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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, November 12, 2001
Eagles' times a little slow, but fast enough to get win
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Standards are set a little higher for teams after a long period of
success. So while Pecos Eagles coach Terri Morse was happy with wins by
both the her boys and girls squads on Saturday at the Pecos Invitational,
the individual results gave Morse some cause for concern, if the finishes
stay the same three months from now.
The girls scored an easy win, by a 281½ to 193 score over Carlsbad,
while the boys won a narrow decision over the Cavemen and Big Spring Steers,
picking up 243 points to Carlsbad's 238 and Big Spring's 231. But looking
ahead to the district and regional meets in January and February, Morse said
the Eagles will have to improve on their efforts if they're to earn trips
to the Class 4A state swim meet in Austin.
"I was pleased with the effort as far as the team totals go, but I want
to see them cut their times, because that's the bottom line, to get faster,"
she said. "Our times were a little slow. We did OK place-wise, but I was
a little disappointed because our times were so slow."
Only the first place finisher at regionals is assured of a trip to Austin,
and the boys have qualified all three of their relay squads for state each
of the past two seasons. But on Saturday, Pecos finished .16 second behind
Monahans in the 200 medley relay and over four second back in the and 200
freestyle relay, while finishing 1.63 seconds in back of Big Spring in the
400 freestyle relay. Carlsbad also finished in front of Pecos in the 200
medley and 400 freestyle races, taking first in both events.
"That's not good, but we don't really have anybody else there," Morse
said. "Those are the kids we're going to have to go with, so we're either
going to have to get faster or the other teams are going to beat us."
Pecos' girls meanwhile, won the 200 medley relay while placing second
to Carlsbad in the 200 freestyle relay and finishing third in the 400 freestyle
relay behind the Cavegirls and Lubbock High, neither of whom the Eagles will
have to worry about at regionals. Teddie Salcido, Catherine Minjarez, Rachelle
Eisenberg and Betsy Lujan earned the first in the medley relay with a 2:07.59
time.
Individually, Carlsbad snared the most gold medals on the day, while the
Eagles' depth, especially on the girls' side, allowed them to win the team
standings. Pecos picked up one individual medal on both the boys and girls
sides, by Will Oglesby in the 100 yard butterfly, with a 58.57 time, and
by Salcido in the 500 yard freestyle, with a time of 6:07.76 Oglesby was
also second in the 200 individual medley, while Salcido placed fifth in the
100 yard backstroke.
In the other individual events for the girls, Jessica Minjarez was second,
Rebecca Reynolds 10th, Tina Grice 19th and Cassady
Bradley 28th in the 200 yard freestyle; Catherine Minjarez was
third and Sara Wein 14th in the 200 medley; Kelsey holt tied for
fourth while Amie Reynolds was 13th and Ashley Horsburgh and Chyloe
Martin tied for 14th in the 50 free; Catherine Minjarez was third,
Susan Moore seventh and Ashley Carrasco 14th in the 100 butterfly;
Lujan was second, Holt ninth, Horsburgh 13th and Lauren Wein 23
rd in the 100 free; Jessica Minjarez was third, Sara Wein 11th
and Bradley 15th in the 500 free; Moore was 10th,
Lauren Wein 14th, Martin 21st and Camilla Alvarado
31st in the 100 backstroke and Eisenberg was second, Rebecca Reynolds
seventh, Amie Reynolds eighth and Ashley Carrasco 11th in the
100 breaststroke.
Pecos' other points came from the `B' relay teams, which placed fifth
in the 200 freestyle relay and sixth in the 400 freestyle and 200 medley
races.
With fewer swimmers, the boys were unable to put an entry into one event,
the 500 yard freestyle, and were able to field only one `B' relay team, in
the 400 freestyle race. But the fifth place finish by Daniel Quintana, Michael
Juarez, Trey Edwards and Patrick McChesney behind the `A' team's third place
effort was worth an addition 20 points and allowed the Eagles to move past
Carlsbad and Monahans to win the meet.
Individually, the other results for Pecos included a third place finish
by Quintana and a 12th by Edwards in the 200 freestyle; a third
by K.W. Winkles in the 200 medley; a fifth place by McChesney in the 100
fly; a third place by Max Key and a 19th by Michael Juarez in
the 100 free; a second by McChensey, sixth by Quintana and ninth by Edwards
in the 500 free; a second by Gary Garcia in the 100 backstroke and a fourth
by Winkles in the 100 yard breaststroke. Juarez also took home a third place
medal on Friday in a 1-meter diving competition.
