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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2000
Eagles wear out Jackets, 25-6
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
KERMIT, Sept. 2, 2000 -- Endurance got the best of size Friday night, and
the Pecos Eagles got a good test of the pass defense as well in their season-opening
game against the Kermit Yellowjackets. The Eagles wore Kermit down over the course of the game, and were
able to pick off quarterback Jason Jones four times on the night, on the way
to a 25-6 victory in the season opener for both teams.
"I thought our conditioning was excellent, because by the
fourth quarter we wore them down," said Eagles' coach Gary Grubbs, as
Pecos racked up 284 yards on the night running the veer offense.
Alex Garcia handled the ball most of the time, and had some
numbers that were a big turnaround from last season, when his rushing totals
spent the season in negative yardage. Garcia came on for Richard
Rodriguez on the third series of the night and gained 67 yards on nine
carries, including a two-yard touchdown run in the third period, while going
8-for-11 (with two drops) for 57 yards and a touchdown, of four yards to
Tye Edwards in the second period.
"Alex came in and did a good job," said Grubbs. "I don't think
Richard did a bad job. At the first of the game Kermit was a little pumped up
They were coming at us hard and I decided to make a change.
"What I was proud about with Richard was he didn't get his
head down and came back on defense and had a pick and could of had
another one," he added.
Rodriguez' interception was the first of three in the fourth quarter
for Jones, the last two by Peter Juarez, who got in front of tight end
Saul Figueroa in the end zone for his final one late in the game to kill
the Jackets' last scoring threat.
The biggest interception, though, was the one by Trent Riley in the
first quarter. He reached out and snared a pass over the middle meant
for Brandon Combs at the 24 yard line to kill Kermit's first scoring threat of
the game, after Jones had hooked up with Manny Munoz on a 29-yard
reception two plays earlier.
A personal foul penalty set the Eagles back to the 15, but they
were able to then march 85 yards in 13 plays for their first score of the
season. Omar Luna, who led all Eagle rushers with 76 yards on 17 carries, got 28
of that on a run up the left side late in the first period, and Garcia
followed up with an 11-yard pass to Tye Edwards on 3rd-and-8 to keep
the drive alive.
The Eagles' quarterback kept it himself for 20 yards down to
the Kermit 1 to open the second period, but the Eagles ended up losing
three yards on the next two plays before Garcia faked a handoff on
fourth down and found Edwards wide open on the right side of the end zone.
That was were Jason Gonzales was as well on the extra point, as Kermit failed
to shift over to cover the receiver and Garcia hit him for the two
point conversion.
The blown coverage was forgotten by the Jackets a
few moments later, when Norman Castillo burst through the right side of
the line, broke two tackles at the Pecos 32, and then cutback and
outraced the Eagles' secondary to the end zone for a 75-yard score. Andy Garcia
was then stopped just short of the goal line on an extra-point reverse
play, keeping the Eagles ahead by two.
Pecos would have more problems inside the Kermit 20 as the half
wound down. Daniel Terrazas deflected a Munoz punt out of bound at
the Kermit 40 and a 26-yard run by Luna helped get Pecos a first down at
the Kermit 9. But three plays netted only four yards, and Matthew Levario
then shanked a 22-yard field goal attempt.
The Eagles would get another chance four plays later, when
Jones fumbled the snap and Terrazas recovered at the Kermit 18 with
1:33 left in the half. Pecos got a first down when Munoz was flagged
for interference on Juarez in the end zone, but the Eagles were then set back
10 yards on a holding call.
Two runs by Garcia and Jason Carrillo got the ball down to the
6 where the Eagles used their final time out with 21 second left. Pecos
then gambled and lost, but then won, as Luna was stopped at the four
by Kermit's line, but the Eagles were able to run their field goal unit into
place, and this time Levario connected from 22 yards out as time expired.
"We've improved in that (kicking) area," said Grubbs. "We've got
a weapon in Matthew Levario. He missed his first one because he was
a little nervous out there, but he hit that second one as time was running
out, and he was looking right at that scoreboard."
