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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, September 18, 2000
Eagles show little life in 6-0 overtime loss
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 16, 2000 -- Maintaining focus for more than a couple of weeks
at a time has been a problem over the years for the Pecos Eagles football
team.
The latest case in point was Friday night, when a completely
flat Eagle squad came out for their home opener against the Alpine
Bucks and were outplayed for most of the night, falling in overtime, 6-0,
on D.T. Dominguez' 24-yard touchdown pass to Roman Rodriguez.
"We should have won by four touchdowns," said an angry
coach Gary Grubbs, who said his team appeared unfocused
throughout the entire week leading up the game.
"We did not have good workouts. The coaches told
them every day they had to pick it up and they did not pick it up," he
said. "We told them all week long you're going to win the game Friday
by how you practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but
it didn't sink in."
Unlike the previous week's 26-20 OT defeat at Fort Stockton,
when Pecos battled back from a series of second quarter mistakes that
put them in a 20-7 hole, the Eagles showed little signs of life even
when Alpine's errors gave them first downs twice inside the
15-yard-line. They ran just two plays that gained more than 10 yards on the night
— an 18-yard run by Daniel Terrazas that was immediately nullified by
a fumble on the next play, and an 11-yard run by Jason Carrillo near
the end of regulation, when Pecos was facing a 1st-and-25 deep in
their own end and the Bucks were playing their defense back.
Carrillo did have a 37-yard run in the first period and Omar Luna
ran 80 yards on the game's first play from scrimmage. Both went
for scores, but both were called back due to holding penalties, the
only penalties of the night for Pecos until late in the game.
Pecos had three other chances inside the Bucks' 20-yard-line.
The first, in the third quarter came after a bad punt snap gave the
Eagles the ball at the Bucks' 10, ended with Pecos going 23 yards in the
wrong direction and losing the ball, when Richard Rodriguez was sacked
an fumbled. The second was early in the fourth quarter after
Terrazas recovered a Buck fumble at midfield. His 18-yard run and
an earlier nine-yarder by Carrillo set Pecos up with a 1st-and-goal at
the 10, but Rodriguez fumbled the snap, which Tayln Muench recovered
to kill the threat.
The last one was in final overtime, after a pass
interference call against Kevin Wood on a Rodriguez pass to Tye Edwards.
But the Eagles gained just three yards on their next three plays,
and Matthew Levario's 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
Alpine then took over and after going five yards backwards on
a procedure call they were bailed out when Terrazas was called
for interference against Ramon Rodriguez on a 3rd-and 15 pass
at the 24-yard line. That gave the Bucks new life, and while
they would be flagged one more time for holding, Dominguez came back
on the next play and found Rodriguez, who beat two Eagle defenders
down the right sideline for the winning score.
While the Bucks were by far the more focused team Friday, they
shot themselves in the foot as many times or more than Pecos. Alpine
picked off the first two passes by quarterback Freddy Torres,
with Raul Tucker returning the second one 41 yards to the Eagles' 1.
But the Bucks were then flagged for illegal procedure before they
could get off a snap, and two plays later Dominguez threw into traffic at
the goal line and was picked off by Adan Salgado, who returned the
ball to the Eagles' 10.
Torres was starting for injured quarterback Alex Garcia, but
lasted only into the second period. He was pulled after pitching the ball
back to Carrillo in the end zone on an option play at the Pecos 2.
The Eagles back was swarmed on by six Alpine defenders for what
should have been a safety, but one of the six managed to grab
Carrillo's facemask for a 15-yard penalty and a first down, nullifying the safety.
While Rodriguez took over for Torres after that, Grubbs was
quick not to blame the sophomore for the Eagles' problems.
"I'll tell you one thing, we aren't going to pin this loss on any
one kid. There were 30 kids out there who lost the ballgame," he said.
Overall on the night, Pecos failed to complete a pass in eight tries
and were held to just 85 yards total offense while committing
six turnovers. Alpine linebacker Heli Contreras spent most of the
night roaming free in the Eagles' backfield, as the Bucks posted
their third straight shutout to start the season.
Alpine, meanwhile had four turnovers and 227 yards in
total offense — not a bad number for Pecos' defense, which spent at
least 35 of the game's 48-plus minutes on the field — but was more
yards than the Bucks had managed against either of their first
two opponents, Anthony or Van Horn.
After the opening period, Alpine was able to move the ball
enough to get out of holes in their own end of the field, and pin Pecos
back when their drives were stopped. Other than the blown chance
after the interception, the Bucks' best scoring opportunity came late in
the fourth period, after Robert Rodriguez returned a
Richard Rodriguez fumble off an option keeper to the Pecos 30.
Dominguez passed 13 yards to George Keller for a first down before the
drive stalled, and the Bucks then botched a 25-yard field goal attempt
by Victor Torres on a high snap with 3 1/2 minutes left in regulation.
The second straight overtime loss left the Eagles with a 1-2
season record going into Friday's home game against Presidio, which
beat Marfa last week to end a losing streak dating back to the
1998 season.
at Pecos
Pecos 0 0 0 0 0 - 0
Alpine 0 0 0 0 6 - 6
Overtime
Alp.- Rm. Rodriguez 24 pass from Dominguez (no kick attempted).
