Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide for Reeves County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Monday, October 20, 1997

Williams' 1st half TDs get Andrews past Pecos

By JON FULBRIGHT
Sports Editor
ANDREWS, Oct. 18 -- The great thing about having a running back like Shaud Williams is a couple of his good plays can make a whole bunch of other bad plays go away.

The Andrews Mustangs' offense had a whole bunch of bad plays on offense Friday night against the Pecos Eagles' defense, but Williams had enough good plays to set up a first quarter field goal and score a pair of second quarter touchdowns, while a couple
of bad plays on Pecos' side thwarted their chances at a comeback, as Andrews scored a 17-7 victory before their homecoming crowd at the Mustang Bowl.

The Eagles controlled the ball for 24 of the 29 plays in the third period, and were threatening to cut Andrews' lead to 17-14 as the fourth quarter began. But on 1st-and-goal from the 8, quarterback Jason Abila and fullback Richard Gutierrez collided on
a handoff, with the ball coming loose and into the hands of linebacker Oscar Bueno.

Earlier, a snap over Abila's head in the second quarter put Pecos in a hole they wouldn't get out of for the rest of the half. It came after Williams' one-yard run had given Andrews a 10-7 lead, but also after Robert Gonzalez had recovered an ensuing on
sides kick attempt near midfield.

The play pushed the Eagles' back deep into their own territory, and Andrews would capitalize late in the half, when Williams broke free for 47 of his 229 yards on the night. It set the Mustangs up at Pecos' 10, and Williams would score from seven yards
out two plays later.

"Those mistakes killed us," Eagles' coach Mike Belew said. "We just didn't get any points when we got down into scoring position. We didn't execute, and the kid just went the wrong way."

Williams, who suffered a sprained ankle the previous week against Sweetwater, would reinjure the foot midway through the final period, and wound up with minus-1 yard on his last four carries. But by then the Eagles were forced to throw the ball, and wer
e unable to get past midfield the rest of the way.

Andrews started out as though they would have an easy time racking up the points behind Williams, who ran for 60 yards on the Mustangs' first offensive series. But when the Mustangs tried anything else, they were stopped cold by the Eagles' defense.

Quarterback Jeremy Pitkin, playing his first game in three weeks due to an ankle injury, was sacked for a seven-yard loss by Jason Thomasson, after Williams had given the Mustangs a 1st-and-goal at the three. He could get only five of those yards back o
n the next two plays, and Andrews had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Chris Timmons.

Pecos came out throwing on their first offensive series, although they were forced to go most of the way without wingback Moses Martinez, due to knee problems. But Abila hooked up with Oscar Luna twice for 21 yard gains, the second when he outfought def
ensive back Brad Newbrough for the ball at the Mustangs' five-yard line.

An earlier offsides call against Andrews kept Pecos' drive alive, but even after their own motion penalty following Luna's catch, the Eagles were still able to score, as Gutierrez, playing his first game in three weeks, leaped over the pile from three-y
ards out, then added the extra point kick.

Andrews went three and out on their next series, but Pecos' offense was also shut down by Andrews as the second period opened, and Gutierrez' punt was then tipped by the Mustangs after a low snap. Taking over at Pecos' 48, Williams wound up gaining 50 y
ards on the series, including third down runs of 20- ad 17-yards leading up to his one-yard TD dive.

While Pecos' offense stalled on their final four possessions of the half, helping set up Williams' second TD, the Eagles took the second half kickoff and racked three quick first downs, two coming on consecutive runs of 16- and 10-yards by Gutierrez and
Mark Abila. But a first down run by Hector Garcia was stopped, Abila was long on a third down pass to Luna in the end zone, and Brandon Long deflected a fourth down pass to Manuel Contreras, allowing Andrews to take over.

Williams would quickly run the ball into Eagle territory, but Pitkin would give it back, fumbling a snap that Alonzo Valencia recovered at the 36. The Eagles went to work again, picking up four first downs, including one on a 4th-and-5 pass from Abila t
o Luna. They would hook up again for eight yards, on a 3rd-and-7 at the 16, before disaster struck with the botched handoff.

"I'm really proud of our young men and the way they played, but I'm also disappointed, because I hoped we would come down here and win," Belew said. "But I'm pleased with the effort in the second half. We put ourselves in the position to come down and s
core, which would have made it 17-14 and given us a chance to win the ballgame."

Williams ended up with all but 21 yards of Andrews' offense, and went over 1,180 yards rushing for the season. Meanwhile the Mustangs' didn't complete a pass for the second week in a row -- except to Luna, who had his third interception in two games.

