Victoria East pulls out nailbiter against Brackenridge

HERE’S A LINK TO THIS STORY ON THE SOUTHSIDE REPORTER WEBSITE: http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/southside/news/article/Devine-turns-onside-kicks-into-winning-strategy-4819107.php

Onside kick recoveries can be momentum builders, especially when they are quickly converted into touchdowns.

Devine (2-1) showed a remarkable propensity for onside kicks. The Warhorses never kicked deep in their non-district game against Sam Houston (1-2) Saturday at Wheatley Heights Sports Complex.

Their special teams practice prepared them well. After scoring a quick touchdown to open the second quarter, Devine recovered the ensuing onside kick and soon had scored 12 points in 14 seconds. The avalanche buried Sam Houston. The Warhorses compiled 21 unanswered points in the quarter on the way to a 35-21 win.

“I love it,” Devine junior quarterback Hunter DuBose said of his team’s diverse offense. “It’s a high-powered offense. We have a lot of weapons. We can move the ball really well. It makes it really easy (to play quarterback).”

The Hurricanes had taken a 7-6 lead near the end of the first quarter. The back-to-back touchdowns effectively sent them reeling.

“They got the ball twice in a row and they got touchdowns out of both (possessions),” Sam Houston coach Gary Green said. “We got the ball to the (Devine) 5-yard line and got nothing.

“That was a big momentum swing, but you always expect Devine to be really aggressive. What I was looking at was that our kids were just as aggressive. That’s a great team, and we were playing a lot of sophomores, without a lot of experience in this type of atmosphere. But they didn’t back down from the challenge.”

Sam Houston took the lead with a 24-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Raymonte Prime to Taveon Jones. The ball was tipped by Dewane Brown at about the Devine 3 and went behind him at a diagonal angle, where Jones caught in the air for the score.

Brown added the extra point to make it 7-6. Devine had scored earlier on a 27-yard pass to Cody Trivino from DuBose.

The turning-point touchdowns began with a 68-yard drive off the Hurricanes’ kickoff. Joe Guerrero (88 yards, 6 carries) scored on a seven-yard reverse with 11:20 until halftime.

The onside kick traveled more than the required 10 yards, but wasn’t touched by a Sam Houston player before Devine covered it. A 33-yard pass from Eric Trogden to Wyatt Sheff and Sheff’s subsequent touchdown were the only plays the Warhorses needed to score from the Sam Houston 35.

Pat Mares caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from DuBose and ran for the two-point conversion 30 seconds before halftime to increase the Warhorses’ lead to 28-7.

Sam Houston senior Tomaria Stringfellow picked up the second-half kickoff, yet another onside kick from Devine, on a bounce. He powered his way out of a crowd and was off on a 62-yard return that put the Hurricanes within two touchdowns.

Isaac Silva punched in a one-yard touchdown at the end of the ensuing drive for Devine. The Warhorses held the 35-13 lead until 4:15 remained in the game.

That’s when Hurricanes senior back Erin Mack (110 yards, 20 carries) scored on a seven-yard run, capping Sam Houston’s only sustained drive of the evening. Mack also ran for the two-point conversion.

Devine finished with 270 rushing yards and 215 passing yards. The Hurricanes finished with 215 total yards.

Victoria East 42, Brackenridge 35

Brackenridge (1-2) and the Titans (1-2) matched touchdowns until the fourth quarter at the SAISD Complex, when Victoria East pulled away to win a tight battle with the Eagles for the second consecutive year.

Lanken Williams (112 yards, 20 attempts) scored on a 23-yard run and Jonathan Ortega (165 yards, 17 attempts) ran 44 yards for a score to give East a  42-28 advantage with 8:23 remaining.

Junior Trey Mathis (71 yards, 8 carries) caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Ramon Richards (13 of 23, 205 yards) with 4:16 to play. However, the Eagles weren’t able to force overtime.

Senior receiver Romonique Anthony (65 yards, 3 receptions) got the scoring started for Brack with a 41-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game.

. Richards passed 16 yards to Anthony Hernandez for a 14-7 lead at the end of a quarter. He threw eight yards to Josh Leal to give Brack a 21-14 halftime advantage. A five-yard run from Richards (135 yards, 22 carries) tied it 28-28 with 2:48 left in the third.

Brackenridge outgained the Titans 451-428 in total yards.