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October 28, 2021
Devine takes control in second half to get 44-22 win over Bandera
By Chris Darus
The Bandera Prophet
In a battle for a possible share of second place in District 15-4AD2, Bandera traveled to Devine to face the Warhorses Friday evening.
After a hard fought and even first half, that ended in a 22-22 tie, the home team took control late in the third quarter to get a 44-22 win over the Bulldogs.
Bandera answered every time the Warhorses scored in an entertaining first half.
Devine got on the scoreboard first on a 19 yard rush and missed a PAT to make it 6-0.
Bandera’ first drive stalled early, but they responded later with an extended 72 yard drive that saw Tyler Moore find Brock Johnson for a 26 yard catch and run early in the second quarter.
A good PAT gave Bandera their only lead of the game at 7-6.
Devine took the lead again with 7:27 left in the half on a short rush and this time a two point conversion makes it 14-7.
Luke Barnett fielded one of the numerous very short kickoffs by Devine and returned it down to the Devine 22. Bandera scores on a third and one from the 12 on a rush by Brock Johnson with 7:03 left. Beto Muzquiz makes his second PAT on the night and the game is tied, 14-14.
Less than two minutes later, Devine scores again with 5:08 left on a fourth and four on a 39 yard rush by RB Ethan Santos and he scores the two pointer to give Devine a 22-14 lead.
Another short kickoff gives Bandera the ball on the Bulldog 43 and they work the ball downfield. After an apparent score that is negated by a holding call, Bandera, finds the end zone on a fourth and goal as Tyler Moore gets flipped head over heels as he crosses the goal line.
Bandera made their two point conversion to tie it up, 22-22, with just a few seconds left in the half.
After halftime, the momentum pendulum swung into the Devine side and stayed there, as the Warhorses scored three more times in the second half as Bandera struggled to find a rhythm.
A miscue on one of those short kickoffs after Devine’s first score in the half, gave Devine the ball on a fumble call and allowed them to open up the lead for the first time that Bandera would not answer.
From there, Devine scored twice again to get the win.
“A big thing to overcome in a game is when you lose a part of your offense and defense when a player goes out. We don’t have a lot of depth and the when the player is a starter on both sides of the ball and on special teams, you have to fill those spots.
Devine is so physical up front, they did a good job of moving our “D” line around, making it difficult for our backers to get where they needed to be. Because of that, the backers are making tackles 4-6 yards deeper than usual.
We did have opportunities to score and we just didn’t take advantage of it,” coach Joel Fontenot-Amedee said.
With the loss, Bandera falls to 5-3 (1-2) and travel to Hondo Friday to face the Owls.
Hondo is 2-1 in district, but more important is the sense it is time for some payback for the last two meetings between the Bulldogs and the Owls.
Hondo beat Bandera last season, 56-14, and in the 19-20 season, the Owls eliminated Bandera in the first round of the playoffs by a 21-14 tally.
Many of the Bulldog seniors remember both of those losses and are motivated to get a “W” against the Owls before their varsity high school career comes to an end.
“We feel that we have a good game plan for the Owls. There has been a feeling of “lets get ready, it’s Hondo” this week during practice. This is a big game, a rivalry game, and we are exciting to be going back there. The guys are fired up, this one you don’t have to talk up, but you do.
Hondo outplayed us in that playoff game a few years ago. We had to make a few adjustments this week, the guys are locked in and focused because it is Hondo,” Fontenot-Amedee said.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hondo Stadium, take the short ride and support your Bulldogs as they try to make a run at the playoffs.
After a hard fought and even first half, that ended in a 22-22 tie, the home team took control late in the third quarter to get a 44-22 win over the Bulldogs.
Bandera answered every time the Warhorses scored in an entertaining first half.
Devine got on the scoreboard first on a 19 yard rush and missed a PAT to make it 6-0.
Bandera’ first drive stalled early, but they responded later with an extended 72 yard drive that saw Tyler Moore find Brock Johnson for a 26 yard catch and run early in the second quarter.
A good PAT gave Bandera their only lead of the game at 7-6.
Devine took the lead again with 7:27 left in the half on a short rush and this time a two point conversion makes it 14-7.
Luke Barnett fielded one of the numerous very short kickoffs by Devine and returned it down to the Devine 22. Bandera scores on a third and one from the 12 on a rush by Brock Johnson with 7:03 left. Beto Muzquiz makes his second PAT on the night and the game is tied, 14-14.
Less than two minutes later, Devine scores again with 5:08 left on a fourth and four on a 39 yard rush by RB Ethan Santos and he scores the two pointer to give Devine a 22-14 lead.
Another short kickoff gives Bandera the ball on the Bulldog 43 and they work the ball downfield. After an apparent score that is negated by a holding call, Bandera, finds the end zone on a fourth and goal as Tyler Moore gets flipped head over heels as he crosses the goal line.
Bandera made their two point conversion to tie it up, 22-22, with just a few seconds left in the half.
After halftime, the momentum pendulum swung into the Devine side and stayed there, as the Warhorses scored three more times in the second half as Bandera struggled to find a rhythm.
A miscue on one of those short kickoffs after Devine’s first score in the half, gave Devine the ball on a fumble call and allowed them to open up the lead for the first time that Bandera would not answer.
From there, Devine scored twice again to get the win.
“A big thing to overcome in a game is when you lose a part of your offense and defense when a player goes out. We don’t have a lot of depth and the when the player is a starter on both sides of the ball and on special teams, you have to fill those spots.
Devine is so physical up front, they did a good job of moving our “D” line around, making it difficult for our backers to get where they needed to be. Because of that, the backers are making tackles 4-6 yards deeper than usual.
We did have opportunities to score and we just didn’t take advantage of it,” coach Joel Fontenot-Amedee said.
With the loss, Bandera falls to 5-3 (1-2) and travel to Hondo Friday to face the Owls.
Hondo is 2-1 in district, but more important is the sense it is time for some payback for the last two meetings between the Bulldogs and the Owls.
Hondo beat Bandera last season, 56-14, and in the 19-20 season, the Owls eliminated Bandera in the first round of the playoffs by a 21-14 tally.
Many of the Bulldog seniors remember both of those losses and are motivated to get a “W” against the Owls before their varsity high school career comes to an end.
“We feel that we have a good game plan for the Owls. There has been a feeling of “lets get ready, it’s Hondo” this week during practice. This is a big game, a rivalry game, and we are exciting to be going back there. The guys are fired up, this one you don’t have to talk up, but you do.
Hondo outplayed us in that playoff game a few years ago. We had to make a few adjustments this week, the guys are locked in and focused because it is Hondo,” Fontenot-Amedee said.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hondo Stadium, take the short ride and support your Bulldogs as they try to make a run at the playoffs.