Cubs fall to Muleshoe in season opener

This past Friday marked an exciting moment for the community as the Brownfield Cubs would start their season off against the Muleshoe Mules. The energy was amongst the fans and in the stadium. It would not last long. In the first quarter, Muleshoe would score on a wide-receiver screen pass. Followed by a Brownfield fumble, with 4:32 left in the first quarter, the Mules would be faced with a 4&10. The Cubs would be in a man-defense look as I didn’t see a safety in the middle of the field. This would in turn be a costly mistake for the defense as the Mules QB would throw the ball deep to his receiver ending the play as a touchdown.

Making the lead 16-0 as Muleshoe elected to go for two on both points after attempts. It would not take long for the Mules to find themselves in scoring distance again, as the QB found himself scrambling out of the pocket and finding an open receiver in the endzone. Before the quarter would end, the Cubs would get a false start on third down essentially killing the drive. This would be followed by a short punt setting up Muleshoe with good field position. With the second quarter underway, one positive that I saw was that the defensive line for the Cubs played well when it came to the run as everything was blown up or stopped in the backfield.

A few plays later the Mules would score on a passing play, widening the score to 29-0. Brownfield would get the ball after kickoff and make some plays to move the ball down the field, a false start penalty would occur while the QB was motioning the receiver would back the team 5 yards. This would cause the Cubs to have to pass for the first down where the QB would end up rolling out from defensive pressure causing him to throw an interception. The Cubs would get the Mules in a position to get the ball back, whereas Muleshoe would draw the team offsides giving the Mules a new set of downs.

Sloppy tackling would not help the Cubs as Muleshoe would get the ball down to the one-yard line and score a rushing TD making the score 37-0. Another false start when motioning a receiver to move across the formation after the team just rushed for a first down would set them back again. The team would call an option play where the QB would not make the pitch to his running back therefore fumbling the ball and allowing the Mules to recover the ball. Again, the Mules would throw the ball deep against a man coverage look with no safety deep to help, making the score 44-0.

Overall weak offensive line play would hinder the Cubs, whether it was being unable to get the outside defensive end shoulder to seal a block for the running back on an outside zone run or pass protection not holding up. Brownfield would end up punting the ball away. The team’s woes would still continue on defense as weak arm tackles and a lack of wrapping the opposing players up would allow for the Mules to score a touchdown on a rushing play. The Cubs would block the extra point attempt making it 50-0.

When the QB found an open receiver in the middle of the field before the pass would be dropped. Another muffed pitch on an option play would put the ball on the ground. A penalty against Muleshoe would allow the drive to continue. Not long after the Cubs would break off a big run and get to the endzone for it to be called back on a holding penalty. Yet another promising drive would end up being a turnover on downs. By the third quarter, you could tell that the team was looking for something to build on. These are just some small, good things to feel good about and could carry over into next week.

The defense would get a turnover on downs and the coverage had two safeties back to prevent anything deep from getting overhead. Muleshoe punter would fumble the ball on their 15-yard line setting up good field position for the Cubs. Where they would get down to the 1-yard line and get Timmins is first receiving touchdown of the year. It would not take long for sparks to fly from both teams as tempers flared after a play and some players would get into it. This would lead to unsportsmanlike conduct on the Mules.

Eventually, the Mules would get the ball back and score on a screen pass with 3:57 left to go in the fourth quarter making the score 57-6. As the Cubs would try to finish the game on a high note, they would find Timmins on a deep ball, making a spectacular catch setting the team up to score. Brownfield coaching would call a play that would have Timmins on a slant route, where this was the QB’s 1^st read, where he didn’t like what he saw, rolled out, and threw the ball away to play another down. With the final seconds on the clock, the Cubs would elect to pass the ball, where the QB was under duress throwing the ball, leading to an endzone interception and would end up with the Muleshoe player taking it back 99 yards for a pick-six.