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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Monday, October 6, 2003
Lubbock running backs roll
against shorthanded Eagles
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
There was a little return to the bad old days of 2002 for the Pecos
Eagles on Friday night, in their final pre-district game of the 2003
season.
The Eagles, who allowed a lot of long runs to a lot of running backs
last season on the way to a 2-8 record, did so again on Friday at
Lowery Field in the final 21/2 quarters of their game with the
Westerners. Lubbock High scored their final three touchdowns on runs of
25 yards or more and rolled up 334 yards rushing on the way to a 44-12
victory over Pecos.
The Eagles figured to be at a disadvantage in terms of depth going
into the game against the Class 5A Westerners, and that problem was
made worse by the absence of defensive end Booker Fobbs and safety
Oscar Parada, both of whom were among Pecos' leading tacklers during
the first half of the season.
"They hurt us on the back side a lot," said Eagles' coach Patrick
Willis. "Not having Oscar hurt a lot and not having Booker hurt, too."
Linebacker Joe Marruffo ended up physically hurt on the Westerners'
final touchdown run, a 46-yarder by Michael Castillo in the fourth
quarter. Lubbock's Brian King got Marruffo with a blindside block,
which left him lying on the field for about 15 minutes, before he was
taken by ambulance to Covenant Medical Center for precautionary X-rays.
Marruffo's injury from the hit was determined to be only back and
muscle spasms, and he was released to return to Pecos early Saturday
morning.
Lubbock converted a 3rd-and-18 situation on their opening drive of
the game, as Chandler Bernard hit Juan Garza for a 22-yard completion
that set up Castillo's 7-yard scoring run midway through the opening
period. The Eagles came close to answering that a minute later, when
Saul Pina hooked up on a long completion to Ricky Barreno, who was
subbing for Parada at the wingback position. Barreno was behind the
defense, but was caught by Byron Bradford at the Westerners' 20-yard
line, and Pecos' drive stalled there, when Joel Martinez couldn't pull
in a Pina fourth down pass at the goal line.
"Normally we would run that play (Barreno's catch) to Oscar, and he
has a little more speed," Willis said. "We had a few opportunities to
put points on the board but didn't."
Lubbock High's next series ended near midfield, when Simon Castillo
picked off a deflected pass meant for Garcia. But the Eagles were
unable to move the ball on their next series, and as the second quarter
began the Westerners' runners started getting bigger gains on the
Eagles defense.
"They just liked up foot to foot and just wore our little front line
out," Willis said. "When you've got a 300 pound lineman landing on you
like that, it's tough."
Tony Rioz had the bulk of Lubbock's first half rushing yards,
including runs of 11- and 35-yards to set up his own 3-yard TD run four
minutes into the second period. Just over a minute later, the
Westerners scored again, when Bradford picked off a Pina pass and
returned it to the 24, and Bernard went in one play later on a
quarterback option run.
Rioz would score on a 25-yard run on Lubbock's next possession,
before Pecos finally got on the scoreboard, on a 73 yard drive that
involved three passes from Pina to John Parent, including a 46-yard
flanker screen and a 22-yard scoring strike.
But after missing a try for two points with 1:13 left in the
period, the Eagles allowed the Westerners to drive downfield an set up
a 24-yard field goal by Dustin Dooley as the first half ended. A
six-yard Bernard run to midfield highlighted the Eagles' frustration,
as Bernard was chased inside the 20-yard-line by Pecos' linemen before
escaping for a short gain.
"He started scrambling later, but early on we were there," Willis
said. "Having Booker there with a little more speed would have helped."
In the second half, the Westerners opened big holes through the
right side of their line for Castillo, who scored from 80 yards out on
Lubbock's first play of the second half and had 140 yards rushing on
only four carries in the final two periods.
Pecos' meanwhile, ran the ball only four times in first half, but
did have some success in the third period with Rashad Terry, who got
loose for runs of 20, 11 and 12 yards on consecutive plays, which set
up Pina's 1-yard quarterback sneak to make the score 38-12. Terry also
suffered leg cramps on the touchdown play in which Marruffo was hurt,
but did return to the game, while Lubbock coach Joe Laudermilk gave his
reserves a chance to see some action over the final nine minutes of
play.
