Category: Sports

Local Sports coverage of your Warhorse and Arabians, Colts, Fillys, Lytle Pirates, Lady Pirates, Mustangs and Lady Mustangs

Cross Country Regional Meet Information

Natalia Cross Country regional qualifer Yahdi Luhan with her coaches.

Devine, Lytle, & Natalia all sending representatives

Jerel Beaty-staff writer
The University Interscholastic League along with Texas A&M University Corpus Christi host the 2024 State Cross Country Meet October 21 and 22. Top teams and individuals representing Devine, Lytle, and Natalia high schools vie for the opportunity to run in Round Rock at the State Meet which is held inside Old Settler’s Park.
The top four teams and top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team will qualify for the UIL state meet.
The top 3 teams and the top 10 overall individuals in each race will receive an award 30 minutes after results have been posted to allow times for protests, approximately 1 hour after each races start time, awards will be handed out to the top three teams and the top 10 individual finishers in each race. The fourth-place team, which has qualified for state will also be recognized but will not receive an awards.
The awards stage is located on the south end of the track.
Once results are official, they will be posted behind the track stadium stands.
Allow time to pick up a commemorative t-shirt that will be on sale until the conclusion of the last race on each day.
Schedule
Monday, October 21
8:00am 2A Girls
8:30am 2A Boys
9:15am 4A Girls (Arabians)
9:45am 4A Boys (Warhorses)
10:30am 6A Girls
11:00am 6A Boys
Tuesday, October 22
8:0 am 1A Girls
8:3 am 1A Boys
9:15am 3A Girls (Lady Pirates, Lady Mustang)
9:45am 3A Boys (Pirates)
10:30am 5A Girls
11:00am 5A Boys
The location is Dugan Track and Soccer Stadium which is on 701 E. Nile Dr. Corpus Christi, 78412.
Parking is across the street from the stadium in an open grass lot. It is $10 per vehicle that should be paid through ParkMobile. Alternate parking will be available if poor weather dictates. Spectator Parking: Spectator parking is located at the grass parking lot across the street from the stadium.

Miscues prove costly for Natalia

Eric Smith-Staff Writer
First half miscues proved costly for the Natalia Mustangs (1-5, 0-3) vs. Nixon-Smiley (2-4, 1-2)) last Friday night in Gonzales County. The dagger came with one second left on the clock, as Nixon’s Garet Gonzales caught a 30-yard pass over the middle from Eric Rodriguez as time expired to take a 16-0 lead into the half vs. Natalia. This fueled the red and blue Mustangs to a 45-20 win over Natalia.
Natalia did show some positives in the first half prior to that second touchdown including a few good drives. Unfortunately, turnovers continued to hurt the Mustangs as they finished with one fumble and two interceptions on the day.
“Offensively, we did a good job of moving the ball most of the night, we just had some critical errors that stalled out a few drives,” Natalia Head Coach Jason Reynolds said. “We have to do a better job of not turning the ball over.”
In the second half down 16-0, the Natalia Mustangs surrendered..

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Horses battle Wildcats

The Varsity Warhorses clobber the opponent. Photo by Brigid Howard.

Murphy’s Law in full effect in Carrizo

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Murphys’s Law was in full effect Friday night in Carrizo Springs as anything that could possibly go wrong for the Warhorses went wrong for the Warhorses in their 34-16 defeat.
Fumbles, penalties, poor tackling, missed blocks, an interception for a pick-six, and flat out inattentiveness to detail haunted Devine throughout the night at the absolute worst possible time as it happened during game one of the District 14-4A DII schedule.
With only five teams in the district, which means only four games total for each team makes it nearly impossible to start the campaign 0-1 and maintain hopes of an outright championship.
Notice, I did say nearly impossible but that is for an outright championship only. Reality shows Devine could win out to finish 3-1, Carrizo Springs finishing at 3-1 losing to Bandera, and Bandera finishing 3-1 with a loss to the Warhorses makes it a three-way tie for the championship.
Seeding then would be based on the point differential, but we will tackle that when or if the time presents itself.
In Carrizo, Devine found itself down 22-0 before reality set in that the Warhorses were in for a ballgame against the Wildcats.
The Horses finally showed some life when Brayden Reyes finally got Devine’s goose egg off Frank Carter Field’s scoreboard with a 19-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 22-8 with 9:22 left in the third quarter.
Most of Warhorse Nation thought that was the spark Devine needed to get their…

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Warhorses Matthew Gomez, Eli Contrers, Wero Torres, and Brayden Reyes. Photo by Brigid Howard. See more on Devine News Smug Mug!

JV1 Horses smash Cats 46-8

Alejandro Lopez on the carry for the Horses.