Pecos ended up with 156 yards on offense, 110 of that in the second half, as Luna finished with five catches for 59 yards and Gutierrez wound up running for 63 yards on 24 carries. His numbers were hurt by the success Andrews' defense had stopping the E
agles' draw play, which worked so well earlier in the season but had positive yards just once on Friday.

The Eagles' record falls to 0-2 in District 4-4A play, and 4-3 on the season, while Andrews improved to 1-1 and 5-2, going into their game at San Angelo Lake View this week. Pecos come home to face second-ranked Sweetwater, which won its 35th consecutiv
e regular season game Friday night, 37-14 over Fort Stockton. They're tied for first with Big Spring, which defeated Lake View at home, 28-20, in Friday's other 4-4A matchup.

Eagles beat Steers, earn playoff spot

PECOS, Oct. 20 -- The Pecos Eagles' volleyball team assured themselves of a trip to the playoffs for the second year in a row with a victory Saturday. And just as importantly, the Eagles looked like a team that belonged in the playoffs with their 15-3, 1
5-8 rout of the Big Spring Steers.

"That's the best we've played since Day 1," said Eagles' coach Becky Granado. "They were prepared and mentally ready to get out there and play."

The Steers had all kinds of problems handling Ivy Thorp's serves in both games, while Lori Marquez, Sherrie Mosby and Gail Taylor combined for 24 kills in the Eagles' third straight victory.

"Defensively they didn't get anything on us. We were at the right place," Granado said. "They only had two or three kills on us. Keesha Lott had two kills she earned. Besides that we did not let them get anything.

"Offensively, we only had about two or three mis-hits the whole time," Granado added.

Thorp served out long runs in both games of the match, the second breaking things open in Game 2, after Big Spring had grabbed a 6-4 lead. "Ivy was serving well. They were tough serves to handle," the Eagles' coach said.

Pecos, Andrews and San Angelo Lake View all clinched post-season berths, thanks to the Eagles' victory at Lake View's 15-8, 15-8 victory over Fort Stockton. Pecos' win lifted them to 6-3 in District 4-4A ad 17-10 on the season, while Big Spring fell to 3
-5 and 10-14 overall.

The Eagles are off on Tuesday, then close the season on Saturday at San Angelo. Depending on the outcome of Lake View's match with Big Spring on Tuesday, the Eagles can either force a playoff for second or win second outright with a victory over the Maid
ens.

Pecos also won Saturday's freshman and junior varsity matches over the Steers. The ninth grade beat Big Spring, 16-14, 4-15, 15-8, while the JV downed the Steers, 15-7, 14-16, 15-8.

Bears stay in playoff race with victory at Dell City

PECOS, Oct. 20 -- The Balmorhea Bears kept their playoff hopes alive Friday night, with a 54-8 road victory over the Dell City Cougars.

The Bears ended the game under the 45-point rule with just under four minutes gone in the third period, on Matthew Sanchez' 19-yard pass to Jeremiah Lozano. The win snapped Balmorhea's two-game losing streak and evened their record at 2-2 in District 8-A
six man play.

Debeiasie Mendoza had three touchdowns, including a 45-yard interception return as the first half ended, while Arturo Miranda also returned an interception 45 yards for a score, and got the Bears' first TD, a 1-yard run midway through the first period.

Runs of 4- and 36-yards by Travis Woodruff and Billy Lozano later in the period gave Balmorhea a 20-0 lead, before Jesse Duran and Michael Duran hooked up on a three-yard TD pass for Dell City's lone score as the second period opened. But the Bears then
answered with a two-yard touchdown run by Mendoza, followed by Miranda's interception return, then got another TD run of nine yards by Mendoza, followed by his pickoff and return for a score, in the final 30 seconds of the half.

The Bears are tied for third in the district standings with Sierra Blanca, while Sanderson and Grandfalls remain undefeated with three weeks left in the season. Balmorhea hosts the Sanderson Eagles this Friday, and the Bears need a win, and then a victor
y by Grandfalls over Sanderson, to have a shot at their fourth straight playoff trip.

Bears' coach Ennis Erickson said he wasn't sure what type of tie-breaker would be used if Balmorhea, Sierra Blanca and Sanderson all ended up tied for second with 4-2 records. If the Bears and Eagles finish in a two-way tie at 4-2, Balmorhea would advanc
e due to their head-to-head victory. Sanderson defeated Sierra Blanca three weeks ago, by a 49-20 final score, and the Vaqueros then downed the Bears, 60-48.

Swimmers place 5th, 8th at Midland meet

PECOS, Oct. 20 -- The Pecos Eagles' swim team came up with four medals and a fifth place finish in the boys' side, while the girls earned one medal and tied for eighth Saturday at the season-opening Midland Invitational.