Alp Pec
First Downs 13 5
Rushes-Yds 44-123 36-85
Passing Yds 104 0
Passes 8-22-1 0-8-2
Punts-Yds 3-37.7 6-36.7
Fumbles-lost 3-3 6-4
Penalties-Yds 10-101 5-42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Alpine, Keller 17-63, Dominguez 8-36, Clanton 2-16, Torres
9-14, Ramon 2-5, Tucker 1-4, Meunch 1-2, Navarette 1-0, Vega 1-(-1), Rm.
Rodriguez 1-(-2), Pittman 1-(-14). Pecos, Terrazas 7-37, Carrillo 12-35,
Lara 11-13, Torres 1-0, Rodriguez 5-(-7).
PASSING - Alpine, Dominguez 8-22-1-104. Pecos, Torres 0-4-2-0, Rodriguez 0-3-0-0, Juarez 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING - Alpine, Mata 2-30, Ramon 2-9, Rm. Rodriguez 1-24, Vega 1-17, Keller 1-13, Funk 1-11.
MISSED FIELD GOALS - Pecos, Levario 25 (blocked).
Pecos wakes up in time to earn split
PECOS, Sept. 18, 2000 -- Pro teams sometimes suffer jet lag during games
on road trips. Saturday, the Pecos Eagles volleyball team apparently had
"fiesta lag" going into their road matches with the Denver City Mustangs
and Plains Cowgirls.
"We were very flat. Listening to them in the van on the way up, they stayed out late with the (16th of
September) festivities on," said Eagles' coach Becky Granado, and the results
showed on the court at Plains High School Saturday afternoon. Pecos was
swept by Denver City in their opener, 16-14, 15-7, then woke up in time
to win the second game over Plains, 14-16, 15-12, 15-13 in their final
matches before the start of District 2-4A play.
The Eagles' coach said the problem against the
Cowboys were mainly on offense. "In reality, we played much better on
defense. We got to some balls I didn't think we would pick up. On offense
we were making a lot of mental mistakes and hitting the ball out."
Pecos rallied from an 8-3 deficit in Game 1 against the
Mustangs to take a 14-10 lead, only to see Denver City come back and
score six straight points for the victory. In Game 2, the Mustangs turned
a 4-4 tie into an 11-4 lead, and the Eagles never got closer than
five points after that.
As a result of the loss to Denver City, Granado said, "I changed
the lineup when we played Plains. I took Philly (Fobbs) out and
started D'Andra up front. I had D'Andra and Michelle (Saenz)
opposite each other, and that kind of woke Philly up."
The opening game against the Cowgirls was almost the same
as Game 1 against Denver City. Pecos held a 14-13 lead, but Plains
then scored three straight points to get the win. But in the second and
third games, the Eagles were able to come through at the end, breaking a
13-all tie in Game 2 and a 12-12 tie in Game 3.
"You could tell we looked a lot better in the second game,
even though the score was close," said Granado, who put Fobbs in
for Ashley Salcido, after she strained a muscle in Game 2. "She came
in towards the end of the second game and got out there and
started pounding the ball, and it was just kind of contagious.
Everybody wanted to pound the ball," Granado said.
The split put the Eagles at 18-6 on the season going into
their district opener at home against Clint on Tuesday. The Lions
swept Pecos in district last season to win the 2-4A title, after Pecos won
a non-district match earlier in the year.
The Eagles also beat Clint in non-district play at the start of
this season, and Granado is hoping the Lions don't reverse that result
for the second year in a row.
"I think they're starting to realize if you're not going
to produce out there, you're going to be on the bench," the
Eagles' coach said.
Missed kick in OT spoils Bears' rally
PECOS, Sept. 18, 2000 -- A missed extra point kick in overtime was the
difference for the Balmorhea Bears Friday night, as they dropped their
second game in a row on the road, this one by a 33-31 score to the Sands
Mustangs.
Balmorhea scored on their overtime possession, on the third
touchdown pass of the night from Jerry Mendoza to Isaiah Rodriguez, covering 24
yards, but the Bears' extra point kick was blocked and the Mustangs then
won it, when Junior Martinez was able to make his two-point kick, following
Cesar Martinez' 7-yard touchdown run.
The blocked kick spoiled a fourth quarter comeback from a
two-touchdown deficit for the Bears. Sands led 26-12 when Balmorhea scored on
a 20-yard pass from Mendoza to Rodriguez, and then made their
only two-point kick of the night, following Billy Rodriguez' 5-yard TD run,
tying the game.
Balmorhea never led in the contest, falling behind 12-6 at halftime.
Adriel Ramon had a 6-yard scoring run in-between touchdown passes by
Sands' Chance Nichols to Hale Looney for 15 yards and 10 yards to Junior
Martinez. All three extra point tries were
blocked, but in the third period Sands finally got one, after a 30-yard TD pass
from Nichols to Looney.
