Category: Warhorses & Arabians

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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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.

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.

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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Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
One for the ages, cont.
I have personally only been associated with Warhorse football for the past 27 seasons, which is chump-change for many of you who are reading this edition of “Tidbits.”
My memory is fading and useless stuff clouds what is left of my mind most of the time, but I cannot for the life of me remember either being a part of or being in the stands for a more enjoyable and memorable regular season ballgame than the one Devine and Marble Falls played last Friday night at Warhorse Stadium.
It had a little bit of everything and including, most importantly, the happiest of all endings that saw Devine put together their best offensive drive of the season that culminated in a winning touchdown with only 15 seconds left on the functioning scoreboard in the north end zone.
That Enoch Hall touchdown (who is a freshman, by the way) followed by the post-score extra-point combination of snapper EJ Gonzales getting the ball to holder Jacob Sollock to place it on the ground nicely for kicker Teotimo Stafford was sandwiched between a monumental defensive stop that resulted in only three points instead of seven (yes, holding Mable Falls to a field goal instead of a potential two-possession lead that would have been the case had they gotten into the end zone is 100% considered a stop at that point of the game) and a game-ending sack of the Mustang quarterback by Riley Gutierrez as the clock ticked dry put all of Warhorse Nation that was in attendance in an ultimate state of euphoria that more than likely it had not experienced since Devine pulled victory from the jaws of defeat against Hondo in 2002 when Kyle Pilaczynski blocked an Owl punt that Angel Gonzalez scooped and scored for the winning touchdown in the waning moments of that exciting ballgame.
Runner-up
The only other possible regular season game to even mention over the last quarter-century is the 2015 50-49 win Warhorse win at Barry Field in Hondo. Devine led comfortably at halftime 35-14 at halftime…or at least it seemed comfortable as the Owls found a little magic to take a 49-42 lead with 0:59 left.
The Horses got the last say that particular night as receiver Beau Cardenas hauled in a Dillon Ricord 30-yard pass with only :32 ticks left.
Not wanting to hear that dad burned victory bell ring after the game, then Head Coach Chad Quisenberry relied on the…

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District begins Thursday with 5pm kickoff

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Dag Burn It! The JV1 Horses had a perfect 5-0 record going into their road game in Marble Falls last Thursday but came out 5-1 after the Mustangs escaped with a 28-20 win.
Devine was down but definitely not out even facing a 22-8 deficit at the break. The Horses closed to within a two-point conversion at 22-20 but could not tie it up nor take the lead before the final horn sounded.
“We kept battling all game long, even after Marble Falls had three first half touchdown passes” said Coach Lon Cozby. “We had a few injuries set us back a little, but we still had a chance late in the game and that is all I could ask for.”
Late game magic was possible, but it would have taken more than a good share of it as starting running back Ryan Weinkam exited the contest in the second quarter, and other Warhorses also were unable to continue as Devine finished the game with only seven healthy players standing on the sideline.
Marble Falls connected on their first of three first half touchdown passes to take a 6-0 lead. Weinkam intercepted their two-point attempt near the goal line and returned it 99 yards the other direction to make the score 6-2.
“Ryan was able to show off…

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Devine rallies for 28-27 win over Marble Falls

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
WOW! What a show at Warhorse Stadium last Friday night!
Freshman running back Enoch Hall scored from two-yards out to even the game at 27, then EJ Gonzalez delivered a perfect point-after snap to holder Jacob Sollock who swiftly put it down on the black tee for super-composed placekicker Teotimo Stafford to boot through the winning extra point, giving Devine a dramatic, one-for-the-ages 28-27 comeback victory over the Marble Falls Mustangs.
Warhorse players, coaches, managers, trainers, and cheerleaders all burst into celebration after Riley Gutierrez sacked the Mustang quarterback to end the game as he prepared to let a desperation “Hail Mary” attempt fly from his fingertips on what was the last play of a ballgame that was entertaining in every way possible.
The Horses ride a 5-game winning streak into Carrizo Springs Friday as District 14-4A DII action is set to begin.
Prior to Hall’s touchdown, Devine, already trailing 24-21, could not afford to let the Mustangs offense complete a drive that ended in the end zone or the chances of the Warhorses picking up their fifth win in a row would be severely hampered.
Instead, although the defense bent a couple of times on that Marble Falls drive, it came up with huge stop necessary on a Mustang fourth down and five to go on the six yard line that gave Devine…

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Varsity Warhorse #42 Gavin Socarras makes a flying tackle.

District 14-4A opener Friday night

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Preseason schedules are now completed for all District 14-4A DII football programs which allows for the real part of the season to kick off as the battle for the top spot begins.
Devine claimed the runner-up spot in 2023 as Bandera took the top honors, but the Warhorses are taking quite the roll that hopefully not only continues into their district opener Friday night in Carrizo Springs but through their remaining guaranteed games of 2024.
The Wildcats are looking to get a piece of that playoff-pie, and they know an upset on their home turf of the Warhorses would go a long way to getting them at least to the bi-district round of the state playoffs.
Devine currently sits at 5-1 on the season. After dropping their opener to Randolph in overtime, the Warhorses have reeled off consecutive wins against Jourdanton, Natalia, Hondo, San Antonio Christian, and Marble Falls.
Carrizo Springs may feel like that have a little momentum on their side after their 66-24 win over Robstown last Friday, Even with the win, the Wildcats are 2-4 on the year with their only other victory coming against Hebbronville September 13 as they took the 36-0 win.
The Wildcats opened the season with a 13-8 loss at Uvalde before Hondo blitzed them in their home opener a week later 40-6.
Following their Hebbronville win, Lytle defeated the Wildcats 19-12 as did Crystal City 23-20.
After Devine…

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