Category: Warhorses & Arabians

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.

The 8th grade Fillys Volleyball teams had a full week of playing this past week. To start the week, the teams made the long trip to Carrizo Springs to face the Wildcats.
The Gold team started the evening off in the first 8th grade game of the night. In the first set, the Fillys and the Wildcats battled back and forth. At a 3-all tie, the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-3 lead. But, when the Filly’s setter, Paige Barron, came into the game and served, the game took on an entirely new look. Paige served 18 straight serves, helping the Fillys go up on Carrizo Springs 21-9. A few minutes later, the game ended with the Fillys winning 24-11 as time expired.
In the 2nd set, the Fillys dominated. Coming off of the first set win, Jacqueline Salazar served 10 straight Filly points, putting the team up 12-4. After that, Paige Barron, once again, went on a serving streak for her team, serving 10 straight serves as well. The Fillys found themselves up 23-5. After a side out point, Kenzie Schott came in and served for the game winning point. The Fillys won the game and pushed their season record to 2-1.
The Maroon game followed the gold team’s victory. Starting out receiving in the first set, the Fillys found themselves down by 5. Slowly but surely, the Fillys started to come back against the Wildcats. After being down 8-17, the Fillys made a run, and before they knew it, the score was 23-24. With the game on the line, the Wildcats were able to side out and score the winning point. The Fillys dropped the first set 23-25.

Early in the 2nd set, the score was 10-9 in favor of Carrizo Springs. The back and forth battle continued 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16-16, and 19-19. After that, the Wildcats made it 19-22. The Fillys stood their ground, fighting for each and every ball, and each and every point. In the end though, Carrizo won the 2nd set 25-20, capturing the win.
On Saturday, the Fillys hosted their home tournament. In the first game of the morning, the Fillys took on Hondo. In the first set, the Fillys jumped out to a 8-2 lead, but the Owls came up even at 13-13. After that, Devine took the edge 20-19. Hondo then earned their way to a 21-24 lead. The Fillys did a great job holding them off, but Hondo ended up taking the first set, 21-25.  In the 2nd set, it was a point for point battle through 8-8. It was then that Hondo scored 7 straight points. After gathering themselves, Devine sat in good position at 19-21. From that point Hondo took the set 19-25.
In the second game for the Fillys, they met up with Pleasanton. Devine was up early 11-7. Just a few minutes later, Devine still led 23-22. Unfortunately, Pleasanton took the next few points in this tight battle, winning the set 25-23. The second set was almost as close with the two teams tied at 16-16 and 17-17. PLeasanton was able to hold their serve 23-19. They were then able to score two more points, winning the set 25-20 and taking the game.
In the afternoon game, the Fillys came up against the Poth Pirates. In, once again, a point for point battle, the Fillys held strong early. After leading late in the game at 21-16, the Pirates took the first set 25-16. In the second set, Poth jumped out to an early lead. The Fillys fought back and continued to battle, the team from Poth was too much for them, and they took the set 25-17, winning the game.
Even though the day was full of struggles for the Fillys, there were many bright points. They have grasped the concept of hit defense and played well against all three teams that solidly hit against them. They fought back again and again in every game. Serve receive and passing were much improved from the game just a few days earlier in the week. Hitters were getting hittable set, and were able to put many of them down. It was definitely a good showing for the Fillys, even though they did not end up victorious.

Last Friday, September 16, Devine’s freshman Arabian volleyball team traveled to the home of the Pleasanton Eagles for their third district game of the season. It was a hard fought and big win for the girls in three sets. ” We had a tough start to the game in the 1st set. Our hitters struggled a bit as we weren’t able to finish points. After talking between sets we were a new team the next two sets. Our energy was up and we did a much better job finishing plays like we should. Bella Flores and Gabby Mendez stepped up for us in the front row the next two sets. This helped us get into a rhythm and keep up our intensity. I’m so proud of the girls for not giving up and fighting for every single point as it was a battle till the end. I do want to give a shout out to the back row, that did a great job for us in serve receive and defensively the entire game. That being said, everyone stepped up and played a role in this big win for us. It was an exciting game to be a part of! One step closer to being district champs,”- Coach Stacey.
As a team the girls had a total of eight digs, sixteen assists, nine aces, and sixteen kills. Leading in digs for the night was #6 Bella Flores with three digs and six kills. Gabby Mendez had a total of nine assists as well as three aces. Set points were as follows; 18-25, 25-19, and 15-12.
Digs: Bella Flores-3, Aimee CArr-1, Payton Applewhite-1, Jaylynn Hernandez-1, Cami Carroll-1, Macie Grubb-1. Assists: Gabby Mendez-9, Cami Carroll-7. Aces: Gabby Mendez-3, Cami Carroll-2, Bella Flores-2, Payton Applewhite-1, Aimee Carr-1. Kills: Bella Flores-6, Gabby Mendez-5, Cami Carroll-2, Macie Grubb-1, Aimee Carr-1, Brilee Carroll-1.