The win was Lubbock's fourth straight after an opening loss and the
fourth straight game the Westerners have scored 40 or more points on an
opponent. The Eagles, meanwhile, fall to 3-3 on the season going into
Friday's District 4-3A opener and 2003 homecoming game, against the
Kermit Yellowjackets. Kermit routed Odessa Permian's junior varsity on
Thursday night, 45-3, while on Friday Monahans was shut out by Lamesa,
7-0, and Fort Stockton was edged by Alpine, 15-14, in the other two
district contests.
At Lubbock
Pecos 0 6 6 0 - 12
Lubbock High 7 24 7 6 - 44
First Quarter
Lub. - Castillo 7 run (Dooley kick), 4:14.
Second Quarter
Lub. - Rioz 3 run (Dooley kick), 4:04.
Lub. - Barnard 12 run (Dooley kick), 5:15.
Lub - Rioz 25 run (Dooley kick), 9:47.
Pec. - Parent 22 pass from Pina (pass failed), 10:47.
Lub. - FG Dooley 24, 12:00.
Third Quarter
Lub. - Castillo 80 run (Dooley kick), 2:00.
Pec. - Pina 1 run (pass failed), 6:19.
Fourth Quarter
Lub. - Castillo 24 run (run failed), 2:25.
Pec Lub
First Downs 12 24
Rushes-Yds. 21-55 39-334
Passing Yds. 193 121
Passes 11-28-3 8-16-2
Punts-Avg. 4-35.3 2-23
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-0
Penalties-Yds. 3-22 8-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Pecos, Terry 15-52, Pina 6-3. Lubbock High, Rioz 14-125,
Castillo 8-154, Barnard 10-49, Harbison 3-8, Kreck 2-(-2).
PASSING - Pecos, Pina 11-28-3-193. Lubbock High, Bradford
8-15-1-121, Olivarez 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING -Pecos, Parent 4-99, Barrenno 2-74, Muela 3-25, Terry
4-(-1). Lubbock High, Garcia 4-55, Najera 2-28, Lane 1-24, Ruiz 1-14.
MISSED FIELD GOALS - None.
Eagles stay tied for second with victory over Prowlers
The Pecos Eagles opened up a
little distance between themselves and the Fort Stockton Prowlers in
the District 4-3A volleyball standings on Saturday. Now, they'll try
and grab a lead over the Greenwood Rangerettes for second place at the
midway point of the district schedule.
The Eagles, who needed to win at Fort Stockton late last season to
make the playoffs, went down to the Panthers' home court on Saturday,
and after losing the opening game to the Prowlers, 25-23, came back to
win the next three games, 25-20, 25-19, 25-19, to open a two-game lead
over Fort Stockton and remain tied with Greenwood for second in the
4-3A standings.
"I didn't know how they would bounce back after the loss to
Monahans," said Eagles' coach Becky Granado. The Eagles were swept at
home last Tuesday by the Loboes, running into problems not only with
Monahans' taller front line but also handling their serves.
Granado said that was a problem at the outset of Saturday's match as
well.
"The first game we weren't really into it. It seems like when we
lost, that was a wake-up call," Granado said. "We were caught out of
position defensively at times. Fort Stockton has two left-handed girls,
and I told them to watch the cross-court hits, but we were out of
position.
"We also had a tough time passing in the first game, but then we
started settling down and were able to run our offense," she added.
Pecos jumped ahead of the Prowlers in Game 2, and held off a late rally
that saw a 20-14 lead narrowed to 23-20.
In the last two games, the Eagles were able to pull away late for
the wins. They broke an 18-all tie in Game 3 by scoring seven of the
final eight points, then closed out the match by scoring the final six
points in Game 4.
"We picked it up after Fort Stockton made some hitting mistakes.
They had some missed serves, and we started taking advantage once they
made those mistakes," Granado said.
Saturday's game was also the first with a new front line set-up for
the Eagles, who had to play without blocker Brittany Rodriguez. "I had
to move Leslie (Rodriguez) to play the middle blocker. She wasn't too
happy about it, but she has to realize that's where the team needs her
right now."
Rodriguez had eight kills on offense, while Danielle Garcia had 10
kills and Stephanie Herrera had seven.
