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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, August 31, 1998
Eagles beat district foe, get 5th
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 31 -- The Pecos Eagles didn't get another
championship trophy this year in their own Cantaloupe
Classic Volleyball Tournament, but they did get a first look
at one of their new District 2-4A rivals.
El Paso Bowie swept Pecos in the quarterfinals of the
tournament, 15-8, 15-8, on the way to a 9-15, 15-9, 15-12
victory over Wink in the tournament finals. And while
Eagles' coach Becky Granado was happy to see her team come
up with a sweep of the Fabens Wildcats following the loss to
Burges, she hopes the Eagles will learn the right lessons
from their fifth place finish in this past weekend's
tournament.
"I'm really happy with all of them," said Granado, whose
team won the tournament title last season. "I changed the
lineup and put different people on the back line, and it
didn't bother them. I just hope us beating Fabens doesn't
give us the big head when district starts.
"I was pleased with the way we played overall, but we're
still making those little mental mistakes we need to
correct," Granado said.
The Eagles and Wildcats showed similar problems in their
match -- serving and passing -- but Pecos was able to win
both times because they were able to get their problems
under control when it counted.
A kill by Cindy Arrieola sparked a four point run for
Fabens in the first game, turning a 9-9 tie into a 13-9
Wildcat lead. But after a timeout, the Eagles were able to
break serve and then run off six straight points to rally
for the victory.
Sherrie Mosby, who was named to the all-tournament team,
began and ended the run, blocking a tip attempt by Kim
Phelps to start it, then killing an overset by Fabens for
game point. Amy Chabarria, who served out the Eagles' final
seven points in Friday's pool round win over Fort Stockton,
did the same this time around, then served the first five
points, including two aces, in the second game.
The Wildcats appeared rattled after blowing the late lead
in Game 1, and Pecos would race out to an 11-2 lead. Phelps
then led a five-point Fabens rally, which cut the margin to
11-7, but the Eagles again regained their composure after a
time-out and closed out the match, winning on another
overset kill, this time by Philonicus Fobbs.
"Fabens may say they lost because they were missing their
top gun," Granado said, referring to hitter Beverly Alarcon,
out with back spasms. "But if they can't pass better than
today, I can't see them hurting us any."
Bowie did pass and defend well after a slow start, and
controlled most of their two games against Pecos Saturday
morning.
The Bears -- who could be a bi-district opponent for Pecos
in late October -- fell behind early by a 6-1 score, but got
things going behind hitters Patty Workman and Mary Martin,
who also were all-tournament picks. Bowie scored seven
straight points to grab an 8-6 lead, and then after a kill
by Fobbs cut the lead to one, the Bears went on a six point
run for a 14-7 advantage on the way to their 15-8 win.
The second game was better for Pecos, even though the score
was the same. This time the Eagles were the ones getting off
to a slow start, falling behind 9-2 before spikes by Shaye
Lara and Marissa Levario started a 7-0 run for Pecos.
Several of the points in this run came after long volleys,
but when the Eagles cut it to 9-8, their passing mistakes
returned. Bowie's Veronica Licerio -- also an all-tournament
pick -- killed an overset, and the Eagles failed to get good
chances at kills several times off free balls, while Workman
took charge at the net, with two spikes during the final 6-0
run.
In the fifth place game, the Eagles went out to a 12-6 lead
on Crane, then allowed the Golden Cranes to cut the lead to
13-11. A spike by Mosby broke that string, and after two
service breaks, a bad pass off a serve by Crane finished
things off.
Crane did catch Pecos in the second game, wiping out a 6-0
to tie things at 9-9. Four straight errors by the Eagles let
the Cranes back into the game, but is was a mixup on a set a
few minutes later that put the Eagles ahead for good, at
11-10. It also started a match-ending 5-0 run, with Mosby
scoring on a block of Stephanie Moore before Lara connected
on a spike off Moore for a point.
Alpine won third place in the tournament, beating Monahans
by a 15-13, 15-12 score, while Seminole took consolation,
15-11, 15-6 over El Paso Jefferson. Pecos swept Jefferson in
pool round play Friday, 15-4, 15-13, then split with
Presidio, losing 15-8 and winning 15-10.
