Category: Warhorses & Arabians

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The JV Arabians continue dominating District 29-4A as they picked up two more victories over the past week. Devine defeated Carrizo Springs in two sets followed by another dominating performance in Pleasonton with their 2-0 win.
Carrizo Springs
Devine won the first set 25-22 before putting the pedal to the metal in set two in their 25-12 two-set sweep.
“We fought for every point in the first match and had to battle all the way to the end,” said Coach Alejandra Mora. “It was a back-and-forth match as we made just too many errors early on.”
The errors were mostly put away for the night in set two as Devine went on to the 13-point win.
“We kept our intensity up and starting off strong in the second set.”
Brooke DuBose had a nice service-run as she railed off six straight points, with four of those being good for an ace.
Kyrie DuBose led the way with 10 kills while Ava Rangel notched two more. Rylie Wells took away the middle…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Devine’s Airyanna “Yaya” Rodriguez and her Arabian volleyball teammates had a terrific week as they defeated Carrizo Springs in four sets September 17 and Pleasanton in five sets September 20.
Sportswriter David Hinojosa rewarded Rodriguez for her efforts with the San Antonio Express-News Player of the Week honors.
Rodriguez torched the Lady Cats for 22 kills and 17 digs in their 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23 win.
The Pleasanton game was one for the ages as Devine rallied from a 0-2 deficit to take the next three sets in dramatic fashion.
Losing 25-15, 25-23 set Rodriguez and the Arabians up for one the best matches in recent history as they came back for the 25-15, 27-25, 20-18 scintillating victory.
Rodriguez had 34 kills and 26 digs against the Lady Eagles helping Devine move to a perfect 3-0 in District 29-4A.
Runner-ups to Player of the Week honors were Cobee Beckerson of Center Point, Miranda Clark of San Antonio O’Connor, Lexi Dahl of Davenport, a Sierra DeLoza of Sotomayor, Angel Osteguin of San Antonio Brennan, and Brooke Romo of San Antonio McCollum.
Congratulations, Yaya!

DID YOU KNOW? Willie Nelson, country music legend, was a four-sport letterman in the small central Texas town of Abbott. WWII placed their football program on hold, but was reinstated in 1947 and the team roster was a bunch of skinny country boys with make shift uniforms and painted on numbers.
At that time, Willie was a 5’9” 130# 14 -year-old sophomore. Now Willie is 5’6” and 91 years old and still going. The team had to learn the rules because some of them had never seen a football game. Abbott HS had 23 students in his class. They were supposed to play six-man football, but there were no six-man teams in the area; therefore, they had to play…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Hondo’s offensive explosion enjoyed going into last Friday’s matchup against the Warhorses at Barry Field, was extremely short-lived this particular night as Devine’s defense suffocated the Owl’s offense for an overwhelming majority of their snaps.
Hondo managed only 46 offensive plays on 12 full possessions, gaining a total of 303 yards. Of those 303, 44 of their 85 yards on the ground came on one play while 90 of their 218 passing yards were on a combination of two plays as Devine soared to the 46-19 victory.
In all, 134 or 303 yards were amassed on just three of those 46 offensive plays.
Wowser!
In Devine’s last three convincing victories, Warhorse Defensive Coordinator Danny Sanchez’s SanchoStats have told a darned accurate account of what exactly went on while the other team had possession of the football.
Well, this game held true to form as the Horses held what was a high-potent offense that had been averaging 43 points a game to a mere 19 points.
SanchoStats
“Our defense set the tone early as our boys were excited once they found out we were starting the game on defense,” Sanchez began his postgame comments saying. “A quick stop on the first possession was huge, and it was a premonition to Hondo for what they were going to be in for the whole night.”
Hondo averaged 4.47 yards per carry, and if the elimination of the 44-yard run they did have, went differently, that average would dip severely to only two yards per carry.
“On that 44 yard touchdown run, I had a stunt called, which meant us moving our linebackers. The two inside linebackers were supposed to run the stunt, well, Riley Gutierrez gets through, but Hondo holds our other backer, Matthew Gomez, like there is tomorrow. No penalty flags ever came flying out, so we had to live with that result of the play.”
A humongous tide-turning…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Football Trivia By (Old Warhorse #11)

Remembering battles of the creek…
Football Trivia By (Old Warhorse #11)

DID YOU KNOW? 60 years ago Old Warhorse # 11 and 27 of my Warhorse teammates strapped on our helmets to face the Hondo Owls. The game has always been a great rivalry, even though the stakes are not as high as years ago. Devine vs Hondo (now called the Battle of the Creek) was always the last game of the year and usually the district title was at stake. Fans from other schools would forego their games to watch our game. It was like the Super Bowl of Medina County. Unfortunately, Hondo won a few more super bowls than Devine.
The rivalry was intense in the Fall of ’64. We were friends with some of the Owls, some Horses dated Owl girls and vice versa. I personally knew every starter on the Hondo roster. Tommy Weisinger roomed at SWTS with an Owl and remain friends today. Hondo had a great team that year led by running back, Bobby McAnelly, aka Phil McAnelly. Bobby is now a Warhorse, after teaching at DISD for 28 years.
We had five coaches. Two of them, Marvin Gustafson and Jerry Comalander, have stadiums named after them in San Antonio. I’m not sure how many other south TX schools can make that claim!
There was no way on paper that we would beat the Owls, but in our hearts there was no team that could beat us. As teammates we were great friends and many of those friendships live on today. Tommy Weisinger, Bo Maxwell, Ronnie Rackley and I still live in Devine. Back to the game. People were standing 4 deep, surrounding the field. The crowd was the largest of that era, estimated at 8500! We came out victorious that night 21 to 0! A night I and several other Warhorses relive every chance we get! Additionally, our team won the district and made it to regional finals. Not bad for some country boys with a big heart!