The late score seemed to fire up the Eagles for the third period,
though their first possession ended with tight end Pifi Montoya fumbling away
the ball on a pass from Garcia at the Kermit 37. But on the next
series needed only seven plays to march 73 yards to the end zone. Garcia
got around the left side for a 29 yard gain, and Terrazas and Carrillo both
went the same way for 15 yard gains before Garcia finished the drive off with
a two-yard quarterback sneak.
"We're a little bit stronger on the left side of the line," Grubbs
said. "Tony Trujillo is just a sophomore, but he did a good job, and Joel
Matta is doing a good job. We still blew some assignments, but we're
much improved from last year."
Down by 12, Kermit coach Glen Jones then gambled and lost on a
4th-and-2 play from his own 28, when Munoz threw a pass to Figueroa
out of punt formation, but it was batted away by Gonzales. The Eagles
took advantage to score their final touchdown of the night five
plays later, on a five-yard run by Carrillo, who wound up with 67 yards
rushing for the game.
"The kids are really excited right now, and this could be a really
good start for us," said Grubbs, whose team will travel to Fort Stockton next
Friday night. The Panthers opted not to schedule a `zero week' game, so
this will be their 2000 season opener.
Four of the Eagles' five other District 2-4A rivals also opened
their seasons on the road Friday, with pre-district favorite El Paso
Mountain View suffering a 27-20 upset defeat at the hands of El Paso Cathedral.
San Elizario lost to El Paso Parkland in a battle of last year's District 1-4A
and 2-4A champs, 35-15, while Canutillo blanked Santa Teresa, N.M., 21-0
and Fabens downed Tularosa, N.M., 22-7.®MDBO¯
at Kermit
Pecos 0 11 14 0 -25
Kermit 0 6 0 0 - 6
Second Quarter
Pec. - Edwards 4 pass from Garcia (J. Gonzales pass
from Garcia), 1:49.
Ker. - Castillo 75 run (run failed), 2:52.
Pec. - FG Levario 21, 12:00.
Third Quarter
Pec. - Garcia 2 run (Levario kick), 7:02.
Pec. - Carrillo 5 run (Levario kick), 11:40.
Pec Ker
First Downs 10 9
Rushes-Yds 49-223 23-148
Passing Yds 61 99
Passes 9-12-0 7-22-4
Punts-Yds 5-31.2 3-27
Fumbles-lost 4-2 3-2
Penalties-Yds 6-58 5-57
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Pecos, Luna 17-76, Garcia 9-67, Carrillo
17-67, Terrazas 2-16, Juarez 1-(-1), Rodriguez 2-(-2),
Levario 1-(-2). Kermit, Castillo, 10-108, Davila 3-22, Garcia
7-19, Mijango 1-1, Jones 2-(-2).
PASSING - Pecos, Garcia 8-11-0-57, Rodriguez
1-1-0-4. Kermit, Jones 7-21-4-99, Munoz 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING - Pecos, Edwards 3-30, Montoya 3-18,
Juarez 1-5, Luna 1-4, Carrillo 1-4. Kermit, Munoz 4-75,
Figueroa 1-13, Cervantes 1-9, Davila 1-2.
MISSED FIELD GOALS - Pecos, Levario 22 (low).
Bears rout Longhorns in season opener
By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer
BALMORHEA, Sept. 5, 2000 -- Coach Ennis Erickson's young Balmorhea Bears
displayed some new looks Friday night as they easily put away the Buena
Vista Longhorns one play into the second half. Leading 42-0 Balmorhea's Isaiah Rodriguez took the second
half opening kick and weaved his way through the Longhorn defense to
the end zone. That gave the Bears a 48-0 lead and the game was called on
the 45-point rule.
"I was pleased," Erickson said of his team's performance. "We tried
a few new things. Some worked and some didn't. Overall our
execution was pretty good."
Erickson said that this year's team is younger and smaller than last years.
The Bears have just three seniors on this team, Billy Lozano,
Rudy Guebara, and Chris Barragan.
"We're a little smaller than last year, but we are just as
quick," Erickson said.
Most promising about this group is their willingness to work together.
"Last year we had more of a group of individuals. This year's team
looks more like a team," Erickson said.