The host Mustangs earlier had gone ahead 18-6 on a Junior Martinez
one-yard TD run, before the first of the three TD passes by the Bears' a
45-yarder from Mendoza to Rodriguez.
The loss drops Balmorhea to 1-2 on the season with their final two
pre-district games at home this Friday and on Sept. 29. The latter game will be
a match-up with former District 8-A foe Grandfalls, but this week's
game probably has more importance _ a non-district contest against district rival
Dell City, who the Bears are expected to battle for the runner-up playoff
berth in 8-A six man football behind Sanderson, which beat Sands on
Sept. 8 at home, by a 48-24 final score.
Balmorhea will play their district game against the Cougars in Dell
City next month, which will be the Bears' second trip to Dell City this
season. The teams scrimmaged there last month, and the Cougars will go
into this Friday's game with a 2-0 record, after taking this past Friday off.
Bears win pair over Prowlers' JV
PECOS, Sept. 18, 2000 -- The Balmorhea Bears volleyball team took care
of Fort Stockton's junior varsity volleyball teams on Saturday, and coach
Gary Gallego is hoping next year the Bears will be good enough to earn
a shot at the Prowlers' varsity squad.
"We beat their junior varsity A and B teams," Gallego said, as
the Bears swept the Prowlers `B' team, 15-2, 15-7, then won in three
games over the `A' squad, 15-8, 13-15, 15-13, at the Fort Stockton
High School gym. "Fort Stockton's got 71 girls in their program, and
we've only got 32 girls in our high school. We have 17 in the
(volleyball) program, and I hope next year we'll be able to play their varsity
and compete."
Gallego said the Bears had little trouble in the opener against
a mostly-sophomore lineup of Fort Stockton players, but in the
second match, "In the second and third games we got behind both
times, but the girls didn't press and they played strong and were able to
come back."
He said Balmorhea trailed by as many as six points in the third
game before rallying for the two-point victory.
Celina Rodriguez had nine kills in the three-game victory, while
she and Julia Garlick had seven apiece in the opening sweep of
the Prowlers `B' junior varsity. Amber Briceno added five blocks in
the second match, while setter Terri Hernandez led the Bears with
11 assists and added six ace serves in the three games, and had 31
service points overall in the two matches.
The varsity's wins improved Balmorhea's season record to
11-5. The Bears are off until Saturday, when they'll play a couple
of matches against the Marathon Mustangs. Fort Stockton's did
pick up a 15-3, 15-5 victory over Balmorhea's junior varsity team
on Saturday.
U.S. gets swim golds, struggle in gymnastics
By JOHN AFFLECK
Associated Press Writer
SYDNEY, Australia, Sept. 18, 2000 — American swimmers Lenny Krayzelburg
and Megan Quann showed they can beat the world's best. The U.S. men's gymnastic
team still can't. Krayzelburg and Quann each won gold medals for the United States
at the Olympic pool Monday.
The gymnasts, trying to medal at a non-boycotted games for the
first time since 1932, didn't even come close. They finished fifth, while
China cruised to the men's team gold.
The U.S. men won the team title at Los Angeles in 1984, but
most Eastern bloc nations boycotted those games.
At the aquatic center, the Ukrainian-born Krayzelburg
pulled away from Australian Matthew Welsh to win the
100-meter backstroke and collect his first gold medal. His Olympic record time
of 53.72 seconds was just .12 off the world mark he set at the same
pool last year.
"It's better than anything I've ever done in my life," Krayzelburg said.
Quann, competing in her first Olympics at age 17, won the
100-meter breaststroke in 1:07.05.
Australian teen sensation Ian Thorpe earned a silver medal to
go with two golds he already has won, but he had to be about as glum as
the U.S. gymnasts.
Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband outswam Thorpe in
the 200-meter freestyle, tying the world record he set the day before with
a time of 1:45.35.
The 17-year-old Thorpe had thrilled his nation by setting a
world mark and winning the 400 freestyle Saturday. Minutes later, he
anchored the Aussie 400 free relay squad that upset the United States
and smashed another world record.
Thorpe couldn't win his third gold or reclaim the record Van
den Hoogenband took from him on Sunday. After two days of
having his face plastered across every front page and TV screen in
Australia, Thorpe finished second in 1:45.83.
While Thorpe dropped to 2-1 in Olympic events, the U.S. teams
in boxing, baseball, softball, women's basketball and women's
volleyball all stayed unbeaten Monday with easy victories in the early phases
of their tournaments.
The United States and Olympic host Australia shared the lead in
the medal count with 13 each at the end of competition Monday.
The Americans had 6 gold medals, 5 silver and 2 bronze — the
Aussies 3 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze. France was close behind with 12 (4-6-2)
and China was next with 10 (4-1-5).
———
— BOXING: Six fights, six wins for the United States.
Ricardo Rocky Juarez, a 125-pounder, won his first bout
Monday and so did 165-pound boxer Jeff Lacy to keep the American
unbeaten streak alive at the Sydney Games. Both fights were stopped in the
third round under the mercy rule because the Americans were up 15 points.
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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