Click here for photos of the Warhorses vs. the Eagles
Pleasanton quarterback Johnny Zamora threw five touchdown passes in leading the Eagles to a 39-14 victory over the visiting Devine Warhorses Friday night. Junior wide receiver Dalton Hobbs hauled in four of those Zamora touchdowns with the first coming on a 24-yard reception with 9:32 left in the first quarter. The Eagles led from that point throughout the rest of the contest to earn the 39-14 victory.
Head Coach Paul Gomez put it this way. “It was a tough loss on Friday against Pleasanton. We are currently dealing with a lot of adversity right now as far as injuries and learning new positions. However, these boys keep fighting and giving good effort. I respect what these boys stand for and I know we will overcome.
Johnny Zamora is one heck of a quarterback. There were times where he was throwing to his third or fourth check down receiver and he made great, accurate throws. There were times we had their receivers all covered and Zamora made great plays scrambling, running for good yardage to keep the first down chains moving.”
The Warhorses were outgained by 90 yards offensively on the night, but could not string together a scoring drive until they already faced a 19-0 deficit. The Eagles scored on a Joel Arevalo 3-yard run midway through the first then Hobbs snagged another touchdown reception early in the second quarter.
“Pleasanton having Dalton Hobbs to throw to at 6’4” with great hands is a lethal weapon for them to have,” continued Gomez. “I have to give credit to the Eagles; they have a very good football team.”
Devine got on the scoreboard with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter. A 55-yard screen pass from Chad Lawson to Guido Zapata was the Warhorses’ lone score of the first half. The 19-7 gap quickly went to 22-7 on Eagle’s receiver Cole Wiechring 11-yard reception with 6-minutes left in the half.
Hobbs caught two more scoring passes after halftime, one on an 8-yard reception with 10:47 left in the third and another with 10:08 left in the game from 7-yards out.
Devine got one more score with 7:52 left in the game. Lawson hit receiver Isaiah Oropeza in stride for a 59-yard strike to close out the ballgame. Even though the Warhorses are a respectable 2-2 on the season, one cannot help but wonder how the Warhorses would be performing if not for the rash of injuries to overcome the team.
“The injury bug hit us again as converted running back Donovan Camacho hurt his ankle in practice on Tuesday before the Pleasanton game and was unable to play,” stated Gomez. “Then, on our first series on defense Friday, starting linebacker Leonard Pompa suffered a concussion as well as a bruised sternum and ribs on a peel back hit. A Pleasanton player launched his body head first on a blindsided hit that knocked him out of the ballgame. I thank God Leonard did not have any broken bones and his CT scan came out ok. That was the most important thing from his injury. He will be sore for a week or so but good thing is he will be ready for district.
Although Leonard got hurt while playing defense, he was supposed to be our starting tailback. He is the fourth starting tailback we have had this year but he never had a chance to run the ball due to the injury. I was excited to see him run because he had a good week of practice.
Leonard’s injury gave Mason Burford his first start at the varsity level. It also meant he was now our fifth starting tailback and we were only in week four of the season.
I was proud of Mason, the young sophomore, as he performed well on the varsity stage against a good Pleasanton team. Yes, he made some mistakes but he owned up to them and really competed his tail off. It will just take some time for him to adjust to the speed.
I am actually very proud of all the guys that have stepped up for the team in filling in for our injured kids in the different offensive packages. Colin Dishman also did a good job blocking and running routes on offense and on the defensive side making by making several tackles.
Other young kids that have stepped up and done well for us are Tristan Kannard, Kaleb Nira, Cesar Rodriguez, Darrin Lafferty, and Devin Ornelas. These kids were playing JV a few weeks ago and now doing a great job for us on varsity.
Joseph Guajardo and Demi Monreal returned last week so they had a chance to get out there and contribute. Once they can get into game shape, they will definitely improve. We were fortunate that a couple of new seniors made their debut on Friday. Brady Cardenas and Truett Barron did some good things in positions that have little depth; those two will definitely benefit our team, especially as the district season rolls around.
Offensively we moved the ball all night but made too many mistakes. It is tough to get into a rhythm while losing so many parts to your offense because of the lack of first-string reps during practice as a unit. We just haven not had the same people on the field for longer than a game.
That being said the kids really did a good job of overcoming that obstacle and really playing their hearts out. We have been lucky for years without having many substantial injuries on our teams, and, it seems to have finally caught up to us.
These injuries are not due to lack of weight training, conditioning, or anything along those lines. They are kind of freakish accidents. Unfortunately, we have had an abundance of them in the last couple of years. These kids are fighters and they will overcome. We will keep pounding that rock until it breaks. We are staying positive and going to work.”
Team statistics
Total yards—Devine 277; Pleasanton 367
First downs—Devine 12; Pleasanton 22
Rushing yards—Devine 34 for 103; Pleasanton 32 for 195
Passing yards—Devine (Chad Lawson) 5 of 11 for 174 and 2 touchdowns, 1 interception; Pleasanton 16 of 24 for 172 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Warhorse statistics
Rushing—Lawson 15 for 32, Guido Zapata 4 for 30, Mason Burford 11 for 26, Isaiah Oropeza 2 for 9, Brady Cardenas 1 for 6.
Receiving—Oropeza 2 for 104 and 1 touchdown, Zapata 2 for 60 and 1 touchdown, Sergio Martinez 1 for 10.
Scoring summary
PLE—Dalton Hobbs 24-yard pass from Johnny Zamora (Justin Castillo PAT), 9:32, 1st.
PLE—Joel Arevalo 3-yard run (PAT failed), 5:35, 1st.
PLE—Hobbs 5-yard pass from Zamora (2-pt pass failed), 11:38, 2nd.
DEV—Guido Zapata 55-yard pass from Chad Lawson (Sergio Martinez PAT), 8:37, 2nd.
PLE—Cole Wiechring 11-yard pass from Zamora (Castillo PAT), 6:00, 2nd.
PLE—Hobbs 8-yard pass from Zamora (PAT failed), 10:47, 3rd.
PLE—Hobbs 3-yard pass from Zamora (Castillo PAT), 10:08, 4th.
DEV—Isaiah Oropeza 59-yard pass from Lawson (Lawson PAT), 7:52, 4th.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer