MULESHOE — Muleshoe greeted Childress into its district with its point-a-minute offense as an introduction. The Mules, averaging 55 points a game through their first seven contests, didn’t keep up that pace on Friday night, but coach David Wood couldn’t be happier.

A 37-7 win over the visiting Bobcats gave Muleshoe (8-0, 3-0 in 2-2A) temporary command in the district race.

Senior quarterback Wes Wood threw for 266 yards on 17 completions and also rushed for 94 yards. His cousin, Lane Wood, also accumulated 102 yards on the ground as the Mules pulled away from Childress (5-3, 2-1) in the second quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Muleshoe held a 6-0 lead although the Bobcats were threatening. The Bobcats, whose third drive started at their 35, had proceeded all the way to the Mules’ 5.

On a fourth-and-one, Childress running back Michael Ramirez was stopped cold by senior Nathaniel Chavez and Muleshoe took over.
It was that kind of play that gave the Mules coach a sunny disposition at the end of the game.

“They moved the chains. But, when it counted, we made two goal-line stands,” said David Wood, who earned his 100th coaching career victory. “I was proud of our defense, the way they stepped up.”

After Muleshoe’s initial defensive stop, the Mules raced 94 yards in six plays for a touchdown. The drive, marked by a 28-yard pass from Wes Wood to Ray Ramirez to get the Mules away their end zone, ended for Muleshoe when Wood connected with Victor Vasquez on a 4-yard TD strike.

Before the first half was over, Muleshoe got on the board again on a 3-yard run by Vasquez.

Childress got a quick boost to start the third quarter by recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff. The Bobcats moved the ball to within the Mules’ 20, but a run by Michael Ramirez — on a fourth-and-half-foot situation — ended with several Muleshoe defenders swarming to stop the play.

“I don’t care if we won by one, as long as we got the big W,” Wes Wood said. “They came out swinging from the very beginning. We were barely beating them and, I thought, ‘Oh no, if they score, they’re right back in it.’”

After the Mules’ defensive stop to start the second half, their offense again struck rather quickly.

An 82-yard ensuing drive took eight plays and ended with a 12-yard run by Wes Wood for a 27-0 lead.

Childress’ only score came late in the third period when quarterback Brant Bowman found wideout Creede Breeding for a 12-yard touchdown pass.