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Navarro- final tune up

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Navarro scrimmages have done Warhorse football good over the last several years of giving Devine a sense of where they are going into their season-opening game of the year. The Panthers provide a well-disciplined offense that Devine’s defense has to be lined up correctly and make reads in order to make plays.
Head Coach Paul Gomez knew the challenge of Navarro is exactly what his team needed going into a 10-game schedule that does not provide an open week until November 4, the last week of the season.
“It is always good to go against Navarro right before our first game since I knew it would be tough defensively against them since we couldn’t practice Monday with the rain out,” Gomez began his post-scrimmage analysis. “Teams cannot prepare for that offense in two days; teams need four good days to prepare for the nasty slot T. Especially because they run it so well. It requires you to be 100% disciplined and locked in even when you are tired.”
Even with the shortened work-week, Devine looked tough at times going against the perennial playoff bound Panthers.
“Although we gave up a couple of long plays on the quick trap where our defensive tackles didn’t squeeze the hole and our middle linebacker didn’t fill and we also gave up a big pass play where our secondary didn’t read the tight end and they got us with an easy touchdown, we still played hard and smart for big stretches of the scrimmage,” Gomez continued. “Like I said, if we get four good days to prepare, I think we do better but as far as our defense giving great effort, well that was noticeable. Our boys played hard. We made some very good plays stopping them at the line of scrimmage.”
“Defensive Coordinator Evan Eads did a great job getting our defense going and preparing as best we could within the short time. Our secondary needs to tackle better, which they will with more practice reps. We watch these NFL and college players just shoulder bump these guys and our boys think that they can do that but we have to wrap up and tackle. Our tackling drills will get us to where we want to be,” Gomez said in closing about his defensive group.
Quarterback Sam Guardiola, Gabe Esquibel, and Ethan Santos had productive runs offensively for the Horses. Nate Ramirez hauled in a touchdown towards the end of the live scrimmage as well.
Offensively
“We wanted to get in our spread game more and see what we can handle and how we can get our athletes in space. We showed some signs of having big play capability in the spread package
Being able to be given multiple looks on offense and still have success is a really good thing as long as we gradually add on and not put too much on so that’s our job right now. We want to keep our physicality on offense but still be able to be multiple and we do that by running the same plays and play action from those plays regardless if we are spread or tight. We as coaches think we can make that happen so we will keep improving. Scrimmages are about improving and getting better as a team and I think we have accomplished that. Obviously if these were games then we would have definitely done different things but we did what we had to do to make progress as a team overall. I kept reminding myself to stay on the script and work on what we needed to work on,” was Gomez’s offensive analysis.
EEDC
Coach Evan Eads got his first taste of the difficulties of shutting down the potent Panther offense as Devine’s Defensive Coordinator. Eads has coached linebackers for several years, but this was his first shot as the coordinator in putting packages together to put his unit in position to shut down Navarro.
“Navarro presents a tough dilemma for a defense. You can play a soft and maybe bend a little, but don’t break defense and allow them to march down the field hoping they will make a mistake. Or, you can give all the players reads and play as aggressive as possible with those reads. We choose the more difficult and aggressive style. We know it gives us the best opportunity to stop them, and we did several times. Twice we had the running back almost down at the line of scrimmage, but we missed and that is when they had long touchdown runs. We played a team-style defense with players having specific roles depending on their reads. I am proud that our safeties came up to the line of scrimmage and got in the mix. All night they took on blocks and spilled the running backs to the backers. Gabe Esquibel and Nate Ramirez never turned it down. The defensive ends and tackles were responsible for all inside plays and disrupting blocking schemes. As they continue to improve, we will be able to be more and more aggressive. Due to those positions taking care of their assignments the linebackers were able to clean up outside runs. The corners and safeties were responsible for run and pass and did it very close to the line of scrimmages. They are some very athletic players. Now the season starts. We will continue to improve every day.”
Coachspeak
“The varsity tight ends were disappointed with their showing against Pleasanton and worked hard this week to improve. We took several steps forward against Navarro. Aaron Bonilla and Matthew Gomez got most of the first reps at TE. They are both big bodies that can be very effective at blocking any position on defense. We were very pleased with their effort. Aaron Saenz, Nick Ortiz, and Seth Deleon got reps with the second bunch. Any of the three can improve enough to get reps this year. They just need to keep improving.”–Evan Eads, tight end coach
“As far as my varsity receivers, Nate Ramirez has four receptions with two touchdowns. I am confident that he will continue to work hard to improve on all aspects of the game of football.” Bart Oropeza, receiver coach
“After a great summer and a good scrimmage against Pleasanton, Brandon Martinez got all the reps at middle backer with the first group. He did a great job with his reads. He made some hard-hitting tackles. He needs to continue to improve on block defeating. I am excited about the year he is about to have. Nick Ortiz got all the reps with the second group and some in the running quarters. He improved from the Pleasanton scrimmage. He is a student of the game and asks great questions. He will continue to improve every week.”–Evan Eads, linebacker coach

Arabians Slam rival
Hondo Owls with 37 kills!