The win improved the Eagles' record to 3-1 in district and 11-14 on
the season, while Fort Stockton falls to 1-3 and 7-9. The Prowlers did
take Saturday's freshman and junior varsity matches, winning the ninth
grade games, 25-23, 25-19, and the JV contest, 25-15, 25-14.
Pecos swimmers second in season-opening meet
The Pecos Eagles' swimming team opened up their 2003-04 season with
a pair of second place finishes on Saturday, in the Odessa Invitational
at the University of Texas-Permian Basin pool.
Pecos' boys finished just behind San Angelo Central in the final
standings, losing out to the Bobcats for the title by a 364-349 margin.
Odessa High was next at 243 points.
In the girls' division, Midland High ran away with the title,
scoring 5731/2 points, while Pecos finished with 386 points and Central
was third, at 3001/2 points.
"The boys probably would have beaten San Angelo Central, but we had
to scratch one of my boys' relays," said Eagles' coach Terri Morse.
"Three of my boys had to leave for band, and if we had swum that I
think we would have had enough points to beat Central, but no harm
done."
The three had to travel to Lubbock for Pecos' Friday night football
game at Lowery Field, and as a result the Eagles did not have a relay
team in the preliminaries of the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final
race of the day.
Morse said overall the relay and individual times "Weren't too bad.
Some of them did better than what I expected and some did what I
thought they would do."
The boys earned five first place finishes, two by senior Will
Ogelsby in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. He took
the 100 fly with a 55.01 time and won the backstroke with a 58.86
effort.
Senior K.W. Winkles won the 200 individual medley with a 2:13.56
time after going three seconds faster in Friday's preliminaries, while
Michael Juarez picked up a gold medal on Friday by taking the 1-meter
diving competition with a 208.95 score. Senior Max Key had Pecos' other
first place finish, taking the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:03.78
time.
In the two relays the boys' did enter, they placed second both
times. Oglesby, Key, Matt Elliott and Daniel Quintana were second to
Midland High in the 200 medley relay, and Oglesby, Elliott, Key and
Juarez was second to the Bulldogs in the 200 freestyle relay.
In the other individual events, Quintana placed second in the 200
yard freestyle and Kyle Winkles was seventh; Matthew Oglesby was fourth
in the 200 individual medley; Key was second and Elliott eighth in the
50 free; Elliott was third and Matthew Oglesby sixth in the 100 fly;
Quintana was sixth, K.W. Winkles seventh and Kyle Winkles eighth in the
100 free; Juarez was 12th in the 500 free; and T.J. Hardwick was 13th
in the 1-meter diving.
Pecos' girls didn't win any first place medals, but picked up a
second in the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay. Ashley
Horsburgh, Lindsey Shaw, Catherine Minjarez and Betsy Lujan placed
second to Midland High with a 2:06.84 time, while in the 200 freestyle
relay, Lujan, Amie Reynolds, Jessica Minjarez and Susan Moore took
third, behind Midland High and Odessa Permian, with a 1:53.89 time.
In the 400 freestyle relay, the girls had two teams in the top 6, as
Horsburgh, Moore, Teddie Salcido and Catherine Minjarez placed third,
behind Midland High's 'A' and 'B' teams, and Jessica Minjarez,
Reynolds, Shaw and Sara Wein were sixth. In the 200 medley relay,
Pecos' 'B' relay of Salcido, Reynolds, Wein and Ashley Mendoza finished
eighth.
Individually, the highest finish for Pecos came in the 200
individual medley, where Catherine Minjarez was second and Shaw placed
third. Wein also swam in that race, and finished 10th. In the 100
breaststroke Shaw took second, with her 1:16.47 time just .18 behind
Midland's Bryen Ulmschneider, while Reynolds placed fourth.
Moore had Pecos' other medal, placing third in the 100-yard
freestyle, while Lujan was sixth and Horsburgh was seventh in that
race. In the other races, Salcido and Jessica Minjarez were fifth and
sixth and Mendoza was eighth in the 200 free; Moore was seventh, Lujan
13th and Amanda Contreras 25th in the 50 free; Catherine Minjarez was
fifth, Wein eighth, Contreras 11th and Cynthia Marmolejo 13th in the
100 butterfly; Salcido was seventh and Mendoza 11th in the 500 free;
and Horsburgh was sixth and Marmolejo 20th in the 100 backstroke.
