Devine’s rushing game came out of hibernation just as “winter” hit Warhorse Stadium. Devine rushed 53 times for 481 yards and six touchdowns in its 42-26 thrashing of the Hondo Owls on a cool night for these parts of Texas. The last time the Warhorses broke the 400-yard rushing mark was against Crystal City on November 4, 2016.
Almost three years have passed since that time, but coincidentally enough, the Javelinas are next up on the District 29-4A schedule Friday night in Crystal City. Is it possible that Devine could break that 400-yard barrier once again?
If the offensive line can blow the Javelina defenders off the ball like they did the Owls then “yes” would be the smart answer to that question.
Looking back
As stated, the Horse’s last rushing performance of more than 400 yards was against Crystal City in 2016. Who exactly were those guys?
On that district-championship clinching night 2 years and 11 months ago, Dillon Ricord, Jack Zimmerle, James Cantero, Phillip Ramos, Grant Collins, and Quentin Zapata combined to rush 60 times for 518 yards and five touchdowns. Coincidentally enough, just like this past Friday, the Horses also scored 42 points that night beating the Javelinas 42-21.
Old hat. Not exactly.
Those were some talented Warhorse backs listed in the previous paragraph. Murmurs throughout town this weekend of “Devine used to always rush for 400 yards a game” or something similar were reiterated repeatedly.
Well, not so fast there. Yes, it has been a while since that 400-yard mark was surpassed; there is no denying that. But, the only other time that 9-1, District Champion 2016 team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game was against Lytle in both teams’ district opener. Devine won that game 28-6, rushing for 477 yards in the process.
Friday night’s dominant rushing performance against the Owls could be the catalyst for another District Championship run.
Scoring summary
DEV—Leonard Pompa 1-yard run (Jacob Featherly PAT), 10:00, 1st
HON—Brandon J. Garcia 65-yard pass to Carson Winchester (Brandon R. Garcia PAT), 8:30, 1st
DEV—Buddy Santos 2-yard run (Featherly PAT), 8:30, 2nd
DEV—Justin Contreras 19-yard run (Featherly PAT), 5:46, 2nd
DEV—Santos 30-yard run (Featherly PAT), 3:43, 2nd
HON—Brandon J. Garcia 2-yard run (Brandon R. Garcia PAT), 3:46, 3rd
DEV—Contreras 75-yard run (Featherly PAT), 3:34, 3rd
HON—Jayden Gallardo 71-yard fumble return (2pt pass failed), 10:20, 4th
DEV—Pompa 6-yard run (Featherly PAT), 2:17, 4th
HON—Brandon J. Garcia 8-yard run (2pt run failed), 0:28, 4th
Team stats
Total yards-Dev 523 Hon 216 First downs-Dev 24 Hon 12 Rushes/Yards-Dev 53-481 Hon 26-65 Avg Rush-Dev 9.08 Hon 2.5 Comp/Att/Yards-Dev 4-6-42 Hon 7-23-151 Fumbles/Lost-Dev 2-1 Hon 4-3 Penalties/Yards-Dev 6-52 Hon 6-61
Warhorse stats
Passing-Isaiah Oropeza 3-5 for 12 yards, Brady Hackebeil 1-1 for 30 yards Rushing-Justin Contreras 19-273 and 2 TDs, Buddy Santos 12-85 and 2 TDs, Leonard Pompa 11-65 and 2 TDs, Oropeza 6-40, B. Hackebeil 5-18 Receiving-Contreras 3-12, Mason Burford 1-30.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Warhorse tidbits and statistics