Along with Mosby, and Bowie's trio, the other
all-tournament selections were Seminole's Karen Spradlin,
Monahans' Tracy Jasso, Alpine's O'Lita McWilliams and Wink's
Cassie Slaughter, while Wink's Ryan Thomas won defensive
honors, Alpine's Selena Monclova was named outstanding
hitter, Crane's Yvonne Moore was the outstanding setter, and
Wink's Jess Ann Fernandes was selected as the tournament's
most valuable player.
In the junior varsity division, the Eagles won the
tournament title, going 5-1 in pool play, then beating
Greenwood in the semifinals, 5-15, 15-7, 15-5, before
downing Odessa High in the championship, 15-13, 15-10.
Greenwood won third place and Monahans took consolation.
In the freshman division, Crane almost pitched a shutout at
Andrews in the finals, winning 15-0, 15-1. Alpine downed
Greenwood for third place, while Pecos' gold team took
consolation, 15-8, 15-5 over Fort Stockton, and the purple
team defeated Monahans for seventh, 15-11, 15-13.
The 2-1 day lifted Pecos' record to 4-5 on the season going
into Tuesday's rematches with Alpine and Odessa High in
Alpine. The Eagles opened the season two weeks ago with a
win over the Bronchos and a loss to the Bucks in Pecos.
Result satisfies Swaim as Eagles tie Rangers
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 31 -- Pecos Eagles coach Dan Swaim said his team
"got what we intended to get," out of their final preseason
scrimmage -- and their second tie in as many weeks -- Friday
at Eagle Stadium.
Pecos' first team offensive scored during the first 20-play
series of the scrimmage against Midland Greenwood, while the
Rangers would come back and score on the second play of the
timed portion of the scrimmage, and the teams end up with a
1-1 deadlock for the night.
A 29-yard run and a 22-yard pass reception by Lucio Florez
set up Jacob Esparza's four yard run for the Eagles' only
score. Pecos had two other chances to score, but saw drives
stopped once on the Rangers' 13 during the second series of
the night, and again on a sack of quarterback Oscar Luna
after the Eagles reached Greenwood's 35-yard-line following
the Rangers' touchdown, a 58-yard dash by running back Wes
Smith.
The Rangers also started the scrimmage fast, picking up 47
yards on their first five plays, before a fumbled snap
stopped their momentum, and the Eagles then stopped
Greenwood on downs at the 15-yard line.
"We didn't really prepare for Greenwood and the (wish)bone.
We just prepared six plays offense, six plays defense,"
Swaim said. "We've been working on Denver City for next
Thursday," when the Eagles open regular season play at
Odessa's Ratliff Stadium.
Outside of the very end, when Pecos' line blocking
faltered, the Eagles moved the ball more consistently
against Greenwood than they did a week earlier in their
scrimmage tie with Monahans, though they also had more
problems with turnovers. They came up less than a yard short
of a first down on three plays from midfield on their first
series, then fumbled away the ball on their next play before
going 70-yards in seven plays for their score. Esparza and
Hector Garcia both had first down runs on the stalled
series, while Florez would add a 34 yard run and Esparza a
13-yarder on the second series drive that ended with the
fumble at Greenwood's 13.
The Eagles would have another turnover off a bad pitch-out
on that series, while Greenwood had one lost fumble of their
own, just after a apparent diving interception by Mark Abila
was ruled incomplete by the officials.
Swaim said the only serious injury was a separated shoulder
suffered by lineman Jeffrey Martinez early in the Eagles'
first offensive series. Pecos was already without a couple
of lineman, in Alonzo Valencia and Cesar Coria, who sat out
Friday's scrimmage due to injuries suffered a week ago.
In the other scrimmages on Friday, the Eagles' junior
varsity was shut out by Greenwood, 4-0, while Pecos'
freshman team tied the Rangers, 3-3.
Greenwood got most of their offense on the ground, though
they did score one touchdown on a nine-yard pass, while
Pecos went with the bomb for all of their scores -- three
70-yard TD passes from Richard Rodriguez to Ricky Plummer,
two on the first series and one on the second.
