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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Eagles performing better with second-year offense
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Practice is going a lot smoother for the Pecos Eagles football team,
at least on offense through the first two days of preseason workouts.
The Eagles began two-a-day practice for the 2001 season on Monday, and
had about 105 players out Tuesday on the freshman, junior varsity and varsity
squads, coach Gary Grubbs said.
"We've had just about all our kids show up, freshmen, sophomores, juniors,
seniors. We had 41 out there today (Tuesday morning) on the varsity, and
I think only one or two are missing," Grubbs said.
The 41 players is above what the Eagles have usually carried on their
varsity roster in recent years. But aside from having better numbers in
2001, Pecos also has a better grasp of the option offense, which was installed
for the first time last season.
"We're way ahead of last year. We're running the same offense for the
second year in a row, and the kids like what we're doing," he said.
Pecos lost quarterback Alex Garcia and 1,000-yard rusher Daniel Terrazas
due to graduation, and have to replace half of their offensive line this
season. But overall, Grubbs said, "We're a lot deeper than we were a year
ago. We've got some really good competition going on at some positions,
and that works a lot better for the kids, because they'll push each other
harder, and it makes us as coaches not as worried about if one person gets
injured, because we know there's someone else who can step up."
The Eagles went 6-5 last season, struggling on offense during pre-district
play after an injury to Garcia, before going 4-1 in District 2-4A play
to claim second place behind El Paso Mountain View. They were beaten by
El Paso Parkland in the bi-district round of the Class 4A playoffs.
This year, the first pre-season predictions again have Pecos finishing
second, this time to Fabens, which returns state-leading rusher Vicente
Macias, who ran for over 2,100 yards in 11 games a year ago. He gained
134 against Pecos in the Eagles' win at Fabens, but Pecos will be retooling
up front on defense this season, especially at linebacker, where Terrazas,
Omar Luna and Trent Riley all have graduated.
"We graduated all three of our linebackers, but we've got some great
candidates there, and I actually think we're going to be pretty deep,"
Grubbs said. "I think with the kids coming back in the secondary that's
the place where we'll have the most experience."
The Eagles get back five full or part-time regulars from a year ago,
in safeties Matthew Levario and Freddy Torres, and cornerbacks Richard
Rodriguez, Peter Juarez and Ricky Plummer.
The weather co-operated with the Eagles on Tuesday, as clouds held down
the temperatures for the evening workouts, which Grubbs said were more
comprehensive than the morning drills so far. "In the morning workouts
we've been concentrating on the skill positions and on a `mesh' drill.
We've been working on meshing our option and working on running and catching
the ball. In the evening we're going through our regular workouts."
Pecos will begin full-contact drills in pads at the end of the week,
and will hold their only scrimmage on Aug. 19, when the varsity and JV
travel to Carlsbad, while the freshmen host the Cavemen at Eagle Stadium.
Regular season play for the varsity begins at home against Kermit on Aug.
31, with the JV and ninth grade teams kicking off their 2001 seasons against
the Yellowjackets on Aug. 30.
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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