Category: Sports

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
The Devine 8th Grade Colts rallied back from deficits on two different occasions to pull out the 24-14 victory at Barry Field in Hondo last Thursday evening. After falling behind 6-0 and 14-8, Devine took a 16-14 lead just before the halftime break and held on for the 10-point victory.
Hondo took the early lead on a 45-yard run with 2:35 to go in the first quarter, before Devine quarterback Alejandro Ramirez found Christian Beaver for a 32-yard pass completion that put the ball on the goal line door steps. Rowdy Esparza punched in the 2-yard run and added the two-point conversion to give Devine an 8-6 lead.
Devine kicker Cisco Rios perfectly placed the ensuing kickoff in a dead spot in the Owl return formation and it looked briefly that the Colts would add to their side of the scoring column after Esparza and Colt teammate Esai Sanchez made a big hit on a Hondo kick returner. Mikey Rodriguez scooped up the ball but Devine was unable to capitalize on the extra possession.
After the Colts turned the ball over on downs, Hondo drove in for a 10-yard touchdown run and two-point possession to take the lead back 14-8 with 3:05 to go in the second quarter.
Devine had enough time on the clock to put together an 11-play drive that culminated in another Esparza touchdown run, this time from 5-yards out. Esparza also converted the two-point run to give the Colts a lead they never relinquished at 16-14.
“Thankfully we found something in the run game with Alejandro, Mickey, and Rowdy taking turns running the ball,” said Coach Lon Cozby.
The Colts put together a great ball-control drive to start the second half that had Ramirez capping off a 14-play, 74-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run and the subsequent two-point conversion.
That touchdown was the game’s final score in the Colt 24-14 victory.
“We came out of halftime a different team,” Cozby continued. “That last drive going into halftime gave us some confidence on offense. We made a few adjustments on defense and that proved to be the difference.”
Devine had several players step to the plate against their rival from across the creek.
A few of the players already mentioned above, Cozby took time to heap some more praise their way, saying, “Alejandro proved himself at quarterback. He had some good runs and nice passes. Mikey had a great job running the ball and had a couple key catches too. And Rowdy just took over the game by running the ball hard all night.”
The backs had a very productive night, without a doubt. Those holes up front just don’t create themselves.
“Andres Padilla and Becker Byrd help us make holes at the tight end position. Dresden Schneider, Ayden Martinez and Jacob McKee were blocking tough on the line,” said Cozby regarding his players that have to do a lot of the dirty work to get the chains moving.
“Dresden also played well on defense. Sergion De Leon and Damon Johnson had a huge second half on the defensive side of the ball with multiple tackles. Cole Reyes and Esai did well from the secondary. And Cisco helped out by having to play in different spots due to some injuries,” Cozby said in closing of his team’s victory.
Looking ahead to this week’s contest, Cozby stated, “We have Uvalde this week and they will have ‘B’ teams so we are excited. We have good numbers and need that extra game to get kids more playing time.”

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
The JV Warhorses found themselves down early, like really early, after Hondo returned the game’s opening kickoff 81 yards that staked the Owls to a 8-0 lead after their two-point conversion. However, Devine’s defense did the trick the rest of the way keeping Hondo out of the end zone, while the Horses offense hit pay dirt twice for the 14-8 comeback victory.
“Our defense kept us in the game all night long,” said Coach Heath Poppe. “We lost the turnover battle, and usually when that happens teams lose ball games. We were faced with a ton of adversity and I give our players credit for hanging in there and fighting for the win all game long.”
The Horses are now 4-0 on the season with a game at home against Uvalde on tap Thursday.
Devine’s defense forced Hondo into several three-and-outs and stopped the Owls cold on some vital fourth down opportunities, including a couple inside the Horses 30-yard line.
The Horses had offensive chances to score in the first half thanks to their running game and a big throw and catch from quarterback Jacob Rodriguez to Mason Beaver. In the third quarter, Devine ran a trick punt-play to perfection as Alfredo Ramirez faked the punt before completing the pass to Mario Vicente, but a holding penalty negated that play.
The score remained 8-0 in favor of the Owls through halftime and two plays into the fourth quarter, before the Horses finally got the goose-egg off of their side of the scoring column.
After Hondo pinned the Horses at their own 3-yard line, Warhorse running back Joe Guerrero broke loose for a 76-yard touchdown run to finally get Devine on the Brown Chevrolet scoreboard. The two-point conversion failed, and the Horses still found themselves in fighting-back mode at 8-6.
Poppe elected to onside the ensuing kickoff with trusted kicker Aiden Salazar, which worked to perfection as teammate Riley Gutierrez recovered the loose ball at the Owl 48.
Five plays later, the Horses found the end zone and took the lead 12-8. Ty Sadler, Christian San Miguel, and Ray’sean Beaver provided just a few of the great blocks on the play as Guerrero ran 38-yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The conversion attempt failed.
The Owls had one more offensive opportunity to take the lead back, but the Devine defense rose to the occasion once again in forcing the Owls into a punt. The Horses offense was able to run out the clock from that point on to hold on to the 12-8 victory.
The real story of the game, however, is how dominant the Warhorse defense was from the first time they stepped on the field.
I will say that after watching the film I was pleased with the way we held their offense out of the end zone and how many times we forced them to punt,” said JV Defensive Coordinator Bart Oropeza. “We preach every day of the week that we want to hold the opposing team’s offense to zero touchdowns. Well, we met our goal again last night!”
Oropeza mentioned a few of the players who had a big defensive game in saying, “Gavin Socarras, Anthony Saldivar, Aiden Salazar, Riley Gutierrez, Alfredo Ramirez, Ty Sadler, Ray’sean Beaver, Tyler Hinnant, and Robert Herandez stood out and I know that I am mentioning most of the team, but it was a total team effort.”
The Horses defense hopes to continue performing at a high level Thursday as well.
“We preach eleven helmets to the football, and I am looking forward to doing it all over again in preparation for Uvalde.”

