By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
The sting of making mistakes, not finishing, not answering and failure to execute has made it a long month for Mullen football.
After a 2-0 start, the Mustangs have dropped four games in a row, the latest a 43-3 spanking at the hands of always good, always rough-and-tumble Columbine on a chilly Friday night. The undefeated Rebels came into Brother Bernard Kinneavy Field at De La Salle Stadium and erupted for 21 points in the third quarter in a variety of ways to take an opening-round game in the Class 5A Metro West League.
Mullen dropped to 2-4, 0-1; Columbine is 6-1, 1-0.
The regular woes haunting the Mustangs continued, notably not being able to respond.
“We talked at halftime about it, not finishing the whole game,” Mustangs head coach Stanley Richardson said. “(The Rebels) came out (in the third quarter) and did what they needed to do.
They drove the ball down the field. We didn’t respond and our guys have to respond.”
The Mustangs headed into their locker room at half and seemed to be in good shape. Despite botching a chance to get within a touchdown, they settled for a 42-yard field goal by the reliable Wilson Yee and trailed 14-3.
Most important, the Mustangs defense, despite being hit for a 39-yard scoring run on Columbine’s second snap from scrimmage and allowing another scoring drive 1:15 before half, stood toe-to-toe with the Columbine rugged line and fared well. Aidan Keanaaina and Trevor Kirking were at the front of the charge.
And offensively, Mullen also showed some life across its front.
However, it all unraveled in the third quarter, and quickly.
In a span of 5:28, the Mustangs gave up a 7-yard TD on the ground; blocked a punt four snaps later and recovered in the end zone for a second TD; recorded a safety three plays later; and capped it with a five-play, 41-yard drive for a decisive TD.
The Rebels added the mercy rule (a running clock with a 40-point difference) in the fourth quarter to cap a 29-point half.
Mullen problems, and you’ve read about these before, included three turnovers, two by interception; penalties at key times; a passing game that missed open receivers, poor protection and failure to unload the ball; and a running game that was forced to go side-to-side instead of straight ahead.
“It was just a snowball effect,” Richardson said.
Keanaaina, particularly active for three quarters, said what hurt were mistakes involving “the special-teams TD and the safety … it just wasn’t a good second half.”
Kirking pointed to the defense being taxed, as “we were on the field a lot,” a usual problem for Columbine foes against its ground-oriented attack. “But we can’t expect everybody to be out there that long. We don’t have the kids to rotate.” he said.
It was a particularly frustrating loss, Richardson added, because several flashes of sound play “shows what kind of team we potentially have. We have to play for four quarters, the whole game.”
It won’t get any easier. In Week 7, the Mustangs will host Ralston Valley, another undefeated team in the league.
Keanaaina said he liked the physical play of the game and was proud of his teammates for stretches, “but something has to change.”
COLUMBINE 43, MULLEN 3
Columbine 7 7 21 8 -- 43
Mullen 3 0 0 0 -- 3
First quarter
Columbine – Adam Harrington 39 run (Adam Tasei kick), 10:27.
Mullen -- FG Wilson Yee 42, 1:09.
Second quarter
Columbine – Braeden Hogan 10 pass from Jadon Holliday (Tasei kick), 1:15.
Third quarter
Columbine – Tanner Hollens 7 run (kick blocked), 5:52.
Columbine – Blocked punt recovered in end zone (Tasei kick), 4:08.
Columbine – Safety, recovered fumble in end zone, 3:08.
Columbine – Seth Cromwell 2 run (kick failed), 0:24.
Fourth quarter
Columbine – Harrington 1 run (Hollens run), 8:12.
STATISTICS
TEAMS
Columbine Mullen
Total plays 52 53
Total yards 363 111
Passing yards 52 115
Rushing yards 311 Minus-4
First downs 18 11
3rd-down eff. 5-of-7 71% 3-of-8 38%
4th-down eff. 0-1 0-0
Turnovers 0 3
Fumbles lost 0 1
Interceptions thrown 0 22
Penalties-yds. 4-36 8-89
MULLEN INDIVIDUALS
Rushing – Cears 17-38, 22 long; Smith 3-4, 8 long; Remington 8-minus-46, 1 long.
Passing – Remington 9-16 115 yards, 25 long, 2 interceptions..
Receiving – Perez 2-37, 22 long; Marcoux 2-27, 18 long; Brouillette 2-27, 25 long; Barden 1-16; Smith 1-9.
Tackles (T-A-S-TFL) – Heil 8-3-0-0; Margeson 8-0-0-0; Keanaaina 6-2-0-0; Kirking 4-2-1-1; Villaneauba 3-3-0-0; Martinez 1-1-0-0; Hoskins-Mitchell 1-1-0-0; Daffin 1-2-0-0; Difeo 1-1-0-0; Riley-Combs 0-1-0-0.
Kickoff returns – Cearns 3-14.0 avg., 21 long; Marcoux 2-12.0 avg., 12 long; Smith 2-11.0 avg., 13 long.
Kicking – Yee 1 FG.
Punting – Yee 3-29.0 avg. 44 long.