Arabian #3 Rylee Esquibel recieves the ball and prepares for another attack. She led the Arabians in kills, with 19 against the Owls.

Last Wednesday night the Arabians traveled to Hondo and brought home a win, 3-0! Set points were as follows: 25-22, 25-14, and 25-20.
Total stats for this game resulted in a whopping 37 kills, 7 aces, 4 blocks, and 74 digs!
Leading in kills was #3 Rylee Esquibel-19, #7 Brooklyn Miller-9, #12 Skylar Blanton-4, #5 Bailey Oropeza-3, #6 Kaitlyn Morales-2.
Aces: #1 Kaylee Romano-2, #2 Avery Cruz-2, #9 Kelsey Dishman-2, #4 Kristina Moralez-1.
Blocks: Blanton-2, Miller-1, Oropeza-1.
Leading in digs was Cruz with 27, Moralez-14, Dishman-8, Morales-7, Esquibel-7, #10 Kate Featherly-5, Romano-3, Blanton-1, Oropeza-1.

SA Memorial, Parent’s Night on tap Friday night at Warhorse Stadium

by Jerel Beaty
Friday night is a huge night at Warhorse Stadium as not only does Devine take on San Antonio Memorial to kick off the 2022 season, but the parent’s of players will also be recognized prior to the ballgame as a small token of appreciation for all they have done throughout the course of their son’s high school football career.
“I’m excited for our first game Friday and with it being parent’s night it makes it more special for our kids. Memorial will be a good test for us and we are excited for the challenge,” Head Coach Paul Gomez stated about getting the new season underway at 7:30pm right here in Devine.
In 2021, Devine smashed Memorial 44-23 after racing out to a 28-7 halftime lead. Warhorse running backs Gabriel Esquibel and Ethan Santos each had two rushing touchdowns in the first half of that game
Memorial was a senior-laden club last year as most of their individual statistical leaders were lost to graduation, including their top passer, rusher, and receiver. They finished at 4-6 overall including 3-5 in District 13-5A DI. A lot of unknowns await the Horses this season as Memorial’s roster has changed quite dramatically since last season.
After Devine, Memorial takes on Central Catholic, Pearsall, Antonian, and Floresville prior to district play.
Memorial has been a 5A program for quite some time, but dropped down to 4A this year where they face District 14-4A DI teams in Fredericksburg, Boerne, Somerset, Uvalde, and San Antonio Kennedy. Although now a lower classification, that district schedule prior to Kennedy is a treacherous one for the Minutemen.

Little man, big thoughts

Out of the blue my little boy looked up and asked, “Did you know God lives with Jesus?”
“Yes,” I replied, asking what sparked this conversation. “Did someone tell you that today?”
“No, I just knowed,” Tucker replied in his cute little 4 year old voice.
Later HE reminded ME that we needed to say our prayers, and when he said something funny, he chuckled and said “That made God laugh.”
So sincerely. So sweetly. Moments like that can really take your breath away. Little children surely have a special communication with God.
Sure, we try to teach them these things, but when the teaching comes from the little one himself, it’s really something. Goes straight to my heart.
I don’t know what sparked such deep thoughts from a little guy who spends 99% percent of his day talking about dinosaurs, but we went for a last minute vacation to the beach recently; maybe it refreshed his little soul as much as it did mine. There is just nothing that compares to being able to hear and watch the waves roll in and out, like a deep breath. I recently learned something really interesting about the ocean too. The oceans produce a majority of the world’s oxygen.
Indeed on NOAA it states, “Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton — drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize.”
I accidentally discovered that little fun fact, but I’ll use it to talk my hubby into even more beach vacations–strictly for health reasons, haha!