Greenwood also scored twice on the first series and once on
the second, with their TD runs coming from 7- and 6-yards
out.
The Rangers had three long runs for scores against the JV,
a 38-yarder on the first series, then runs of 70- and
63-yards on the second series, before getting their last TD
from eight yards out.
Both the freshman and JV will open their seasons this week
as well, but each will play a rare Friday night game, with
the JV going to Denver City, while the freshmen host the
Mustangs at Eagle Stadium.
Homer keeps McGwire one up on Sosa
By The Associated Press
One in the afternoon, one at night. Sammy Sosa and Mark
McGwire made the home run chase an all-day affair.
Sosa and McGwire's pursuit of Roger Maris and history sped
up as both sluggers connected for home runs on Sunday.
After Sosa hit his 54th during the day in Denver as the
Chicago Cubs 4-3 beat Colorado, McGwire thrilled a home
crowd in St. Louis and a prime time national TV audience
with No. 55 as the Cardinals beat Atlanta 8-7.
McGwire has hit his last three homers on the same day Sosa
homered. The duo have homered on the same date 18 times this
season.
Just coincidence, says McGwire.
``This is not a challenge, this is not a race to whatever,
we don't get an Oscar at the end, for like best actor,'' he
said. ``He takes care of himself, I take care of myself and
wherever the chips fall at the end of the season, that's
where it is.''
In the seventh inning, McGwire hit a 1-0 pitch from Atlanta
reliever Dennis Martinez (3-6) over the backdrop beyond the
center-field wall. The 501-foot shot was his fifth
500-foot-plus homer at Busch this season, and the crowd of
44,051 demanded -- and got -- a curtain call.
McGwire's first homer in four games came one day after he
was ejected for arguing a called third strike in the first
inning. The ejection, his first since joining the Cardinals
last year, sparked a noisy game-long demonstration from
usually placid Busch Stadium fans.
McGwire, within one of tying Hack Wilson's NL record for
homers in a season, has 26 games remaining to break Maris'
record of 61 homers in 1961. Fifteen of those games are at
Busch Stadium, where he has hit 29 homers to obliterate the
previous record of 17.
``I'm going to give it a shot,'' McGwire said. ``That's all
I can do. Let's see what happens.''
Sosa took advantage of his last game in the place where the
ball flies a little bit farther to temporarily tie McGwire.
Sosa's first inning shot off Colorado's Darryl Kile
traveled an estimated 482 feet, striking a sign adjacent to
the left-field scoreboard. The drive, which could be
described as McGwiresque, was the longest homer at Coors
Field this season and the fifth longest in the ballpark's
history.
``I think that is the best ball I've ever seen hit,'' Cubs
manager Jim Riggleman said. ``Sammy may say another one felt
better or traveled farther, but that was some shot.''
And although he and McGwire are creeping up on Maris, Sosa
continues to insist he's not the one who'll make history.
``This is a Mark McGwire show,'' he said. ``No matter what
happened, I believe he's going to come back as always. I'm
pulling for Mark. My situation is not to go out there and
steal the show. My situation is to try to go out there and
do my job.''
Blake stays, Mirer goes in final cuts
By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
Associated Press Writer
CINCINNATI, Aug. 31 -- Jeff Blake will remain with the
Cincinnati Bengals -- at least for now.
Blake, a former All-Pro quarterback, lost his starting job
to Neil O'Donnell this preseason, and it was widely believed
he would be traded before Sunday's 4 p.m. deadline as teams
got down to the league-required 53-player roster limit.
Among players cut were quarterback Rick Mirer, former Super
Bowl MVP Larry Brown, kicker Cary Blanchard, wide receiver
Horace Copeland and kicker Brett Conway.
Blake declined to take a pay cut last week and did not play
in Saturday's 17-0 loss at Atlanta, but Cincinnati
surprisingly decided to keep him over Eric Kresser.
``It came down to we kept the best player,'' coach Bruce
Coslet said. ``He's obviously one of the best quarterbacks
we have on this team.''
