Category: Warhorses & Arabians

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Hailey Montes led her Arabian Cross Country team to an 11th place finish in Corpus Christi last weekend as she placed 42nd among the 285 runners in the small school division. Devine scored 324 points as they now focus in a little more on their upcoming district competition.
Montes ran her two-mile race in 14:44, beating the next runner by just over a second at the finish line.
Charlee Rangel, Camila Sierra, Claire Atkinson, and Aimee Carr joined Montes in scoring for the team.
Rangel finished 57th with a time of 15:07, Sierra was 71st at 15:25, Atkinson 85th crossing at 15:36, and Carr 100th with a time of 15:56.
Darilynn Garcia (137th, 16:30) and Aaralynn Garcia (167th, 17:17) also competed.
Top 12 team rankings (of 35)
1st La Feria 86, 2nd Tilden 93, 3rd Lytle 120, 4th Poth 124, 5th Lago Vista 195, 6th Sinton 229, 7th Progreso 252, 8th Zapata 270, 9th Weimar 273, 10th Incarnate Word 301, 11th Devine 324, 12th Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway 364.

Donovan Dixon 4th individually

Donovan Dixon and the rest of the Warhorse Cross Country team got a little preview of what is to come if they make it to Regional in Corpus Christi later this month as Dixon placed fourth individually of 206 runners and the team came in fourth as well among 23 in competition at Saturday’s Islander Splash which was rescheduled due to Mother Nature a few weeks ago.
Dixon ran his 5K in 17:27, only four-seconds behind the third place runner and four-seconds ahead of the fifth place finisher at the Islander Splash.
Scoring Devine’s 180 points along with Dixon were Ryan Botello, Brody Lane, Jake Riou, and Zane Fritz.
Botello finished 36th with a time of 19:20, Lane was 55th at 19:56, Riou came in next at 56th and a time of 19:59, and Fritz crossed at 63rd with a time of 20:12.
Shawn Lowe (68th, 20:19),Zac Guerra (72nd, 20:23), and Jesus Cisneros (94th, 21:04) also ran.
Top 10 (of 23)
1st Lytle 33, 2nd Del Rio 123, 3rd Tilden McMullen County 128, 4th Devine 180, 5th San Diego 199, 6th Rockport-Fulton 210, 7th Premont 224, 8th Sinton 278, 9th Alice 298, 10th Robstown 299.

Warhorses defeather Owls 46-19

32-point 2nd half ambush too much to swallow for Hondo

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
A narrow first-half Battle of the Creek between Devine and Hondo in Barry Field last Friday quickly and thoroughly shifted the Warhorses direction during their 32-point surge in the game’s final 24 minutes. The Warhorses won 46-19.
A nail-biting 14-7 Devine lead at the break inflated to 28-7 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. Hondo struck quickly to pull within two scores, but the true onslaught was just beginning for the Warhorses.
Devine’s 18-point fourth quarter put to rest which team owned the “Creek Rights” for 2024. Hondo took that honor a year ago with their 44-6 win.
Oh, but what a difference a year makes!
Devine was in complete charge of this one as their defense never let the Owl offense breath while the Warhorse offense continually put drives together that, even if they did not end in a score, put Hondo in long-drive situations just to even be able to sniff the end zone.
Head Coach Paul Gomez on his team’s victory.
“It was definitely a good win against a really solid Hondo football team this past Friday! I am certainly proud of the effort and discipline that our boys played with. More importantly, we played as a team and, together, we knew we could be successful.”
‘Successful’ is quite an understatement as this is one of the bigger Devine wins over Hondo in recent memory. Coming into the game, the Horses had reason to “fear” the Owls as Hondo had three impressive victories prior.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it” and the Horses definitely conquered any fear they may have had before the opening kickoff even hit the air.
“We were physical, and aggressive from the beginning. Our offensive line, tight ends and running backs did a great job blocking all night. Everyone committed to being their best, even when the ball was not in their own hands.”
Quarterbacks are the only skill position guaranteed to…

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Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
The Arabian volleyball team is hitting their stride at just the right time of season as Devine began District 29-4A with three straight wins to open at 3-0, which puts them in a tie for first with Floresville, early in league action.
Devine handled the Lady Wildcats easily in four sets on September 17 while turning into the “Cardiac Kids” against Pleasanton on September 20 as they rallied from an 0-2 set-deficit, to win in five thrilling sets.
Pleasanton
Many fans in attendance at the Arabians vs Lady Eagles match in Pleasanton last Friday may have wandered out of the gym just a tad early to get to the football stadium their respective towns were playing in that evening.
For those that hung around, especially Arabian Nation fans, they were treated to a miraculous comeback by Devine that saw them rally to the 5-set victory.
“What a night! We started off real slow, not playing like us,” Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver stated after her team’s sluggish, error-prone start. “It was not until the third set that we came alive and started playing to our true capabilities.”
Pleasanton got off to a torrid start, dropping Devine 25-15 in the first set. At that point, it looked like it could be a quick Lady Eagle winning night.
The Arabians picked up their game in the second set, barely coming out of set two on the short end with a 25-23 final score.
“We started slow in the second set as well, but…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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