Cami Carroll scooped up 12 digs and 2 aces against McMullen.
Jerel Beaty Staff writer The Arabians should be more than ready to kick off District 29-4A action on Friday, September 13 in Uvalde as they put their extremely challenging preseason schedule to bed last night in the DSAC against Navarro. Although the season has been full of adjustments with many new players in new positions this year, Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver believes her team is coming around at the right time to make its move toward a championship. “The girls showed some fight and the drive to win against McMullen County,” McIver said after their five-set nailbiter last Friday evening. “Something clicked right before the third set, and we never looked back. I’m proud of the girls, and hopefully this is just the start for them.” Devine looked sluggish the first two sets against McMullen, losing 25-19 and 25-20, to go down as two sets to none. But, when it looked like doom and gloom would prevail, the Arabians rose…
Jerel Beaty Staff writer Devine’s freshman Arabians went 2-1 Saturday in their host volleyball tournament, finishing as runner-up to D’Hanis’ JV squad. The team played Navarro last night, and open District 29-4A play this Friday in Uvalde before entertaining Carrizo Springs next Tuesday. “We had a slow start in the Pleasanton game, which is typical it being the first game of the day,” said Stacy about the bright and early first-serve. “Once the girls got going it was hard to stop us after that, though!” vs Pleasanton 25-10, 25-13 “It always feels good to take down a district opponent in pre-season!” was the exclamation after the Arabians slid past Pleasanton with ease. Sydney Solis led in kills with 4, while Leann Guemes had 3. Peyton Dixon Davis added 2 kills to go along with a block. Gigi Madrid tossed in 6 assists and Aaliyah Moralez netted 2. A’Dell Holder had a whopping 7 aces, and Madrid served up 5. Greeley Malone had 2 digs. D’Hanis JV 17-25, 23-25 Ah, dad-burn-it! That pesky D’Hanis JV team slipped into Devine and took…
Brayden Reyes was the man of the night, rushing for 217 yards and three touchdowns with great blocking by his teammates clearing the way to victory. Photos by Brigid Howard. Find tons of photos on our Devine News Smug Mug to download!
Devine boots Indians from Warhorse Stadium 34-19
Brayden Reyes rushes for 217 yards & 3 TDs
Jerel Beaty Staff writer What a difference a week makes! Devine put on a show in their second home game of the short season as they defeated the visiting Jourdanton Indians behind Brayden Reyes’ 217 yard, three touchdown performance. The Warhorses racked up 409 yards total offense as Reyes, Eli Contreras, Wero Torres, Anthony Saldivar, and Edward Perez combined for 373 yards on the ground. Oh, but the defense stole the show for much of the game as that unit also came up huge over and over again. The Indians never got their running game off the ground, while their pass attempts mostly dropped helplessly to the Warhorse Stadium turf. After his team’s overall performance in their season-opening loss to Randolph (also at Warhorse Stadium), Devine Head Coach Paul Gomez was thrilled to see the quick turnaround from his team as Jourdanton was certainly a real threat prior to kickoff, to hop on their high-horse after this game and gallop out of town with a victory of their own. “I am very proud of our effort,” stated Gomez as he began his post-game comments. “I thought we executed very well this week, and we eliminated most of the penalties that killed our chances to win our first game.” Even though Devine still committed its fair-share of penalties, it was night-and-day improvement in that area. The Indians put the first points on the Brown Chevrolet scoreboard as they booted a 30-yard field goal with 5:49 to go in the first quarter. Devine’s defense bent, but did not break as Jourdanton began this drive only 35-yards away from the end zone, thanks to a bad snap on a Warhorse punt attempt near mid-field. “That first stand was a great momentum boost for us defensively. We gave them great field position, but our defense was able to hold them to only the three points.” Devine answered that three-pointer with a quick drive of their own as Contreras converted a big third-down play by rushing 19-yards for a first down. Contreras’ run set up the first of Reyes’ three scores, this one from 24 yards with 2:41 to go in the opening frame. Teotimo Stafford converted the extra point, and the Warhorses led 7-3 going into the second quarter. The Warhorse defense looked as though it may force a three and out on Jourdanton’s next possession, but a questionable penalty negated what would have been…
#70 Trystan Lafond filling up the stat-boxes with 4 solo tackles, 2 assists, 2 TFLs (tackle for loss), 1 sack, 1 quarterback pressure, and a forced fumble that Jourdanton recovered.
Jerel Beaty Staff writer New Devine Defensive Coordinator Danny Sanchez has made himself right at home as the signal caller for the Warhorse ‘D.” In fact, after just two ballgames in the books, Sanchez has already brought his own analytics to the forefront of showing his players how good of an outing they actually had in their previous Friday night tilt. These results are known as “SanchoStats.” Anyone who watched Devine shut down an overall bigger-bodied, more-skilled team in Jourdanton at Warhorse Stadium had to walk out talking about the effort and plays made on the defensive side of the ball. After reviewing game film, SanchoStats read as such: vs J’town—RUSHING 23 rushes for 54 yards/2.35 yards per carry/1 TD (4 of these were scrambles for 17 yards…take those away and it is 19/27 for 1.95 yards a carry) PASSING 18 of 36 passing (50%) 238 yards 1 TD, 2 INTS, 1 Sack. The only possible stat that could be negative is the 18 of 36 passing for 238 yards, but, and this is a huge but, Jourdanton only managed one score through the air on those completions. Not giving up the deep-ball for six is a valued part of the game. Keeping the ball in front of defenders and making tackles to negate yards after the catch is vital, and the Horses did just that. “We wanted to take away the running game from Jourdanton, and we did,” Sanchez stated after accumulating his data. “Our secondary knew they would try to expose us in the air, and we were up for…
Jerel Beaty Staff writer Devine’s 34-19 blistering of visiting Jourdanton last Friday brought plenty of attention to the football program, and to one Warhorse individually as Brayden Reyes was awarded a San Antonio Express-News “Game Ball” by sportswriter David Hinojosa. Reyes rushed 18 times for 217 yards and three touchdowns in Devine’s impressive 15-point victory. He also caught a pass for seven yards. Congratulations, Brayden!
