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!