MyMullen

'Stangs rebound from 2-game slide

9/24/2021

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director

Brouillette's big play one of many as Mullen rolls Eaglecrest to end nonleague; Ralston Vally and 5A Jeffco loop are next.

Michael Brouillette had a feeling.

He acted on it, delivered it and Mullen heads into the second part of its schedule, the league portion, on an upbeat note.

Brouillette returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown just seconds after Eaglecrest had tied the score as the Mustangs responded with a 42-17 handling of the Raptors on a very pleasant Friday night at Brother Bernard Kinneavy Field at De La Salle Stadium.

The nonleague victory improved the Mustangs to 2-3 as they completed nonleague and head coach Jeremy Bennett minced no words.

“Yeah, this is what we needed,” he said afterward, also speculating that he may have have broken his nose on a pileup on the Mullen sideline. “We had a great week of practice. We really needed this and we prepared for it.”

So did Brouillette. Mullen had taken a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter only to have Eaglecrest tie it 18 seconds later on an 85-yard run from scrimmage.

However, Brouillette, who returned a kickoff 92 yards for a score against Regis Jesuit two weeks earlier,
was ready.

“Pretty much on the sideline,” he said, “I’m telling everybody, ‘Hey, I’m housing this!’”

He did – 93 yards and 15 seconds later, he was in the end zone, Mullen had retaken the lead and never surrendered it.

Bennett, also with a boxer’s cut across his swollen nose, called it “a big play” and Mullen had plenty of them.

Krebs scored three touchdowns, two on the ground and one receiving. Connor Warren turned in two big catches, one a 49-yarder for a score in which he outfought a Raptos defender for the ball before waling into the end zone. Sophomore quarterback Blake Palladino threw for two TDs, ran effectively and was able to shake off a sack and lost fumble in the red zone early as well as a late pick-six. The offensive line, Bennet said, particularly, Hayden Woodruff, had some dominant moments. And Jaxon Heil was his usual productive self on an active defense that only permitted two scores, one a field goal.

“We had to have this,” Krebs said. “This was part of the rebuild that we needed to bring back. We’ve had a rough couple of weeks. I feel like we’ve got some great momentum going into the second half.”

In snapping a two-game slide – the Mustangs beat the Raptors for the seventh straight time since 2009 -- Mullen will open the Class 5A Jefferson County League season in a week, Friday, Oct. 1, at home against Ralston Valley, which entered the round tops in big-school RPI. Mullen is 0-6 against RV since 2013.

Said Brouillette: “We’ve played a bunch of top-10 teams … tonight we just showed out! We’re moving forward.”

With losses to Cherokee Trail, Regis Jesuit and Valor Christian, Bennett knows the gauntlet-type schedule won’t relent, but hitting the halfway point and getting into league seems like a rebirth.

“It’s like having another season,” he said. “Now, take the 2-3 and put it way, and now it’s time to play football.”

MULLEN 42, EAGLECREST 17

Eaglecrest 0 10 0 7 -- 17

Mullen 0 21 14 7 -- 42

First Quarter

None

Second Quarter

M – Kyle Krebs 4 run (Bryce Sohayda kick), 9:16.

E – Diego Cearns 85 run (Sinai Ruiz kick), 8:58.

M – Michael Brouillette 93 kickoff return (Bryce Sohayda kick), 8:43.

E – FG Sinai Ruiz 27, 4:23.

M – Connor Warren 49 pass from Blake Palladino (Bryce Sohayda kick), 1:56.