Devine JV defense puts on the pressure. Photo by Brigid Howard.
Jerel Beaty Staff writer The Devine JV Horses continued their early season dominance as they defeated Jourdanton on their home turf 46-0 last Thursday evening. Devine is now 2-0 on the season after defeating Randoph in week one and are ready to go 3-0 as they will once again combine with JV2 to play in Natalia Thursday at the conclusion of both the 7th grade and 8th grade Colt football games. “This year has been very fun thus far,” said Coach Lon Cozby after his team put up its second consecutive shutout victory. “This group plays well as a family and takes care of each other in every aspect. It is hard to beat a team that plays all 11 as one unit and that is exactly what we have done.” Enoch Hall got the game going on the right foot as he returned the opening kickoff to the 40-yard line before running back Ryan Weinkam showed more than a little speed on the first play of the game. “Ryan took the ball off the left side and busted passed everyone for a 60-yard touchdown. Dylan Hinnant had a pancake block early in…
The Lytle Pirate Cheerleaders get the crowd going. The Pirates won the Legacy Bowl last year in a thriller, and both teams are looking to go on another streak in the rivalry matchup.
Eric Smith Staff Writer The Natalia Mustangs (1-0) and the Lytle Pirates (0-1) will square off this coming Friday at Walter Joyce Stadium for the 64th time in the history of the two programs dating back to 1933. The Pirates were able to break an 8-year drought last season 23-14 over the Mustangs and everyone is expecting this year’s contest to be a close one. Rival Battle History The Natalia Mustangs lead the historic battle between the two programs 34-27-3 overall as this will mark the “15th Legacy Bowl” battle between the two programs dating back to the start in 2004-2005. The Pirates won the first ever Legacy Bowl game 25-24 in OT in 04-05’ as that was the first of six in a row for the black and gold. Other results were as follows: 05-06’: 23-14. (Natalia and Lytle did not play again until 2012-2013 due to vandalism of a school bus). 2012-2013 it resumed with a 35-33 win for Lytle HS. Other wins for LHS: 13-14’: 41-13, 14-15’: 42-20. In 2015-2016, Natalia won their first of eight straight games with the following results: 15-16’: 19-6, 16-17’: 34-21, 17-18’: 30-3, 18-19’: 7-6, 19-20’: 63-10, 20-21’: 26-14, 21-22’ 41-0, 22-23’: 47-3. Last season, as mentioned the Pirates snapped the eight-game win streak 23-14 in a thriller.
Natalia Preview The Natalia Mustangs are coming off their season opening victory on the road vs. Skidmore-Tynan. Lytle Head Coach Mike Trevino was asked his thoughts on Natalia and had the following to say:….
The Varsity Arabians will be playing at home on Friday against McMullen County.
Jerel Beaty Staff Writer Arabian volleyball may be on what many call a “rough patch” as the losses are outnumbering the wins at this point in the season. Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver is fully aware of what lies ahead for her team as the tough “tournament season” portion and pre-district schedule is almost complete. “I understand that we do not have the full concept of ‘how to win’ right now, but that is why I scheduled these tough-type games and tournaments that lead into District 29-4A,” McIver said, confident in her team’s ability to learn on the fly and to be ready for what is still to come during the 2024 campaign. Recent games against perennial playoff teams like Crystal City, Canyon Lake, San Antonio Christian, Hondo, Medina Valley, and last year’s 29-4A winner Floresville has helped the Arabian squad come together as a team more than any normal fan can probably see at this point. “Our confidence is not shaken; it is actually…
Eric Smith Staff Writer The Natalia Mustangs used an impressive rushing game (36-rushes-325 yards) to overall dominate the flow of the game in their season opener last Friday on the road vs. the Skidmore-Tynan Bobcats. Natalia was led by Sophomore QB Leo Buentello, who rushed 17 times for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. “I was really happy with how our kids competed for four quarters,” Coach Jason Reynolds said. “Our coaching staff did a great job making adjustments and our kids executed. It feels good to get the first win of the season, but we have a lot to clean up.” The Mustangs opened the game with an impressive scoring drive, as they marched 71 yards down field with a heavy dose of…
Jerel Beaty Staff Writer Not much went right as far as football and the final score that showed on the Walter Joyce Stadium scoreboard at the end of Friday night’s season-opening contest between the host Lytle Pirates and the visiting Llano Yellowjackets. Llano breezed by the Pirates 47-0, but anyone that knows Lytle Head Coach Mike Trevino and his outlook on life knows this defeat will not define their season. “We talk about these types of situations all the time in our program,” Trevino stated regarding his thoughts on how the Llano contest could actually serve as a springboard to greater heights. “We invite hard things, and one phrase we lean on every day is ‘prepare our fields for rain’! Our Week 1 game was set intentionally to make us better and create opportunities down the road.” The next “opportunity down the road” comes in the form of the Natalia Mustangs, and Trevino believes his team will…