5th quarter

Since a freshman game was not played prior to the JV tilt, a “5th quarter” allowed players who did not see much time to get game action as well.
Hondo took the lead in this quarter 6-0, but just like the JV game the Horses tried to fight back for the victory. This time, Devine fell short in the 14-6 defeat.
Warhorse running back Jeremy Steinbrenner busted loose on a 50-yard run to set up teammate Ryan Weinkam’s 4-yard touchdown run. Steinbrenner’s run was set up by a key block from Jonathon Morales.
Hondo scored once again and converted the two-point conversion to take the 14-6 lead.
Devine tried to pull off a miracle on the last play of the game as Jacob Rodriguez hit Weinkam on a wheel route as time expired. Weinkam was tackled at the one-yard line to end the quarter.

Stotts, Carr lead Arabian XC to 7th place in Corpus

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Thirty-three teams made up the varsity girl division of the TAMU-CC Islander Splash Invitational, and the Devien Arabians placed 7th overall boosted by top 25 finishes from Rachel Stotts and Aimee Carr. Stotts placed 21st and Carr 24th out of a field of 260 runners.
Airyanna Rodriguez placed in the top 50 at 42nd place, while Kristina Moralez came in at 62nd place and Ashley Mattke at 79th place to make up the 209 team score.
Charlee Rangel came in 83rd and Rebecca Mares placed 149th.
Team ranking
1st Lytle 93, 2nd Sinton 101, 3rd CC Tuloso-Midway 125, 4th Beeville Jones 133, 5th Pleasanton 157, 6th Pharr IDEA 180, 7th Devine 209, 8th La Vernia 236, 9th Robstown 246, 10th, Carrizo Springs 367.
Arabians
21st Rachel Stotts 13:30, 24th Aimee Carr 13:35, 42nd Airyanna Rodriguez 14:09, 62nd Kristina Moralez 14:35, 79th Ashley Mattke 14:53, 83rd Charlee Rangel 14:58, 149th Rebecca Mares 16:24.

Warhorse XC 4th in TAMU-CC Invitational

The Devine Warhorse Cross Country team had a terrific showing at last Saturday’s TAMU-CC Islander Splash down in Corpus Christi as they placed 4th overall out of 32 competing teams. Senior Kristofer Aguirre led Devine with his 15th place finish out of a field of 255 runners.
Jesse House placed 59th, Thomas Mendoza was 61st, Mario Vicente came in 62nd, and David Gutierrez was next at 64th to complete the scoring for the 232-point Warhorse team
Joe Guerrero was 74th and Stephen Culver was 180th.
Team ranking
1st Lytle 38, 2nd La Vernia 104, 3rd Premont 229, 4th Devine 232, 5th Dilley 246, 6th Gonzales 269, 7th CC Tuloso-Midway 280, 8th Pleasanton 287, 9th Wallis Brazos 297, 10th Weslaco IDEA 322.
Warhorses
15th Kristofer Aguirre 18:45, 59th Jesse House 20:32, 61st Thomas Mendoza 20:34, 62nd Mario Vicente 20:35, 64th David Gutierrez 20:39, 74th Joe Guerrero 20:57, 180th Stephen Culver 23:56.

JV Arabian XC team champs in Seguin

The JV Arabians won their first meet of the 2022 season as they scored 20 points to win the Seguin Invitational over second place Seguin who scored 48 and third place Three Rivers who totaled 64.
All six Devine runners placed in the top 10 with Jilliyn Guajardo pacing the Arabians. Guajardo finished 3rd overall with a time of 15:29.
Dani Gutierrez (4th-15:46), Joselyn Guajardo (5th-15:49), Angelina Garcia (6th-16:28). Aaralynn Garcia (7th-16:53), and Lexi Perez (9th-17:45) competed on the championship team.
The JV Warhorses only had two runners Stephan Culver placed 6th and Ethin Erwin came in 7th place. Culver ran his 5K in 22:31 while Erwin came in at 23:43.

By Mark Feltner
Devine Varsity Tennis won their 4th straight district game on Wednesday, September 14th against Carrizo Springs, 19-0.
Results:
Victor Schaefer/Logan Davis won 7-5,6-2; Victor won 6-0,6-1, Logan won 6-1,6-0
Ethin Erwin/Hector Garza won 6-2,6-0; Ethin won 6-0,6-2, Hector won 6-0,6-2
Ethan Gelinas/Tanner Davis won 6-1,6-2; Ethan won 8-1
Jordan Erxleben/Savanna Pequeno won 6-0,6-0; Jordan won 6-0,6-2, Savanna won 6-0,6-0
Danelly Rodriguez/Victoria Nunez won 6-0,6-2; Danelly won 8-0, Victoria won 8-0
Oakley Malone/Joselyn Guajardo won 6-1,6-0; Oakley won 6-0,6-0
Johnathon Gelinas/Kelsey Dishman won 6-0,6-0; Johnathon won 6-0,6-0, Kelsey won 6-0,6-0
In extra matches:
Brooks Poppe/Brianna Schaefer won 8-1; Brooks won 8-1, Brianna won 8-0
Joselyn Guajardo won 8-0
Tanner Davis lost 3-8
We look forward to a busy next week, with JV in Uvalde on Tuesday and then Varsity@ San Antonio Kennedy on Wednesday.