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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, January 7, 2000
Girls start district, boys host Stockton
PECOS, Jan. 7, 2000 -- District 2-4A play opens for the Pecos Eagle girls
basketball team in El Paso tonight, while the pre-district portion of the
schedule ends for Pecos' boys this evening, as both teams continue to search
for their first victories of the 1999-2000 season.
The girls will face the Mountain View Loboes in El Paso, starting at
8:30 p.m. CST. One hour earlier, Pecos' boys will close out pre-district
play with their second game in as many weeks against the Fort Stockton
Panthers. The boys will also play freshman and junior varsity games at
4:30 and 6 p.m., while the girls will play only one sub-varsity game, starting
at 7 p.m.
Pecos is 0-12 on the season after their 82-22 loss at Andrews on Tuesday.
The Eagles played without their only inside scorer, Philonicus Fobbs, for
the second straight game, and coach Brian Williams said, "They just did
the same thing Sweetwater did on us, packed in the defense and made us
shoot from the outside."
Shooting from anywhere has been a problem for the Eagles this season,
but Fobbs did average just under 15 points in Pecos' last three games before
the Christmas holidays. "She's got to be able to score, but they're going
to double team her, so we need somebody else to pick up the shooting,"
said Williams
Mountain View finished third in district last season and is expected
to battle Canutillo for second place this year. They return all-district
post Monica Acosta, and Williams said, "All I've heard about them is they're
a good shooting team from the outside."
Pecos' boys will be hoping the second time around against Fort Stockton
goes just a little better than the second meeting against Greenwood did
on Tuesday. The Eagles lost at Greenwood last month by 29 points, then
were beaten on Tuesday, 56-54 on a Will Womack lay-up with four seconds
left.
Last week at Fort Stockton, the Eagles were beaten by the Panthers,
79-56, as their 6-foot-6 post Luke Groth scored 30 points.
"I thought we did a better job of rebounding tonight," coach Tino Acosta
said following Tuesday's loss, which left Pecos with an 0-15 mark. The
Eagles also got better 3-point shooting early in the game, which helped
open up the defense inside against the Rangers. Adrian Rayos had 14 points
and Saul Garcia added 13, including three 3-pointers in the first half.
Carter, Moss to face healthy Deion
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, Jan. 7, 2000 - Without a healthy Deion Sanders to cover
Randy Moss or Cris Carter, the Minnesota Vikings have had no problem torching
the Dallas Cowboys' secondary.
Sanders hopes things will be different Sunday now that he's playing
with no strains or sprains.
"I'm better this time," Sanders said. "I think it will allow us to do
more things and not just sit back and wait on what they're going to do.
We'll be able to force them into situations.
"But even if you had Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes, I don't know if you'd
have enough talent to match up with those guys."
Moss caught three touchdown passes totaling 163 yards and Carter had
seven catches for 135 yards as Minnesota beat Dallas 46-36 on Thanksgiving
1998. Sanders missed that game with a toe injury that required offseason
surgery.
In November, the NFL's most productive tandem combined for 15 catches,
three touchdowns and 207 yards as the Vikings scored 27 unanswered points
after falling behind 17-0. Sanders, considered the NFL's best cover cornerback,
limped through the game with hamstring and groin problems.
The stakes are higher for Round 3.
This time, it's a first-round playoff game.
"I'm going to do my best," Sanders said, smiling. "We're going to have
a good time."
While fans would love to see Sanders and Moss go head-to-head on every
snap, Dallas coaches won't allow it. They prefer mixing up their coverages
to avoid being predictable.
Still, Sanders mostly will line up on the right side of the defense,
often before Minnesota is done with its huddle. Once quarterbacks stand
over the center, they make sure to find Sanders.
Jeff George sure did two months ago.
Of the 15 times Sanders lined up against Moss, George went that way
only twice. The battle was a draw as Sanders knocked down a long pass and
Moss had an 8-yard catch.
"Deion's unbelievable," George said. "When he's not healthy he's unbelievable.
Just his presence on the field is unbelievable.
"But that doesn't mean you shy away from the guy. We have every bit
of confidence in our receivers and our running game."
The respect teams show Sanders shifts pressure to the other side of
the field.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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