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Van Horn Advocate
PECOS, Sept. 20 -- Did you know that a punter can `re-set' and regain
his protection after a fumbled snap?
The Pecos Eagles' do now, after a third quarter play that proved to be
one of the turning points of Friday night's 27-13 loss to the Monahans
Loboes.
"We played hard and well at times, but we couldn't overcome those
mistakes," said Eagles' coach Mike Belew, after a blocked punt and a
muffed punt set Monahans up twice at the Eagles' 10 yard line for scores.
The Eagles, who had suffered a string of blowout losses in Monahans over
the past decade, appeared headed for another Friday, after the Loboes
grabbed a 14-0 just of midway through the first quarter, the first
coming off Ruben Sanchez' block of a Richard Gutierrez punt. But Pecos
fought back, and used a pair of Monahans fumbles to score their first
touchdowns in Lobo Stadium in 11-years.
The second, on a 4th-down option pass from Gutierrez to Moses Martinez
cut the lead to 14-13. A flubbed snap kept the Eagles from tying the
score, but Pecos' defense then stopped Monahans on their next series
near midfield, forcing the Loboes to punt.
The snap to punter Brandon Stephens skidded along the ground before the
senior fielded it with Jose Contreras approaching from the left side.
Normally, when a punt snap hits the turf, it eliminates the punter's
protection. But when Contreras hit Stephens after the punt was off, he
was called for running into the kicker.
"(The official) said he re-set, to where he was legally protected,"
Belew explained. "Once you bobble it it (the punter's protection) is
off, but he said once you correct it, it's back on.
"Our kid was just going for the ball and let up and then just brushed
him, but he made the call," Belew said, which nullified a first down for
Pecos at their own 23.
Instead, Monahans got another first down, but again, the Eagles' defense
stopped the Loboes. However, this time Stephens punt was muffed by Mark
Abila at the 10, with Chris Allen recovering for Monahans. Three plays
later it was Stephens executing a perfect fake handoff to Lucas Jacquez
and running around the end untouched for the Loboes' third score of the
night.
Three plays after that, a fired-up Monahans defense would send Gutierrez
to Ward Memorial Hospital with a back injury in-between his second and
third vertebrae. Gutierrez was taken off on a back brace, but trainer
Joel Birch said it wasn't as serious as it appeared from the stands.
"That was just a precautionary measure," Birch said Saturday. "By the
time we got there (after the game) the doctor had him up and walking
around." However, he added the senior was unlikely to play in next
Friday's game at Fabens.
The loss of Gutierrez hurt Pecos' comeback attempts, as did the Eagles'
problems with their passing. After going for 99-yards and three
touchdowns a week ago, Pecos could only manage Gutierrez' option TD pass
to Martinez and a 5-yard screen pass from Jason Abila to Lucio Florez.
"Offensively, we didn't play our best ballgame. Moses Martinez is going
to catch nine out of 10 footballs, but he dropped a couple tonight,
which is uncharacteristic of Mo," Belew said. "Jason had a few bad
throws, and we also had a few untimely penalties, which hurt."
Pecos picked up where they left off in their 13-penalty night at Alpine,
as a holding call at the outset immediately put the Eagles in a hole and
set up Sanchez' punt block. Mark Thompson scored three plays later and
the Loboes had a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles then missed a shot at a first down pass when receivers
Martinez and Rudy Nunez collided on the next series. Two more penalties
followed before Thompson returned Gutierrez' punt to the Pecos 42. On
the next play, Robin Hanna broke through the right side and went 36
yards to the Eagles' 6, from where Stephens would score on a quarterback
sneak with 5:24 left in the quarter.
Pecos again couldn't move on their next series, but the Eagles' defense
then began making some plays of their own. Oscar Luna picked off a
Stephens pass ad returned it to the Monahans' 43. The Eagles wound up
losing the ball on downs at the 30, and Allen then gained 11 yards to
open the second period. But four plays later the wingback was hit and
fumbled, with Chris Reyes recovering at the Loboes' 46.
Jason Abila's bootleg on fourth down kept the drive going at first, and
Gutierrez then gained 13 on a sweep before another penalty and a sack of
Abila by Henry Bernard had the Eagles in a 4th-and-18 hole at the 27.
But the Eagles ran a little misdirection play to Florez, who cut right
and gained 23 yards to the Monahans 4. Gutierrez scored on the next
play, exactly halfway through the quarter and 167:23 minutes since their
last touchdown in Monahans, in 1986.