"Our kids said they were tired going into it, but I know some of our new
kids cut their times. Camilla cut and Cassidy cut," said Morse. "I thought
Trey did well for not working out as he did (because of football), and Gary
cut one second off his backstroke time."
Lubbock High was third on the girls' side with 173½ points, while
Monahans was fourth with 126 and Hobbs fifth with 116. After the Eagles,
Cavemen and Steers in the boys division, Monahans was fourth with 176 points
and Hobbs had 110 points. All of the Eagles' District 3-4A rivals except
for Abilene Wylie were at Saturday's meet.
Saturday's meet was the final one at home for Pecos this season, while
the Eagles' final meet before the Thanksgiving holiday will be this Friday
and Saturday in Monahans.
Eagles rout San Eli, get playoff rematch with Parkland
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Just about everything the Pecos Eagles were hoping for came out right
for them on Friday night, both in Pecos and in the El Paso area.
The Eagles were able to jump out to a big early lead and get running back
Matthew Levario over the 1,000 yard mark in rushing for the season before
halftime, and then gave their reserves plenty of playing time in the second
half of their 54-0 win over San Elizario at Eagle Stadium.
Meanwhile 175 miles to the west, the El Paso Mountain View Lobos were
helping the Eagles out be defeating the Fabens Wildcats by a 30-13 final
score. The win denied Pecos a share of the District 2-4A title, but it guaranteed
them a home game in the bi-district round of the Class 4A, Division II playoffs
against the El Paso Parkland Matadors for the second year in a row.
"We suited up 53 kids and all 53 got to play," said Eagles' coach Gary
Grubbs. Fifteen junior varsity players were brought up for Friday's game,
and two, running backs Joe Marruffo and Bino Barreno, ended up scoring touchdowns,
with Barreno running in from 65 yards out in the fourth quarter, and coming
within five yards of a 100-yard rushing night.
Levario went well past that, running for 219 yards in the first half,
after needing 196 yards going into the game to reach 1,000 for the season.
"We knew that was one of the goals for us going in, and going in the kids
felt pretty confident," said Grubbs.
San Eli came into the game winless, and were down to only 16 players on
their varsity roster on Friday. However, the visiting Eagles did have a couple
of good moments at the start of the game, picking up three first downs on
their opening series, off a couple of runs by Julio Aguilar and a holding
call against Pecos.
"San Elizario comes out in so many strange formations that they can get
you running the wrong formation. But we adjusted after a while," Grubbs said.
Pecos stopped San Eli just past midfield and forced a punt, and two plays
later Levario broke free for a 54 yard run, then added a 19-yarder on the
next play down to the 11. From there, quarterback Freddy Torres found Ricky
Plummer on a slant pass on the right side of the end zone and the Eagles
had a 6-0 lead midway through the period.
San Eli would get two more first downs on their next series, but were
again forced to punt. This time Peter Juarez fielded the ball, and after
bobbling it once, went up the middle of the field 87 yards for a touchdown.
Levario added his second extra point for a 14-0 lead.
Levario would get two touchdowns in the second period and appeared to
have gotten a third, but the side judge ruled the junior down before he hit
the pylon at the corner of the end zone on a 22-yard run just before halftime.
Torres was able to score on the next play on a one-yard run despite fumbling
the snap from center.
Earlier in the quarter Levario scored on a 39-yard run one play after
San Eli's best scoring chance in the first half, when Michael Eggenhaffer
cut in front of Abel Lopez for an interception with an open field ahead,
but dropped the pass from Torres. Levario's second score was from 36 yards
out and came two plays after a holding call wiped out a 50-yard punt return
for a touchdown by Jason Gonzales.
Aside from his TD pass to Plummer, Torres' only other completion in five
attempts Friday was a 20-yarder to John Parent, which came before Levario's
first touchdown. Parent then moved over to quarterback in the second half,
while Marruffo, who scored on a 13-yard run early in the fourth period, and
Barreno took Levario's place.
Fullback Oscar Parada also got to do a little more running and a little
less blocking in the second half, gaining 78 yards on six carries after a
minus-3 carry on Pecos' first offensive play of the game. But in the third
period the Eagles put 290-pound lineman Joel Valdez in the backfield, and
he scored from one-yard out to put Pecos ahead 39-0.