San Angelo Central's boys and Midland High's girls won the meet, which was made up solely of Class 5A schools, with the exception of the Eagles and Midland Trinity. Central won with 119 points to 103 for Midland, with Pecos earning 54 points. Midland's g
irls won by a 149-102 margin over Central, with the Eagles' 18 points tying them with Lubbock Monterey.

"I was pleased with the meet, considering some people swam events they had never swam before," said Eagles' coach Terri Morse. "The times were about average for the first meet out, but we've had quite a bit of else going on like homecoming, and other kid
s working out with the band that hurt us."

The Eagles didn't have enough swimmers Saturday to field a boys' team in the 400 yard freestyle relay, while the girls lost a shot at more points when their 400 squad was disqualified. The boys' 200 freestyle relay squad of Kenneth Friar, Al Tillman, Mat
t Ivy and Kevin Bates did earn one of the Eagles' medals Saturday, with a third place finish. Earlier, the Eagles' 200 medley relay team took fourth place.

Bates, Friar and Tillman also took home individual medals, with Bates placing second in the 200 yard freestyle, Friar third in the 200 medley and Tillman third in the 100 yard breaststroke. Bates was also sixth and Tillman eighth in the 100 butterfly, wh
ile Friar was fourth in the 500 freestyle.

Ivy was seventh in the 100 backstroke and 10th in the 100 free, Vincent Brevis was 11th in the 100 breaststroke and 41st in the 50 free and Timothy Harrison was 16th in the 100 back and 24th in the 50 free. In one meter diving, Scott Pounds placed sevent
h Friday evening.

On the girls' side, Liz Parent came closest of any Eagle to a gold medal, as she lost out to Odessa High's Sarah Floyd in the 500 freestyle by a 5:50.12 to 5:51.19 margin. Parent also placed fourth in the 200 freestyle.

Dionnie Munoz was seventh in that event and Kellee Bagley was 11th, while Munoz was 11th in the 100 fly and Bagley 15th in the 100 free. Randy Key was seventh in the 100 back and 10th in the 100 free; Jamie Corson was seventh in the 200 medley and 13th i
n the 100 breaststroke; Briar Prewit was 14th in the 100 fly and 17th in the 50 free; and Jennifer Martinez placed 15th in the 100 back and 18th in the 100 free.

Morse said she would have more swimmers available this weekend, "except for the ones still in other sports," when the Eagles compete in the Abilene Invitational.

Tribe cools off Marlins before trip to Cleveland

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI, Oct. 20 -- The World Series hadn't even left Florida, and already Cleveland had given the Marlins the big chill.

Sandy Alomar and Chad Ogea weren't about to let the Marlins run wild again like they did in the opener.

``Nobody's going to sweep. Now we're going home to our environment,'' Jim Thome said after Cleveland evened the World Series 1-all with a 6-1 victory Sunday night.

Ogea, finally getting some support in the postseason, allowed just one run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. Marquis Grissom hit a go-ahead single in a three-run fifth, Bip Roberts added a two-run single later in the inning and Alomar hit a two-run homer
in the sixth.

``We just couldn't get that big hit tonight,'' Marlins manager Jim Leyland said. ``Ogea made some big pitches when he had to.''

In Saturday night's opener, Moises Alou hit a go-ahead three-run homer off Orel Hershiser and Charles Johnson followed with an upper-deck shot. Cleveland, in the Series for the second time in three seasons, seemed shocked.

But the Marlins couldn't do it again.

On a 77-degree night, the warmest for a Series game since 1977 at Dodger Stadium, the crowd of 67,025 was shaking to samba before the game. It was more movement than their teal heroes managed on the bases, and now Florida is in for a cold welcome at Jaco
bs Field, where the gametime temperature for Game 3 on Tuesday night is expected to be near 40.

``If we're sitting around looking at each other shivering, we have problems,'' Leyland said.

Alomar, the star for Cleveland so many times during the season, did it again. With the score tied at 1 in the fourth, Moises Alou led off with a double and Charles Johnson hit a swinging bunt.

Alomar popped out in front of the plate, threw to third and Matt Williams tagged out Alou.

Gigantic momentum buster.

``A big-time play,'' Indians manager Mike Hargrove said.

Two innings later, Alomar blew open the game with his drive into the second deck after a leadoff walk by David Justice.

And to make it extra special, it came on his father's 54th birthday. Sort of a gift to dad.

``I'm not trying to be cheap and not buy him a present,'' Alomar said. ``I got him a watch last week, so he already got a gift.''

Ogea got a present, too. He had been 0-2 in the postseason, mainly because the Indians hadn't scored a single run in the 19 2-3 innings he had pitched.