The wait until the next score was a lot shorter. Eight minutes and 47
seconds, to be exact, and it followed Allen's second fumble of the
night, when he was nailed on a busted counter play, after Thompson had
muffed the second half kickoff and was tackled inside the Loboes' 10.
Alonzo Valencia made the recovery, and the Eagles got to the four on
their first two plays, then were stopped dead on third down before going
to the option play, which had already netted them one touchdown this
season.
Even after Stephens' score, with 4:18 left in the third period, which
made it 21-13, Pecos was still within a touchdown going into the final
period. But Stephens would prove to be the difference, as he first
intercepted an overthown pass by Abila at the Monahans 24, then was able
to get around the right side of the Eagles' defense and scramble for
first downs twice, once on a 3rd-and-12 from the Loboes' 35 and the
second on a 3rd-and-8 from Pecos' 49.
After those plays, the Loboes took control, finding big openings several
times on the right side of the line. Monahans held the ball for nearly
10 minutes before sealing the victory with a one-yard dive by Jacquez
with 2:07 to play.
"I thought we played well enough to win the football game at times, but
we made too many mistakes," Belew said. "But even though we made those
mistakes, we were still in a position to win the game until right at the
end."
The loss drops Pecos' season record to 2-1 going into Friday's game at
Fabens against the Wildcats. The Eagles' other District 4-4A rivals all
won on Friday, as Andrews edged Midland High, 7-6, Fort Stockton routed
Lamesa, 48-12, San Angelo downed Austin LBJ, 38-9, and Sweetwater
outscored Frenship, 42-20.
at Monahans
Pecos 0 7 6 0 - 13
Monahans 14 0 7 6 - 27
First Quarter
Mon. -- Thompson 1 run (Najar kick), 3:06.
Mon. -- Stephens 1 run (Najar kick), 6:36.
Third Quarter
Pec. -- R. Gutierrez 4 run (R. Gutierrez kick), 6:00.
Third Quarter
Pec. -- Martinez 6 pass from R. Gutierrez (run failed), 2:47.
Mon. -- Stephens 4 run (Najar kick), 7:18.
Fourth Quarter
Mon. -- Jacquez 1 run (run failed), 9:53.
Pec Mon
First Downs 8 15
Rushes-Yds. 35-120 47-232
Passing Yds 11 12
Passes 2-10-1 2-8-1
Punts-Avg 5-27.4 3-38.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yds. 7-55 6-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Pecos, Florez 9-64, R. Gutierrez 11-33, M. Abila 8-17, J.
Abila 7-6. Monahans, Hanna 14-89, Jacquez 13-60, Stephens 7-34, Thompson
9-29, Rodriguez 1-11, Allen 3-10
PASSING -- Pecos, R. Gutierrez 1-1-0-6, J. Abila 1-9-1-5. Monahans,
Stephens 2-8-1-12.
RECEIVING -- Pecos, Martinez 1-6, Florez 1-5. Monahans, Aguilar 1-7,
Allen 1-5. MISSED FIELD GOALS -- None.
Balmorhea held El Paso to minus-18 yards in rushing and only one first
down on the night, while racking up 212 yards of their own on the
ground, though it took a while to get going, in part due to four fumbles
in the game.
The Bears, who had lost the previous week to Westbrook after rallying
from a big first half deficit, racked up 31 points in the second period,
18 of those in a span of 22 seconds just before the half.
The Bears got on the scoreboard first with 2:38 left in the first
quarter, when Arturo Miranda ran one unhindered into the Lion's end zone
from five yards out, with Zane Rhyne adding the extra point.
Things got going in the second quarter after the Bears shut down the
Lions and took over on Faith Christian's 27-yard-line. On 2nd-and-8,
Travis Woodruff took the ball up the gut for six yards, and Chris Cook
picked up a first down on the next play. Arturo Miranda then went over
on an 11-yard run, which took the Bears to 14-0, but the kick went wide
at the seven minute mark.
Debiasie Mendoza scored off a six-yard run taking it up to 20-0 just
under two minutes later, and then with 1:22 left in the half, Mendoza
scored another touchdown for the Bears on a beautiful 40 yard run. This
time Miranda added the two-point kick for a 29-0 lead.
Seven seconds later the Bears continued their assault on the demoralized
Lions, as Miranda sacked an El Paso back in the end zone for a safety,
and Billy Lozano returned the ensuing free kick 80 yards for a
touchdown. Miranda's kick made the score 39-0 by the end of the half.