The Eagles are off until Oct. 16, when they'll travel to Fort
Stockton for a dual meet against the Prowlers.
Bears open district play with rout of Cowboys
By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer
The Balmorhea Bears mounted a steady offensive attack and backed it up
with good defense as the Bears beat the Grandfalls Cowboys Friday
night, 52-6, ending the game with 3:27 left in the third quarter on the
45-point rule.
The Bear defense refused to allow a single point in their district
opener, with the Cowboys' only score coming when Robby Garcia stripped
the ball from a Bear on the Cowboy 30 yard line and ran 50 yards for a
touchdown early in the third quarter.
For the majority of the game the defense stifled the Cowboys'
offense, while Balmorhea's offense marched steadily toward the goal
line.
That first drive began early and before the first five minutes had
ticked off the clock the Bears had posted three touchdowns and kicked
two, two-point conversions to lead 22-0.
The next series the Cowboys mounted a drive from their own 20.
On a 3rd-and-seven the Cowboys went with a halfback pass that fell
incomplete but drew a flag for roughing the passer. With a first-and-15
from the Bear 37 yard line Grandfalls ran the exact same play.
This time the Cowboy receiver managed to hang onto the ball long
enough for a completion although the ball popped out moments later.
Lionel Abila recovered for the Cowboys and at the Bear 22.
Two plays later the Cowboys fumbled a pitch and Barry Bordayo
recovered for the Bears, putting an end to the best Cowboy offensive
series of the night.
Bordayo put an end to the next Cowboy possession as well when he
intercepted a pass on 4th-and-10 and returned the ball up to near
midfield. Five plays later Bear quarterback Keith Baeza rolled out away
from the fake and found Ismael Rodriguez all alone in the end zone.
Balmorhea successfully kicked the points-after again and led 30-0
early in the second quarter.
The Cowboys had to punt on 4th-and-four and buried Balmorhea back on
the 12 yard line. But on the first play from scrimmage Baeza pitched to
senior fullback Robbie Mendoza. Mendoza shook off one tackler at the
line of scrimmage and ran to the Cowboys 16 yard line.
From there the Cowboys defense stiffened.
After Bear fullback Levon Barragan rambled for 8 yards on first down
the Cowboys stopped the next running play at the line of scrimmage A
third down pass fell incomplete, and facing fourth-down-and-five Coach
Adolfo Garcia called Michael Rodriguez' number.
Rodriguez took the ball off right tackle just managed five tough
yards to the one-yard line giving the Bears a first-and-goal from the
one. Garcia then went back to Mendoza, and he went up the middle and
punched it in for another touchdown. The Bears kicked the points after
again and with the score 38-0 and five minutes left in the second
quarter it looked like the game might be done by halftime.
Balmorhea came close. After Grandfalls took the ensuing kickoff and
used a couple of strong runs to moved the ball to the Bear 22 yard
line, the Cowboys fumbled the ball again, and Balmorhea recovered. Four
first downs later Baeza rolled out away from the fake and this time
found freshman Jonathan Carrasco in the end zone to run the score to
44-0. Any point at all on the conversion attempt and the game would be
over but the point after kick attempt failed and at halftime the score
stood at 44-0.
On the first series of the second half the Bears managed a first
down and then saw the ball stripped away from Robbie Mendoza by
Cowboys' end Robby Garcia who ran the ball back 50 yards for the
Cowboys lone touchdown.
The Bears were driving again on their next possession when the
Cowboy defense stopped the drive in their own end zone when Ryan
Marquez intercepted Baeza's pass on first and goal.
Two offensive fumbles later the Bears took the ball back and were
looking at first and goal from the 15-yard line. On third and goal
Robbie Mendoza took the handoff up the middle and scored.
This time the points-after kick was good and ended the game 52-6
with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
The Bears improved their record to 3-1 on the season and are 1-0 in
District 6-A six man, while Grandfalls fell to 1-4 and 0-2 in district.
The Bears will now return home to face defending district champion
Sanderson, which is ranked No. 2 in the most recent six-man state poll.
The Eagles are undefeated on the season after their 62-12 win over Dell
City on Friday night.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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