Muleshoe had plenty of time to chew on their blowout loss at home a couple weeks ago against state ranked Bushland. With an open week in Week Eight, the Mules had plenty of time to prepare for last Friday’s matchup against Amarillo River Road and that preparation bore fruit.

Muleshoe took down the Wildcats 48-6 in a statement victory to get back to their winning ways.

“That was a big game on the road to kind of get the monkey off of our back on securing a playoff spot,” Head Coach Jason Richards said.

The Mules were able to get it done despite a rough first quarter in which they had three different touchdown plays waved off due to penalties. One of them was a 99-yard rushing touchdown by Daniel Sianez.

“In the past if we had three touchdowns called back, we probably wouldn’t overcome that. I was proud of our kids for hanging in there and keeping their composure on the road,” Richards said.

Muleshoe’s offense was efficient and effective throughout the ballgame despite the early penalties. Most of the work was done on the ground as the duo of Josue Sigala and Sianez combined for 246 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The Mules ran less than 40 total plays on offense throughout the game and still accumulated over 400 total yards of offense.

“I tell our kids that if we just execute and focus on what we’re doing, we are special offensively,” Richards said.

With the win, the Mules have pretty much secured a playoff spot in district 2-3A. At this point, they are fighting for playoff positioning for the next couple weeks and that includes their upcoming matchup against Shallowater. Coach Richards described the Mustangs as “the best 3-5 football team in the state of Texas.” Shallowater has played a tough schedule through their first eight games which includes multiple ranked opponents at the 3A and 4A level like Monahans (4A No. 7) and Bushland (3A No. 5). Richards expects this Friday’s matchup to go down to the wire.

“We’re going to have to play extremely good and hopefully create a four-quarter game Friday night. If we do that, we have a good chance to win,” he said.

Friday night will also mark senior night for Muleshoe. The senior Mules will be honored prior to the game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.