Devine vs Hondo at Barry Field 7 pm

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Few rivalries in the state compare to Devine vs Hondo. It does not matter the sport, these two towns, rich in tradition, love competing against each other and many times use it as a measuring stick in their own team’s strengths and weaknesses.
With these two perennial playoff football teams battling it out this Friday in Hondo at Barry Field, Devine Head Coach Paul Gomez provided a little insight to what Warhorse Nation can expect to see as the 7 o’clock kickoff nears.
Gomez’s outlook
“It is Hondo Week! We are looking forward to making the trip across the creek this Friday night! Hondo has an incredibly good team, and they have a lot of weapons offensively.  Their quarterback, DJ Richter, is back from last year and he has a great arm and does an exceptionally good job running their offense.
DJ is very mobile and can scramble to make things happen. He is able to buy some extra time in the passing game with those capabilities and he is also a big part in their running game.
Mason Barr, their running back is very skilled as well. He does a really good job making defenders miss and creating big plays. They use him well with motion out of the backfield or lining him up as an…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Arabians cruise to first district win

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Devine got what it needed in Uvalde last Friday night as they spanked the Lobos in straight sets to begin District 29-4A at a perfect 1-0. The Arabians took on a formidable Carrizo Springs squad last night in the DSAC and have a big contest up 173 in Pleasanton this Friday.
The Arabians jumped out quickly in the first set and never looked back in their 25-15 set-one win. Devine went on to win set two 25-19 before putting the Lobos to rest in set three 25-18.
Individual player stats were not available at press time.
vs Navarro
Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver and her troops wrapped up their daunting…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Warhorse running game nets 315 yards, 4 TDs in win

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The Warhorse rushing game was in full swing last Friday night in Natalia as nine different Devine running backs accumulated 315 yards offense and scored four touchdowns in their 42-0 win over the Mustangs.
Devine threw for 145 additional yards and two touchdowns in route to improving their season record to 2-1. Natalia dropped to 1-2.
“It was definitely a good win for us,” Warhorse Head Coach Paul Gomez stated postgame. “We executed well offensively with several backs having good runs for us.”
Last week’s “Game Ball” recipient Brayden Reyes led Devine in rushing once again against the Mustangs, doing so on only 10 carries but producing 88 yards and a touchdown to go along with it.
Jeremy Steinbrenner cranked out 59 yards on only two attempts and Eli Contreras contributed 51 yards. Enoch Hall, Anthony Saldivar, Eduward Perez, Karter Brown, Jacob Sollock, and Jaysen Ramirez accounted for the rest.
Even the most casual football fan knows Devine has a traditionally-rich running game, but the Warhorses even aired it out on occasion this past week.
“We threw the ball around some and got some…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The JV Arabian volleyball team got their District 29-4A part of the season started on the right foot as they defeated Uvalde last Friday in straight sets 25-16, 25-19. Devine played Carrizo Springs Tuesday in the DSAC September 17 and next take on the Lady Eagles in Pleasanton this Friday then Poth Tuesday, September 24 in a non-district tilt.
“We seemed to come out stronger, more aggressive in the second set than the first, but we were able to get the win despite Uvalde battling us to the very end,” said Coach Alejandra Mora.
Kyrie DuBose led the way with 8 kills while Rylie Wells added a nice one from the middle right to middle hole.
Dubose, Jayme Moralez, Calleigh Schneider, and Margarita Vizcarra each served up an ace.
The Arabians played the traditionally tough…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The freshman Arabian volleyball team got their first District 29-4A win in Uvalde as the defeated the Lobos 25-23, 25-11. Devine played Carrizo Springs Tuesday at home and next take on the Lady Eagles in Pleasanton Friday and Poth in a non-district tilt Tuesday, September 24.
Even though the two-set-to-none final score of the Arabians victory in Uvalde looks as though it was a complete blowout, Coach Kara Stacy explained things in a slightly different point of view.
“We had a rocky start in this game as losing a player to injury can have its effects especially when it comes to new rotations and players having to fill different roles,” Stacy stated about the discombobulation at the beginning. “We struggled quite a bit in the first set to get a good rhythm going however the girls managed to pull off a close 25-23 win.”
Stacy was able to get her team regrouped between sets which provided a little more breathing room as the set progressed.
“Going into the second set the girls did…

TO CONTINUE READING…CLICK HERE or go to www.devinenewsmembers.com