Pecos' second team defense didn't do as well as the second team offense
on the series after that. Running back Rod Esparza got loose for a couple
of good runs, and San Elizario drove the ball down to the Pecos 14 before
the first team unit went back in. They immediately sacked quarterback Angel
Muela for a 10-yard loss, which was followed by a fumble by Aguilar cost
the visiting Eagles another five yards. San Eli ended up losing the ball
on downs at the Pecos 31.
"We wore them down. We had so many going in and out and most of their
kids were having to play both ways, so we just wore them down," said Grubbs.
Levario's only appearance on the field in the second half was as a kicker.
He made his first three extra point attempts, but then missed his next three,
going short, wide right and wide left, and after making one to start the
fourth quarter ended up running the final extra point in on a pitch from
holder Richard Rodriguez, on what Grubbs said was an undersigned play.
"We didn't have a tee on the field. We tried to call time out, but we
couldn't," said Grubbs, who has seen Levario go into a bit of a kicking slump
in the last three games. "The one he was short on was a bad snap, but it's
things like that we need to get set before next week," he added.
Friday's game will be a 7:30 p.m. start against Parkland, which clinched
the final playoff spot out of District 1-4A win a 29-6 win at El Paso Burges
on Friday. Last season, the Matadors came into Pecos and rallied for a 30-22
bi-district victory.
The Matadors defeated San Elizario in a thunderstorm-shortened game this
season and later lost to Fabens, and come into the playoffs with a 5-5 record.
Pecos meanwhile, finished regular season play with seven wins for the first
time in 15 years, going 7-3 overall and 4-1 in district.
District champion Mountain View (8-1, 5-0) will face the only team they
lost to this season, El Paso Ysleta, at home on Friday night in their Division
I bi-district game, while Fabens (7-2, 3-2) gets 1-4A champ El Paso Riverside
on the Rangers' home field this Friday night.
Mountain View won despite getting only 33 yards rushing from Joey Amaya,
who was injured after rushing for over 200 yards in the Lobos' 23-6 win over
Pecos on Nov. 2. The injury ended up costing Amaya the 2-4A rushing title,
as Canutillo's Hector Saldivar racked up 420 yards rushing in his team's
61-13 victory over Clint to finish with 1,679 yards on the season, to Amaya'
1,566 yards.
Bears fall in final minutes to Sanderson, 36-29
By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer
The Balmorhea Bears came within a hair of spoiling the Sanderson Eagles
perfect season Friday night but could not hold to win, falling in the
closing minutes to the Eagles by a 36-29 final score.
Either way, the Bears looked like a playoff caliber team throughout the
District 8, Six-Man final conference game in The Pit at Sanderson, and will
face the Sands Mustangs this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Kermit, in the
bi-district round of the six-man football playoffs.
The Bears jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter behind good blocking
and hard running. Robbie Mendoza and Isiah Rodriguez both broke lose for
touchdowns early on.
Near perfect execution and great speed proved to be the key for the Eagles
however, and once their offense got untracked it proved nearly impossible
for the Bears to stop for the rest of the first half.
The Eagle running game got untracked late in the first quarter and John
Benvidez burst through the line and ran 33 yards into the end zone.
The second quarter was all Eagles as they capped three strong drives with
touchdowns. At the end of the half it was 28-16 in favor of the Eagles and
the Bear's early points looked like a fluke.
Enter the Bears defense.
An inspired Bear defense took the field for the third quarter and shut
down the Eagle offense it had not been able to touch in the previous quarter.
After a scoreless third quarter the Bear offense came out throwing and
made a game of it. First Robbie Mendoza hauled in a touchdown pass from Evan
Rodriguez and then Mendoza tossed a 55-yard bomb to Jourmain Mata to take
a one point, 29-28 lead with six minutes left to play.
Sanderson had the final say in the game and the Eagles managed one more
sustained drive in the final minutes of the quarter before Ty Means tossed
a two-yard pass to Daniel Mendoza for the winning touchdown.
The loss left the Bears with a 7-3 season record, and 4-1 in District
8-A six man, with all three losses coming to teams in the Top 10 in the state
six-man football rankings. They already own a 46-33 win at home this year
over Sands, the team they'll meet in the bi-district round at Kermit on Friday.
Sanderson goes into the playoffs with a 10-0 mark, and will take on Loop
in their bi-district game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Buena Vista
High School in Imperial.
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 newsdesk@nwol.net
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Copyright 2001 by Pecos Enterprise
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