Vacation fun

This past week was a totally awesome week for me! Many, many thanks to my children for taking me on a mountain get-away week. My fun week started the morning of the 12th when I left my home to go to Devine to my family. The trip was uneventful, with some traffic but not so much that I was miserable. When I got to my son’s home, I found out that it was truly a family vacation, as my youngest grandson and his family were going to be with us also. There were a dozen of us in a gorgeous five-bedroom house located over 5,000 feet up a mountain. The trip up and down took about 30 minutes because of all the curves and also the speed limit of 25mph because of the up or down grade. Monday started out as a “Monday” with the power going off just after full daylight. We managed to get breakfast and everyone dressed, etc. Then it was down the mountain for us, some plans had to be changed as the power was out over the whole area! We were pretty flexible and worked around the problems and had a wonderful time together. That evening, back up the mountain, we were planning an evening of games. My granddaughter looked out the window and told her dad that someone was getting into our car. Turned out the “someone” was a bear who managed to get into and out of the car with no problem, after stealing the Sour Patch candy and a bag of cashews. Of course, all of this was caught on the trail camera my son had set up. Talk about exciting! The rest of the week, we went sightseeing, had a picnic, took a walk around a beautiful little lake, went horseback riding (not me!), my son, his wife and the younger couples with a couple of the small children went hiking to the top of the mountain, and had to be brought back by the bus they use up there, the ski lift was not functioning due to the weather. The weather interfered with our plans several times. On Wednesday night, a different car had a bear visit! This time none of us saw it, because it was the middle of the night, but the camera caught him and we saw it the next day on film. And it also began to rain intermittently, and this was absolutely beautiful, you could see the mountains and suddenly there were no mountains to be seen. Then Friday, when it cleared up for a while, we all went to the ski lift, rode it to the top, which was another 5K up in the air and a truly fun adventure, the view was spectacular, as were most of the ones we were seeing. Part of the group were playing Frisbee golf on the course that is marked off, and the rest were waiting for the zip line to open. I watched most of this from a beautiful deck at the very top of the mountain, yep, I’ve said “awesome” so many times that even though I tried to find a different word, I couldn’t. OK, my times up, I have a meeting at 1:00 and I’m not completely dressed. Next week, I’ll tell you more about my trip! Thanks again family for a wonderful week.
Chocolate Coca Cola® Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
3 tablespooons Hershey’s cocoa
1 cup Coca Cola®
½ cup buttermilk*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups miniature marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Mix together flour and sugar in large mixing bowl. Heat butter, cocoa and Coca Cola® to boiling and pour over flour mixture. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and marshmallows; stir together until combined. (This makes a rather thin batter, and the marshmallows will float to the top. Pour into a 9×13 pan and bake until cake tests done with a toothpick. * You can use whole milk, just pour about 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice into your measuring cup and add the milk to the ½ cup line, stir to mix and allow to stand a couple of minutes and it will thicken.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly as you make the frosting:
Frosting:
1 stick butter
3 tablespoons Coca Cola®
1 box (1 pound) powdered sugar
1 cup pecans
Place butter, cocoa and Coca Cola in a saucepan and heat just until boiling. Pour over sugar, add nuts and beat until creamy. Spread over cake.
Now, for those of you who can’t eat chocolate for whatever reason, here is a chocolate-free version of the Coca Cola® cake.
Chocolate Free Coca Cola® Cake
1 package yellow, butter flavor golden cake mix* (no pudding added type)
1 package (4-oz size) instant vanilla pudding
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup flake coconut
1 cup pecans
10-oz Coca Cola®
Grease and flour a 9×13 pan OR grease the bottom of the pan and line it with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper. Heat oven to 350ºF.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine cake and pudding mix, oil, coconut, pecans Coca Cola® and eggs. Mix well and pour batter into prepared pand. Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake from and cool thoroughly before frosting. *This recipe is from when cake mixes were 18.25 ounces. The new ones are 16.25 ounces, so you can add about 3 Tbs. baking mix (i.e. Bisquick or Pioneer Baking Mix) to the cake mix and this will give you about the same amount as the larger box of cake mix would be.
Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup butter
1 package (8-oz) cream cheese
1 pound box powdered sugar (sifted)
In small bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together, continue mixing and gradually add powdered sugar, beating until fluffy.