Blake, who started 52 straight games for the Bengals before
being replaced last year by Boomer Esiason, was not
available to reporters Sunday after the decision was
announced.
While Cincinnati's decision to keep Blake was a surprise,
Mirer's departure from Chicago was not.
Mirer, the second overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks in
the 1993 draft, has never lived up to the expectations
placed on him.
The Bears, who gave Seattle a first-round draft pick for
Mirer in the deal last year, expected him to be their
starter. But Erik Kramer beat him out and Mirer, at one
point, sank to third-string.
Chicago was unable to trade Mirer and his $10 million
contract. Under terms of the collective bargaining
agreement, any team that signed Mirer, who had a quarterback
rating of 37.7 last season, would have had to pay him at
least $1.425 million.
``I hope everything goes good for Rick, wherever he ends
up,'' Mark Hatley, Chicago's vice president of player
personnel said. ``I hope he has a successful career. It just
didn't work out here.''
New England selected Drew Bledsoe with the first pick in the
'93 draft, and Seattle followed by taking Mirer. At the
time, many debated about who the better quarterback would
be. A similar debate has begun concerning the top two picks
in this year's draft -- Peyton Manning (Indianapolis) and
Ryan Leaf (San Diego), who became the first quarterbacks to
go 1-2 in a draft since Bledsoe and Mirer.
Minnesota released Brown, the Super Bowl MVP in 1996 with
Dallas, but agreed to pay the cornerback three games worth
of his 1998 base salary -- $48,000 -- as an injury
settlement.
Brown, who twice intercepted passes from O'Donnell, then
with Pittsburgh, in the Super Bowl, sprained his left ankle
Aug. 22 at Carolina and struggled throughout the preseason
with several minor injuries. The eight-year veteran has been
trying to re-start his career after two discouraging seasons
with Oakland.
Brown signed with the Vikings on June 16, agreeing to a
two-year contract worth just less than $1 million.
Blanchard, a Pro Bowl kicker for Indianapolis 1996, was cut
by coach Jim Mora for the third time in his career.
Blanchard, whose 87 field goals are the third highest in
Colts history and is fourth in field-goal attempts (105),
sixth in extra point kicks (73) and eighth in scoring (334
points), lost out to NFL rookie Mike Vanderjagt, a star in
his native Canada the past two years.
The New York Jets settled their kicking competition by
releasing Conway, a former Green Bay draft pick, giving
incumbent John Hall, who set a modern league record last
year with 29 touchbacks on kickoffs, the starting job.
The Jets obtained Conway, a 1997 third-round selection, in a
trade with the Packers last week.
Copeland, unable to beat out free-agent acquisition Bert
Emanuel or second-year pro Reidel Anthony for a starting
job, slipped out of the team's plans entirely.
Copeland is two years removed from major knee surgery and
coming off a season in which he had 33 receptions for 431
yards and one touchdown. His best season was 1995 when he
had 35 receptions for 605 yards and two TDs.
``Basically it came down to feeling comfortable with the
guys that we had, feeling that Horace wasn't going to be a
starter, and that as a backup guy some of the other people
gave us a little more flexibility,'' coach Tony Dungy said.
Linebacker Andre Royal, who told NFL investigators that he
participated with some of his New Orleans Saints teammates
in the hazing of rookies, was traded to the Indianapolis
Colts for tight end Scott Slutzker on Sunday.
The incident left a few Saints rookies injured. Royal,
acquired from Carolina this summer, admitted to striking
players with his elbows and shoulders as they ran through a
gantlet of about 25 to 30 Saints players.
Green Bay traded 33-year-old linebacker Seth Joyner to
Denver for past considerations.
Joyner signed with the Packers last summer, but was hampered
by knee surgery and a switch from middle linebacker to the
outside.
Other veteran pickups who failed to make the Packers' roster
were defensive back Terry McDaniel and defensive end Eric
Curry.
Teams may add up to five players to their practice squad
after 4 p.m. today, once released players clear waivers. To
be eligible for the practice squad, a player must not have
accrued a season of free agency credit or must have been on
the active-inactive list for less than nine regular-season
games during their only accrued seasons.
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 1998 by Pecos Enterprise
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