Against the Longhorns, the Bears looked like a team.
After a couple of seesaw possessions by both teams the
Bears finally broke loose with a 40-yard pass reception. Lozano then reeled off
a nine-yard run to put the Bears in scoring position.
Facing first-and-goal at the 11-yard line Lozano recovered a
loose ball on a busted play and pitched to Jerry Mendoza who darted into
the end zone for the first points of the night.
A solid Bear defense that allowed only three Longhorn first downs
gave the offense plenty of opportunities to find the end zone.
Balmorhea started their next drive from their own 15 after a
good Longhorn punt. Three plays later the Bears were looking at a fourth
and one situation when Isaiah Rodriguez took the pitch from Adriel Roman
and took off down the right sideline and found the end zone 36 yards later.
After Lozano missed the extra points attempt on the first
touchdown Erickson substituted sophomore Jourmain Matta who kicked the
ball through the goal posts for the second points after attempt.
Matta went three for five on points after kicks on the night, a
good improvement from Balmorhea's points after kick attempts last year.
Leading at the end of the first quarter 14-0, the Bears exploded
in the second quarter for four touchdowns.
After another Longhorn punt Lozano took the pitch on first
down, broke a tackle and scored from 54 yards out.
A couple of plays later the Bear linebacker Chris Barragan
recovered a fumble and handed the ball back to the offense on the Longhorn 13
yard line.
On the second play from scrimmage Isaiah Rodriguez ran
the ball in over left tackle. Matta tacked on the points after to run the score
to 30-0.
Lozano scored again on the next Bear possession capping off a
solid drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
A good Longhorn punt downed the ball on the Bear one-yard line
near the end of the second period.
With first down and looking at 79 yards of real estate to cover for
a touchdown the Bear offensive line opened a big hole in the
Longhorn defense and Adriel Roman scampered through it, dodged a linebacker
and raced into the end zone for the final score of the first half.
Isaiah Rodriguez iced the game when he ran the opening kickoff
of the second half in for the final score.
The Bears will have a much tougher test this Friday, when
they travel to Whitharral to take on the No. 2-ranked Panthers. Balmorhea
beat Whitharral last season on a touchdown and
two-point conversion with no time left in the season opener for both teams.
Pecos hosts VH, Dell city after Seminole losses
PECOS, Sept. 5, 2000 -- After doing so well in tight contests the first
two weeks of the 2000 volleyball season, those type of games went mostly
against the Pecos Eagles over the weekend at the Seminole Invitational.
The Eagles advanced to the championship bracket with a
3-3 mark in pool round play, losing their three games to San Angelo
Lake View, Midland Lee and Pampa by a combined four points. Then
on Saturday, the Eagles couldn't get game point from the
Andrews Mustangs for the second time this season, falling in the fifth
place semifinals, 15-5, 16-14 after a 15-8, 15-11 loss to Lubbock Coronado.
"Against Lubbock Coronado, we didn't do much. We couldn't
get anything going," said Eagles coach Becky Granado. "Against
Andrews in the first game we started out the same way, but in the second
game we kind of picked it up a little, but we just made too many
mental mistakes.
"We had some good rallies and got to some balls I didn't
thought would drop, but we had Andrews down (14-13) and couldn't put
it away," she said.
On Friday, Pecos split a pair of 15-14 matches with Lake View,
while splitting with Pampa, 14-15, 15-6 and Lee, 15-4, 13-15. Coronado and
Lake View both ended up losing in the semifinals in two games, to
Midland High and Hereford, with the defending Class 4A champs
ending up winning the tournament over the Bulldogs, by 15-7, 15-9 scores.
The losses dropped Pecos' season record to 13-4 going
into today's match at home against Van Horn and Dell City. Granado said
she hoped the team would play better at home today.
"We looked physically tired (at Seminole)," she said. "We'll see
how we do today. I gave them the day off Monday to give them time to
rest. Hopefully, we'll come out and play better today."
The match with Dell City is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start,
and Granado said Dell City and Van Horn would play next before the two
Eagle teams play at about 7:30 p.m.
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
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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