It took the Bears a little while to end the game under the 45-point rule
in the third period, but the Bears did get the needed score with 6½
minutes gone in the quarter, when Miranda got his fourth touchdown of
the night, on a run from eight yards out.
The win lifted the Bears to 2-1 on the season going into their District
8-A six man opener this Friday night, against the Marathon Mustangs.
District play opened with one game this past Friday, as Sanderson downed
Dell City, 46-8. In other non-district games, Grady defeated Buena
Vista, 50-36, Grandfalls outscored Buckholz, 64-46, and El Paso Jesus
Chapel edged Sierra Blanca, 46-38.
at Balmorhea
EP Faith Chr. 0 0 0 - 0
Balmorhea 8 31 6 - 45
First Quarter
Bal. -- Miranda 5 run (Rhyne kick), 7:28.
Second Quarter
Bal. -- Miranda 11 run (kick failed), 3:00.
Bal. -- D. Mendoza 6 run (Avalos pass from Miranda), 4:57.
Bal. -- Miranda 45 run (Miranda kick), 8:38.
Bal. -- safety, 8:45.
Bal. -- Lozano 80 kickoff return (Miranda kick), 9:00.
Third Quarter
Bal. -- Miranda 10 run (no PAT attempt), 6:24.
EPF Bal
First Downs 1 11
Rushes-Yds. 19-(-18) 38-212
Passing Yds 49 11
Passes 2-13-1 2-3-0
Punts-Avg 6-27.5 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 4-2Penalties-Yds. 0-0 2-25
The Eagles evened their District 4-4A volleyball record at 1-1 with a
15-12, 15-4 victory over Sweetwater. Pecos scored the final 13 points of
the match, with Annette Marquez serving out on 11 straight points during
that run. But Granado was concerned with the team's opening game
victory, when they allowed Sweetwater to tie the score after leading at
one point, 12-4.
"It was the same thing as Andrews," Granado said, referring to Tuesday,
when her team lost a 12-3 lead in the first game and dropped a
three-game match to that group of Mustangs. "We let them come back and
tie it up. We lack a killer instinct."
Senior hitter Gail Taylor had a good second game, coming up with a
couple of spikes for points during Pecos' 13-0 run, and a Lori Marquez
spike finished off the match, after both struggled in the opener. "I
told them we were going to stop setting to them, and that's kind of when
they woke up," said Granado, adding the Eagles also had some setting
problems in the opening game.
Sweetwater had dropped their district opener to Lake View, 15-1, 15-2,
and Granado was hoping the Eagles would do just as well on the Mustangs'
home court. "That's what was so upsetting. They (Sweetwater) were having
a hard time passing, and that's the smallest I've ever seen a Sweetwater
team. But their setter just dinked us to death. We were caught
flat-footed and just watched the ball drop."
"We're going to have to play much better Tuesday to win," she added,
when the Eagles go to Fort Stockton to face the Prowlers. Fort Stockton
opened district play Saturday with a 15-12, 4-15, 15-13 win over Big
Spring, while Lake View lost at Andrews, 15-11, 15-12, in the other 4-4A
match.
Pecos' junior varsity also won on Saturday over Sweetwater, while the
Eagles' freshmen took first place Saturday at the Greenwood Freshman Tournament, downing Big Spring in the finals.
Four Pecos riders placed among the Top 10 in team roping, while three
girls placed in cutting and two more in barrel racing on Saturday and
Sunday at the arena, where the weather was windy and in the 90s on the
opening day of competition, before falling into the 60s Sunday, to go
along with a day-long drizzle.
DeAnda Allgood took first in Sunday's cutting competition, after a
fourth place finish on Saturday. Courtney Clark was second on Saturday
and fourth on Sunday, while Suzanne Kelton was sixth on the opening day
and moved up to third in the six person field on Sunday.
In the team roping, Trevor Warren and Randel Barmore took fourth out of
28 teams on Saturday, just ahead of Renea Rasberry and Clay Ryan
McKinney. Rasberry and McKinney then placed eighth out of 29 teams
during Sunday afternoon's competition.
Vin Fisher and Matt Gulley were Saturday's team roping winners, with
Drew Fort and Bobby Sellers taking top honors on Saturday.
McKinney also placed 13th in a 31 person field on Saturday in tie-down
roping, and was 12th in that event on Sunday. Clint Cooper and Seth
McFadden were the Saturday and Sunday winners in that event.
