with their next possession, and Elizalde and Juan Guerrero turn our next series into another touchdown and point-after, and the score is 42-15. Childress has one more possession and we get the ball with 1:53 on the clock. By the time the clock is down to 45 seconds, it is allowed to run out, and the game is over. Score: 42-15, Muleshoe once again victorious.
Muleshoe gets a bye and will play the winner of the Godley-Clyde game next Friday. I was told the decision has already been made to play the game in Sweetwater, so now it is scouting time for the coaches and recuperation and rest time for the team until they find out who their opponent will be.
Check in next Friday, and I should be able to give you more details on the playoff game. In the meantime, congratulations to the Mules for another fun regular season, and good luck in the playoffs.
Mule Mania strikes again!