``It goes in stages,'' he said. ``You go out there and throw good one time and get no runs, and another time you get a lot of runs,'' he said. ``Our team turned it up tonight.''

Mike Jackson and Jose Mesa combined with one-hit relief, extending the bullpen's scoreless streak to 10 2-3 innings.

Marlins starter Kevin Brown, who had been 2-0 in the postseason, allowed all six runs and 10 hits in six innings.

``In defense of Kevin, when you're a sinkerball pitcher, you live and die with the ground ball,'' Leyland said. ``When they hit it at somebody, it's great. When they find the holes like the did in that one inning ... it can be a long night.''

With the score 1-all in the fifth, Matt Williams hit a leadoff single and scored on consecutive one-out singles by Alomar and Grissom. Ogea sacrificed and Bip Roberts lined a single to center for a 4-1 lead.

Runs make pitching easy. They also put smiles on Cleveland's faces. Perhaps the players already were looking forward to the boisterous crowds expected at the Jake.

``I was very relaxed,'' Ogea said. ``It was the most fun I've had in my life.''

Walker's run through Jags saves Dallas

IRVING, Texas, Oct. 20 (AP) -- The aging Dallas Cowboys are a long way from being toothless.

They're still capable of making their critics look silly, like they did on Sunday by taking a chunk out of the youthful and talented Jacksonville Jaguars 26-22 in a good day for veterans Emmitt Smith and Herschel Walker.

In the process Dallas snapped a two-game losing streak and put itself back in the NFC East title chase.

``We took the first step in a long journey,'' said receiver Michael Irvin. ``We won a tough game but it doesn't mean anything more than the first step on a long road.''

Irvin added, ``the answer to our question on character of the team will be at the end. I would like to say it shows character, but if we lose our next nine games it doesn't answer anything. It's a good win. A needed win.''

It was certainly a fun game for Herschel Walker, whose 64-yard touchdown hookup with Troy Aikman was a fourth quarter game-breaker.

``People keep saying I'm an old man,'' the 35-year-old Walker said. ``Today I felt like I was 22 and just got drafted. I love to compete.''

And compete he did against one of the NFL's better teams.

``Herschel does a lot of things for us,'' Irvin said. ``He's a great old man to have on our team.''

The win wasn't secure for the Cowboys (4-3) over the Jaguars (5-2) until safety Omar Stoutmire, subbing for the injured Darren Woodson, intercepted Mark Brunell's desperation pass after a heavy Tony Tolbert rush with 1:24 left.

So the Cowboys, who have been criticized for lack of depth, had two substitute players make big plays to win the game.

``All of our games have been struggles,'' said Dallas coach Barry Switzer. ``But we made the plays we had to make. And we had some veterans do it.''

Walker, the 12-year veteran playing for Daryl Johnston, provided the 64-yard play that killed the Jaguars, who were leading 22-19 with 9:06 left. Johnston was missing the first game of his nine-year career with a neck injury that might need surgery.

Walker sneaked out of the backfield on 2nd-and-22 and caught a quick pass from Aikman. Walker then broke four tackles to score with 6:27 left as Aikman pumped his fist with joy, celebrating Dallas' longest pass play of the year.

``We never dreamed the play would go for 22 yards, let alone a touchdown,'' Aikman said. ``We were just trying to pick up some yardage to set up third down.''

``I've run that play a lot in training camp, but haven't got too many chances to run it in a game,'' Walker said. ``I just kept bouncing off tacklers.''

Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin said Walker made an amazing play.

``We let him get up a head of steam and Herschel really hurt us,'' Coughlin said. ``He hurt us out in the flat all day. He's done that all of his career.''

Brunell had two second-half touchdown passes after a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith in the first half.

Keenan McCardell caught his first touchdown pass since Dec. 1, from 5 yards out, and tight end Derek Brown snagged the first touchdown pass of his six-year career, a 1-yarder.

In the second quarter, the Cowboys finally scored their first rushing touchdown of the season when Smith dove across from the 6-inch line. It was Smith's first regular-season rushing touchdown in 33 quarters dating back to last Thanksgiving Day. It gives
him 116 career touchdowns, tied for fifth on the NFL career list with John Riggins.

Smith had 75 yards rushing on 24 carries. Aikman completed 21 of 32 passes for 262 yards.

``It's been a grueling seven weeks,'' Smith said. ``A lot of people doubted what the Cowboys could do against the Jags. A lot of people except us. ''

Brunell hit 21 of 31 passes for 262 yards, but James Stewart, who scored five touchdowns last week, could gain only 40 yards on 17 carries.

``I can see why the Dallas secondary is the best in the NFL,'' Brunell said. ``We weren't clicking today like we usually do.''

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