In barrel racing, there were 32 girls competing on Saturday and 31 on
Sunday, with Pecos' Salem Mitchell placing 11th both days, while
Rasberry was 12th and 13th in her two rides. Kelsey Cox had Saturday's
fastest ride, with Shayna Broyles beating her out for first on Sunday.
Rasberry also took sixth place out of 20 breakaway ropers on Sunday. Cox
won that event, while placing second to Erin Kelly on Saturday.
There were also 20 contestants in the poles competition, where first
place went to Tamara Sanders on Saturday and Kassidy Boyles on Sunday.
In goat tying, Margaret Ann Jameson was first both days, out of a field
of 10 competitors.
Turnout in the other events was smaller. Three cowboys competed in steer
wrestling, with Cody Callaway winning Saturday and George Wardlaw taking
first on Sunday. In saddle bronc and bareback competition, Cody McFadden
won both on Sunday, after no riders qualified in either event Saturday.
There were 10 bull riders on both days of the rodeo, but only John Dunn
scored points Saturday, while Josh Ashford and Derek Thomas were the
only ones staying on long enough to score on Sunday. Cutting competition
for the boys featured just two riders, with Will Schneeman taking first
and Gully second both days.
A total of 200 competitors were entered in the two-day event, covering
an area from Abilene and Del Rio to El Paso and Artesia, N.M. It is one
of 12 fall rodeo events, with 12 more scheduled during the spring. The
Top 10 finishers in each event advance to the state high school rodeo finals next June in Abilene.
Jones told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday
that he's considered trying it, but hasn't made the move because ``there
are just too many coaches who have the experience to get it done better
than I could.''
Jones, who played football at Arkansas and has been Dallas' general
manager since buying the team in 1989, once said 500 people could take
the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. He has hinted before that he considers
himself among the other 499.
``I consider it sometimes, yes,'' Jones told the newspaper. ``But first
and foremost I want to be successful and not selfish, and the best
chance for this organization to win is by having a full-time head coach
who is qualified, so that's why I probably won't do it.''
Neither Jones nor other team officials could immediately be reached for
comment Sunday. A message left at the team's headquarters Sunday was not
returned to The Associated Press. The Cowboys were idle this week.
The last NFL owner to coach his team was George Halas of the Chicago
Bears more than 50 years ago. The question of whether Jones would be
next is especially intriguing in light of increasing speculation that he
is becoming disenchanted with Switzer.
The Cowboys didn't reach the NFC championship game last year for the
first time since 1991. Then Switzer set back Jones' campaign to clean up
the team's image by being arrested for carrying a loaded gun at the
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Finally, the team hasn't played
very well while starting the year 2-1.
Other owners and high-ranking league executives told the newspaper they
know of Jones' interest in moving from the front office to the
sidelines.
``It could definitely happen,'' said a league executive who has spoken
to Jones on the subject and who insisted on anonymity. ``I'm not sure if
it will, but don't laugh it off because he has talked about it
increasingly the last few months and even the past few weeks.
``He probably won't do it, not because he would not be good at it, but
because he already has so many different things going on.''
Jones, who turns 55 next month, relishes the challenge of breaking the
mold and showing a new, better way of doing things. He's already done it
with contracts that get around the salary cap and through deals with
Nike and Pepsi that counter other league deals.
``In general, in life, you have to go for it,'' said Jones, who made his
money in the crapshoot world of oil. ``You live life to the fullest. But
I have to admit it would be extremely self-centered if I did coach the
team. Still, the desire is sometimes there.''
Jones feeds that desire by prowling the sidelines nearly every Sunday.
He often attends practices at Valley Ranch and even has several
television and radio shows where he lets Xs and Os creep into the
conversation.
``No, I don't rule it out,'' one owner said of the chance Jones would
name himself head coach. ``It would not surprise me at all if he did it,
and in my opinion, if anyone had a shot at doing it successfully it
would be him.
``People underestimate how smart he is. But why would you want to do it?
For him, it's the challenge. He could be the only man in modern sports
to win a Super Bowl as a coach, general manager and owner. That
intrigues him.''
One owner said that if Jones did coach the Cowboys, it would truly be to
feed his ego. That owner said Jones should then rename the team ``the
Dallas Joneses and move the team to Jones Beach.''
Others, however, say they are never skeptical of Jones' intentions
because of his strong belief in himself.
``He believes he can do anything,'' said the Giants' co-owner, Bob
Tisch, ``and I have learned not to doubt him.''
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, 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 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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