Freshman Arabians vs Carrizo Springs

Last Tuesday night the Arabians traveled to Carrizo Springs on September 13 to face the Wildcats for their second district game of the season. Fortunately the girls came out on top 2-0. Set points were as follows; 25-8, and 25-11.
“Officially 2-0 in District. The girls did a great job staying together and maintaining focus the entire time. I saw great things from everyone tonight however I do have to give a shout out to Brilee Carroll who took over in the front row. She led the team with 4 kills for the night. Cami Carroll had 9 aces and Aimee Carr with 5 did a great job serving for us as well. Stoked for the good competition on Friday in Pleasanton,”- Coach Stacey.
As a team the girls had a total of seven assists, twenty-four aces, eight kills, and one block.
Assists: Cami Carroll-4, and Gabby Mendez-3. Aces: Cami Carroll-9, Aimee Carr-5, Gabby Mendez-4, Bella Flores-3, Lilly Owen-2, Brilee Carroll-1. Kills: Brilee Carroll-4, Aimee Carr-2, Gabby Mendez-2. Blocks: Taylin Herrera-1.

This past week the Devine Arabian Junior Varsity volleyball girls competed against Carrizo Springs and Pleasanton for district play. They were able to defeat Carrizo but struggled with Pleasanton.
They are now 2-1 in district with the loss to Pleasanton last Friday. 
Stats for Pleasanton Game: JV went 3 games losing the 3rd set 11-15. Kynedie Cruz had 2 digs, 7 Assists , 4 kills and 1 block ; Oakley Malone; 4 digs 8 Assists 3 kills; Charlee Rangel; 4 digs, 1 assists, 1 ace; Yaya Rodriguez: 2 digs, 7 kills;Katie Rios: 3 digs 1 assits 1 ace; Lynn Lawler: 1 dig 1 ace; Mckenzie Savage: 4 kills ; Sarah Stodal: 2 kills; Savannah Parker: 1 kill; andBrooke Thompson: 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 block.

Last Tuesday Devine Arabian #3 Rylee Esquibel got her 1000th career kill. The Arabians celebrated her with a picture signed by the volleyball team.

Last Tuesday, September 13, Devine’s varsity Arabian volleyball team traveled to Carrizo to face the Wildcats for their second district game of the season. The girls won in three sets; 25-16, 25-21, and 25-15. This officially makes them 2-0 for the season.
As a team the girls had a total of thirty-one kills, eleven aces, three blocks, forty-three digs, and twenty-nine assists. Leading in kills was #3 Rylee Esquibel with thirteen as well as three aces. Kate Featherly had a total of nineteen assists as well as three aces. Skylar Blanton took control of the net with a total of four blocks. Avery Cruz led in the number of digs with a total of thirteen.
Kills: Esquibel-13, Miller-10, Blanton-5, Morales-2, Oropeza-1. Aces: Esquibel-3, Featherly-3, Kelsey Dishman-3, Cruz-1, Kaylee Romano-1. Blocks: Blanton-3, Morales-1. Digs: Cruz-13, Esquibel-7, Moralez-5, Featherly-5, Morales-4, Oropeza-3, Dishman-3, Miller-2, Blanton-1. Assists: Featherly-19, Dishman-5, Miller-1, Morales-1, Moralez-1, Esquibel-1, Cruz-1.

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Devine’s 16-play, 73-yard touchdown-scoring drive to open Friday night’s showdown against the visiting Hondo Owls set the tone for what kind of night the Warhorses were going to have as they mashed their way to a convincing 34-6 victory to run their record to 4-0 on the season with a matchup in the Honey Bowl versus Uvalde on tap this Friday night.

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