Samuel M. Carrillo

Samuel Carrillo, went to be with the Lord, on August 18, 2022, at the age of 85, in San Antonio, Texas.
Samuel was born on October 22, 1936, to Luis and Gregoria Carrillo in Lytle, Texas.
Samuel was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Fidel Carrillo; sister-in-law, Margie Carrillo and niece, Paula Solis.
Samuel is survived by his wife, Maria R. Carrillo; daughter, Graciela Garcia; brothers, Victor Carrillo (Sheryl), Ricardo Carrillo and Juan Carrillo; sister, Josie Solis; grandchildren, David Michael Valle, Adrianna Nicole Azua and Steven Ray Martinez; great-grandchildren, Jazlyn Grace Azua, Mariana Sofia Casas and Olivia Kate Azua.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm at Hurley Funeral Home, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas, 78052.
A Rosary will be recited at 7:00 pm.
Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, August 25, 2022 at 10:00 am at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Lytle.
Interment will follow at Lytle Community Cemetery.
For personal acknowledgments, please visit www.hurleyfuneralhome.com
Arrangements entrusted to Hurley Funeral Home, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052.

George Alvin Whitten

George Alvin Whitten, 84, of Carthage, TX, passed away on Thursday morning, August 11, 2022, in Longview, TX. He was born on February 3, 1938, in Natchez, MS. George married May Thompson on August 30, 1972, in San Antonio, TX. They lived in Natalia, TX and later moved to Carthage in 1992. George served in the United States Air Force for 20 years and retired as a Master Sergeant in 1975. After retirement, he was a car salesman and later transported oil for Plains Scurlock Permian. After retiring from the oil and gas industry, he became a helpful, smiling face in several auto part shops in Carthage. He worked at O’Reilly, ABC and NAPA. George was a generous, loving and caring husband, father, grandfather and friend. He would help anyone in need. He enjoyed spending time with his family and beloved animals, tinkering with cars and working outdoors. He was of Baptist faith and a member of the First Baptist Church of Natalia.
George was preceded in death by a son, George Wells. He is survived by his wife, May Whitten; children, Rhonda Patterson and husband Kyle, Cynthia Miles and husband Darren, Sheila Haley, Wanda Sullivan, and honorary daughter, Lisa Perez; grandchildren, Nicole and Daniel Patterson and honorary granddaughter, Genie Blasingame; and siblings, Charles Frazier, Sheila Bahanon and Elaine Weeks.
Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to the Jimerson-Lipsey Funeral Home. A guestbook may be signed online at www.jimerson-lipsey.com.
A memorial is planned in Natalia, TX at a later date.

Floyd Dale McOsker

Floyd Dale McOsker passed peacefully into eternity on Saturday afternoon, August 20 as he napped in his recliner. He was born March 6, 1927, in Faulkner, Oklahoma, to Cleve and Edna Arndt McOsker. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Donna, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley to farmland bought by his grandfather, David Arndt.
Floyd told stories of his early days there during the Great Depression. He was “forced” to run away from home with his big sister when she packed his clothes into a wagon and told him they were leaving. His mother, Edna, taught him to sew on her treadle sewing machine. He had made those clothes and wasn’t going to lose them. There were stories of a yo-yo string so long that he had to stand on the roof to use it. Once as he walked to school barefoot, a stranger picked him up, took him to town, bought him a pair of shoes, then sent him on to school.
The family moved back to Oklahoma in the late 1930’s. Soon after his parents divorced, and Floyd moved to California with his father, Cleve. After Cleve’s death, Floyd returned to Oklahoma, then to Kansas where he lived with his aunt and uncle, Clarence and Grace Wolgamot. As a teenager, he worked as a migrant grain harvester following crops from Kansas north.
In 1943 Floyd enlisted in the Marine Corps. After basic training he was sent to Okinawa where he trained for the planned invasion of Japan. Following the end of the war he served in northern China.
In the late 1940’s Floyd moved to San Antonio to work with his brother-in-law, Cameron Ayres, as a framing carpenter. Eventually Floyd, his brother, Kenneth, and Cameron, formed M&A Construction Company. For many years they framed new homes for builder, Ray Ellison. Prior to retirement, Floyd and his partner, Doug Cross, established Liberty Homes. They created several subdivisions in the northwest quadrant of San Antonio.
For over 20 years, Floyd served as trail boss for the Laredo Trail ride each February. It was in this capacity that he met his dearest friend, Jim Chessher. They enjoyed a close comradery long after Floyd retired from his trail bossing duties.
In retirement Floyd enjoyed golfing, maintaining his place south of Lytle, and building the occasional custom home in company with his sons, Matt and Bruce.
Floyd was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Nancy Bivins McOsker, daughter Sharon Pilgrim, son Roger Santos, and sons-in-law Jeff Zuercher and John Renken. He is survived by his wife, Doris Ohlinger McOsker, and his children: Linda (Dean) Tankersley, Matt McOsker, Benny Santos, Bruce (Yajaira) McOsker, Paula Adams, Audree Gierisch, Becky Fenton, Brenda Renken, Patty Pressley, and Cindy Zuercher, 23 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
Floyd leaves behind him a legacy of integrity. He was deeply loved and highly respected by all who knew him, especially his wife and children.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 from 9:30 am – 10:30 am at Hurley Funeral Home – Lytle, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052. Funeral Service will be on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 10:30 am at Hurley Funeral Home Chapel with the service being conducted by grandson, David Tankersley. Interment will follow at Black Hill Cemetery in Atascosa, Texas on IH 35 and Lucky Road.
For personal acknowledgements, please visit www.hurleyfuneralhome.com
Arrangements entrusted to Hurley Funeral Home – Lytle, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052.