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The JV1 Horses had little to no trouble opening up District 14-4A with their convincing 46-8 beat down on the visiting Wildcats. Devine took a 32-8 lead into halftime before cruising to a 38-point victory.
“Hayden Martin and Steven Montes stepped up big this game in Ryan’s absence,” Coach Lon Cozby stated about his running back duo in the absence of leading rusher Ryan Weinkam who is expected back this week in Pearsall. “Cole Reyes also did a great job filling in, moving from wide receiver to running back while Lucas Hudson was outstanding moving over to the number-one receiver spot.”
Most casual fans do not realize the trickle down effect when one player is out how much it can change which positions where others are needed the most in order to achieve team success.
“We took things slow this week and played smash-mouth football as far as our two-tight and three-back formations. Our intention was to pound the ball right into the heart of the Wildcat defense.”
Martin capped off an 11-play drive with a three-yard run while Montes tacked on the two-point conversion to give Devine an early 8-0 advantage.
“Bubba Gomez and Dylan Hinnant had a monster double-team block to make for an easy score.”
The Horses defense held the…

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Down to the wire…Arabians to close district with 3 road games

The Arabians were preparing to take on Pleasanton once again on press night. Their last matchup a few weeks ago was a good one! Above, the Varsity Arabians celebrate one of many big plays in the last match against the Eagles. Photo by KK Calame.

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
On press night Devine was set to take on Pleasanton in an all-important matchup that could go a long way to determining playoff seeding in District 27-4A. Although the Arabians sat at 7-1 and the Eagles at 4-3 prior to last night’s first serve, if Pleasanton won to go to 5-3 and Devine to 7-2 a win by the Lady Eagles over Floresville October 25 could throw it into a two-way tie for second place.
Besides their slip-up against Floresville October 4, Devine has pretty much steamrolled through district winning 21 of 28 sets. Two of those sets were set one and set two in Pleasanton but the Arabians came back to win 3-2.
Devine finished the regular season with games against Somerset, Pearsall, and Floresville.
Carrizo Springs
After a “comfortable” 25-16 set one win in Carrizo Springs, Devine wound up in a battle as the Lady Cats scratched their way to a 25-5 win. Tied at a set each, the Arabians dug deep to pull out set three and set four wins to avoid that dreaded fifth set on the road.
“This was one of those games where things were not going as normal as we would have liked them to go, but we just found a way to win,” Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver stated. “Carrizo did play great defense against us and really forced us to..

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Devine Tennis

Devine Varsity Team Tennis took 2nd place at District.

By Catherine Richard
The Devine High School tennis team played against Pleasanton on Oct. 7. They played hard, but lost 10-7.
During the doubles matches, Devine was down 1.
Many of Devine’s players were pulled up to play since some of the original team members were injured.
“Our younger players really stepped up,” Coach Kandi Darnell said.
For the season, the DHS team finished 5-1. They were the district runner-ups.
Now, the team will have a short break before beginning again in the spring.
“We look forward to next year,” Darnell wrote.
Results:
Steinbrunner/Erwin won 6-3, 6-3. Gelinas/Poppe won 6-1, 6-1. Hicks-Hernandez/Moss lost 7-6 (10-8), 6-1. Extra match: Lucas/Ramirez lost 8-0.
Saunders/Zamora lost 6-3, 6-3. Barron/Malone lost 6-2, 0-6,12-10. Ray/Cardenas lost 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
Byrd/Guajardo won 6-3, 6-0.
Jeremy Steinbrunner won 6-0, 6-4. Ethin Erwin won 6-4, 6-3. Ethan Gelinas lost 6-4, 6-4. Becker Byrd won 6-3, 7-5. Brooks Poppe lost 6-3, 6-2. Cord Lassere lost 7-9 (9-7), 6-3. Extra match: Marshall James won 8-3.
Jill Guajardo lost 7-5, 6-0. Abbie Saunders lost 6-1, 6-1. Valeria Molina lost 6-2, 6-2. Greeley Malone won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Samantha Zamora won 7-5, 6-4. Kya Spurgers lost 6-1, 6-1.

Pirates flying high as Owls swoop into town

Lytle Pirate Weston Jackson leaves Poteet behind on a touchdown run down the sideline. By R Gonzalez.

Kickoff is 7pm
Jerel Beaty-Staff writer
The Pirate flag sits atop District 14-3A DI standings at 1-0 after their dramatic 19-18 victory in Poteet. Lytle is currently riding a five-game winning streak, three of which were of the comeback variety.
That top-spot is shared with San Antonio Cole and Jourdanton who are also 1-0. Hondo, Poteet, and Crystal City are currently 0-1. Hondo started the season with three straight victories that included wins over Banco (49-38), Carrizo Springs (40-6), and Uvalde (39-34) before dropping three straight that began with a 46-19 drubbing at the hands of Devine. The Owls lost their last nonconference game in Bandera 38-6 to the Bulldogs before dropping their district-opener October 11. After Lytle, Hondo closes the season at home against Crystal City, on the road in Jourdanton, and against Poteet at Barry Field.
Pirates plunder Aggies’ booty 19-18
Poteet more than likely thought they were well on their way to victory as they took what looked like to them an insurmountable 18-6 lead over Lytle in the early stages of the third quarter of last Friday’s District 14-3A DI opener in Aggieland.
However, no one associated with Pirate Nation was even remotely surprised that Lytle came storming back to take the 19-18 victory in yet another electrifying ending to a Pirate ballgame.
If, in fact, the Aggies counted the Pirates out before the final buzzer sounded, then they did a poor job pre-scouting these “cardiac kids” as Lytle now has three impressive comeback victories under their bandolier, all of which were against current or former Class 4A programs in Bandera, Carrizo Springs, and now Class 3A Poteet.
Sitting at 5-1 overall but more importantly at 1-0 in district standings, Lytle kept alive its pursuit of a gold ball while the ‘gig’ is possibly up for the Aggies as their own dreams of a title are now severely hampered at 0-1 with only four games to go before the state playoffs.
Cut to the Chase- Chase Guevara’s 55-yard touchdown reception in the

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JV Arabian volleyball

The JV Arabians celebrate a big play in thier first matchup with the Eagles.

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The JV Arabian volleyball team hit a couple of bumps in the road in recent games as they lost tow of their last three games. Devine lost to Floresville (0-2) and Carrizo Springs (1-2) while sandwiching in a victory over Uvalde in between.
The Jaguars won by consecutive 25-22 scores and the Wildcats battled to a three-set win winning the last set 15-12.
Devine had a tough test in the first set against Uvalde, coming out on top 25-20. The Arabians put their foot down in set two 25-14, erasing any doubt who the better team was that night.

Arabian XC 3rd place team at District Meet

2024 Arabian and Warhorse Cross Country Runners pose for a photo earlier this season.

Montes 4th overall, Jones, Rangel, Carr, Sierra, A. Garcia, & D. Garcia Regional Qualifiers

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Hailey Montes was one of only four five runners in a field of 40 competitors as she placed fourth individually to lead her Arabian Cross Country team to a third place finish at last Wednesday’s District 27-4A Meet in Floresville.
Devine scored 82 points, finishing behind the host Jaguars who claimed the championship with 30 points and Pleasanton who scored 61 points.
Joining Montes on that two-hour-plus trip is Claire Jones, Charlee Rangel, Aimee Carr, Camila Sierra, Angelina Garcia, and Darilynn Garcia.
Montes ran her two miles in 12:53.8, less than four-seconds behind the third place runner from Floresville.
Jones barely missed top15 distinction as she came in 16th with a time of 13:53.1.
Rangel was a top 20 runner as she came in 19th with a time of 14:11.8.
Carr placed 23rd with a time of 14:31.3
Sierra placed 24th with a time of 14:37.6.
A. Garcia placed 26th with a time of 14:56.3.
D. Garcia placed 32nd with a time of 15:32.6.
Congratulations to Head Coach Hannah Thompson, assistant coach Mark Mangold, and all Arabian runners on their regional qualifying season!
Who else?
According to the UIL…

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Warhorse XC District 27-4A Runner-Up

Warhorse Cross Country is Regional Bound! Photo by M Riou.

Warhorses Dixon 3rd, Lane, Botello, Lowe, Cisneros, Riou, & Guerra on to Regionals!

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Donovan Dixon led the Warhorse Cross Country team at District 27-4A Meet in Floresville last Wednesday as he finished third overall in the individual standings.
Devine scored 62 points to finish as the runner-up team and earned a trip to Corpus Christi for the upcoming Regional Meet. Floresville was the team champion as they scored 32 points.
Dixon is joined on the Regional Qualifier letterman patch list with Brody Lane, Ryan Botello, Shawn Lowe, Jesus Cisneros, Jake Riou, and Zach Guerra.
Dixon was one of only three runners in the field of 39 that posted a sub-18 time. He ran his 5K in 17:33.6 to place behind the top two runners from the host Tigers.
Lane was just outside a top-10 nod as he came in 11th overall with a time of 18:25.3. His finish was a neck-and-neck battle came up 0:00.3 short as Lane was edged at the finish line by a runner from Floresville
Botello also made the top 15 as he placed 13th with a time of 18:36.8.
Lowe placed 17th with a time of 19:05.3.
Cisneros was 18th with a time of 19:11.8.
Riou placed 20th with a time of 19:23.3.
Guerra was 22nd with a time of 19:30.9.
Congratulations to…

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