A slow week, on paper

When you look at the call volume, only 47 calls, it might appear it was a slow week. It was a busy one with 9 reported property crimes, more on that later. Officers conducted 71 traffic stops which resulted in 63 citations and 8 warnings.
Let’s get the arrest activity out of the way, we had 4 arrests last week. Here we go with my simple numbering system to help me from getting confused: #1 – The detergent theft lady from last week was located by Ofc. D. Lopez, she was given a citation and released. #2 – Ofc. Pena conducted a traffic stop on Main Street and found the driver to be intoxicated. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #3 – Ofc. A. Lopez responded to a disturbance on N. Prairie St. A male was arrested for assault causing bodily injury (family violence) and booked into the jail in Jourdanton. #4 – Ofc. Pena observed a single vehicle accident and arrested the driver for DWI, he too was checked into the jail in Jourdanton.
Property crimes reported last week: #1 – A rear door to a home under construction on Lonesome Dove was taken. #2 – A laptop valued at $1,000 was taken from a vehicle parked at the H.E.B. Plus. #3 – A complainant reported that an unknown male took a folder full of personal papers from her unlocked vehicle, this occurred at the Dollar General. #4 – A light blue 3-wheel bicycle was stolen from a residence on Oak St. #5 – A complainant reported that an unknown person entered their business on Main St. and took approx. $60 worth of misc. brass fittings. They slid under a garage door that was left just barely open. #6 – A resident on Huckleberry Dr. reported the theft of a trash can. #7 – Criminal mischief was reported at the IH-35 Park & Ride, a truck tractor was damaged in an attempted break-in. #8 – On Sunday evening (8/21) a complainant reported that his 2020 Dodge Ram Rebel p/u was stolen while parked in the 15000 Blk. of Main St. He had left it in a parking lot for a 24-hour period and the keys were left inside. #9 – Later that evening officers took a report of a 2003 Ford F250 taken from the H.E.B. Plus parking lot. It was recovered several hours later by S.A.P.D. Now, we have a lot of investigating to do.
I took three days of leave and headed east with the family. The first stop was Livingston/Onalaska to spend a night with my wife’s sister and her family. We dropped off a couple of the kids and headed to Monroe, La. for a conference my wife and oldest daughter wanted to attend. I was mostly along for the trip to take care of the baby. After a couple of nights there we headed back to pick up the kids. We slid into Lytle on Monday night; I was 30 minutes late to the city council meeting. As usual, I did a good bit of eating at good places. I can’t resist touching on a few high points: The Main St. Café in Carthage (TX): Catfish & frog legs plate lunch, fried okra, and coleslaw. (I opted out of the frog legs and got extra catfish). Don Chuy Mexican Grill (West Monroe, La.) – The chips and salsa. The Ranch House Café (Leesville, La.) – The crawfish etouffee and chocolate chip cookies. Let’s end this out with cornbread from 3rd On Main Kitchen in downtown Bryan (TX). On a side note, to this already side note, downtown Bryan has really been fixed up since I was a kid there in the early 80s, other than Woolworths and TSO there wasn’t much reason to go downtown.
Now back to something official. I testified in district court early last week over in Jourdanton at the Justice Center. I have said before that place is lovely. I just found out the whole second floor is not being used and hasn’t been built out. I can’t believe somebody hasn’t cut a backroom deal to fill that place up with those 8-Liner gambling machines. The cops would never suspect an illegal casino on the second floor of the justice center. All the traffic at all hours of the night could be attributed to the courts running around the clock to catch up from a COVID backlog.

Author: admin