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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, October 6, 1998
Eagles look to improve home effort
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- The Pecos Eagles will try to give
themselves a little breathing room in the District 2-4A
volleyball playoff race tonight and at the same time avoid
their recent slow finishes at home, when they close out the
first half of their district schedule by hosting the San
Elizario Eagles.
The two Eagle teams meet starting at 6 p.m. with the JV and
freshman matches in the new and old gyms. The varsity match
will follow the JV, starting at about 7:15 p.m.
Road matches have been a lot easier than home contests so
far in district for Pecos. They've scored easy wins at El
Paso Mountain View and Canutillo, after losing their
district opener to Fabens and then struggling to get past
Clint last Tuesday, 15-7, 15-12.
Problems with serves and a lack of outside hitting were the
Eagles' problems at the end of their match a week ago with
the Lions. Coach Becky Granado said Pecos' serving "improved
100 percent" in Canutillo on Saturday, while her outside
hitters didn't need to do much, as middle hitter Sherrie
Mosby had a strong game.
"They're starting to get more conscious they've got to hit
the ball to help us," Granado said about her other hitters.
"They know they can't just tap the ball over."
San Elizario fell out of a tie with Pecos for second place
on Saturday when they were edged by Clint, 7-15, 15-5,
16-14. It left them tied for third with the Lions, at 2-2 in
2-4A play. Overall, both Eagle teams are two games above
.500 for the season, Pecos at 11-9 and San Elizario at 12-10.
With Clint hosting Mountain View tonight and Fabens facing
Canutillo, the Eagles need a win to avoid falling two games
behind the 4-0 Wildcats, and into a three-way tie for second
in the 2-4A standings. Pecos' final three road trips are to
Fabens, Clint and San Elizario, beginning on Saturday when
they take on the Wildcats.
Cross country faces tough new rivals
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- With this year's district realignment, the
Pecos Eagles' football team doesn't have to face Sweetwater
or Andrews, the volleyball team doesn't have to play San
Angelo Lake View and the tennis team doesn't have to take on
Big Spring.
That's supposed to be a boost for those Eagle teams. But
realignment effects were completely different for Pecos'
cross country squad, based on Saturday's results at the
Lubbock Invitational.
"Out of all the sports under realignment, cross country got
hit the hardest," said coach Rudy Jurado, after two of the
Eagles' new District 2-4A rivals, Fabens and Clint, placed
third and fifth in Lubbock this past weekend. "As far as
altitude and resistance on the legs, El Paso is a lot better
place to run."
The meet was dominated by teams from the El Paso area, where
the hilly terrain is in stark contrast to the flatlands of
the Permian Basin and South Plains. El Paso High won the
boys' division with 65 points, while Fabens was just edged
out by El Paso Socorro for second, 111-114. El Paso Austin
was one point behind and Clint finished with 131 points.
Pecos ended up 38th in the field of 41 schools that fielded
full teams, with another 2-4A rival, Canutillo, placing
27th. Individually, Oscar Medrano's 17.28 time was the best
for Pecos, but was just 79th overall.
"That's how tough it was. No. 1 through 47 were under 17
minutes," said Jurado, who's team had finished among the top
two or three while in District 4-4A the past several years.
"We increased our workouts for yesterday, today and
tomorrow. We had been running 3½ miles and we're going up to
six," Jurado said. "We have to increase our training to
stand a chance against the El Paso schools."
Among the other Pecos runners, Alex Avila was 156th with an
18:27 time, Orlando Matta was 260th with a 21:03 time, Jesse
Salazar was 271st with a 21:42 time, Roy Marta ran a 22:14
time and was 275th, and Adam Matta was 283rd with a 25:41
time.
Fabens' Rolando Rubio had the best time among district
runners, finishing fourth with a 16:08 effort.
Jurado said Pecos did not have any girls competing at
Lubbock, but would have Liz Parent out for the upcoming
meets. However, he said she would also have to cut her times
to compete against El Paso runners, alnog with 4A runners
from Amarillo, Hereford, Hobbs and Canyon, which took the
top four team spots.
"Her best time is a 13:40, and the first 155 runners were
under 13:40," he said. However, on the girls' side none of
the Eagles' district rivals placed in the Top 10, while
Clint' Belinda Cervantes had the best individual finish,
13th with a 12:29 time.
Eagles' swim season starts Saturday
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- After winning seven of the last nine
District 4 boys swimming titles and seven of the last eight
titles on the girls' side, the Pecos Eagles will get to face
all their long-time district foes again this year, when the
1998-99 season begins on Saturday with a dual meet in Big
Spring against the Steers.
The Eagles were moved from District 4-4A to District 2-4A in
January by the bi-annual University Interscholastic League
realignment. However, since none of the Eagles' new district
rivals have swimming programs, Pecos will stay as a member
of District 4 along with Andrews, Fort Stockton, Big Spring
and Class 3A schools Monahans, Seminole and Abilene Wylie.
The Eagles open their schedule against Big Spring, which
beat out Pecos' boys for the second time in three years for
the district title after Pecos had won six titles in a row.
Pecos goes to the Big Spring YMCA pool on Saturday, then
hosts their home opener next Thursday, Oct. 15, against
Andrews. It's the first of three home meets this season,
including the District 4 swimming and diving finals, set for
Jan. 30.
Pecos' first regular invitational meet will be on Oct. 24 in
Abilene, though coach Terri Morse said only swimmers who
qualify will make that trip. The full team's first meet will
be on Halloween, when they go back to Big Spring for the Big
Spring Invitational.
The Pecos Invitational is set for it's usual mid-November
time, this year on Saturday, Nov. 14 at the PHS natatorium,
with diving competition scheduled for the previous evening.
The rest of the Eagles' schedule is the same as a year ago,
with meets in Monahans, Odessa and Seminole before the
Christmas holidays, and trips to Fort Stockton and Lubbock
prior to district competition in January. The Region I meet
will be Feb. 12-13 at Texas Tech in Lubbock, and the state
finals are at the University of Texas in Austin on Feb.
26-27.
Eagles `98-99 swim schedule
October
10 (Sat.) - at Big Spring (dual) 10 a.m.
15 (Thu.) - Andrews 5:30 p.m.
24 (Sat.) - Abilene Invitational 10 a.m.
31 (Sat.) - Big Spring Invitational 10 a.m.
November
13-14 (Fri.-Sat.) - Pecos Invitational 6 p.m./10 a.m.
21 (Sat.) - at Monahans Invit. 10 a.m.
December
5 (Sat.) - at Odessa Invitational 10 a.m.
12 (Sat.) - at Seminole Invitational 12 noon
January
|9 (Sat.) at Coker Inv. (Ft. Stockton) 10 a.m.
15-16 (Fri.-Sat.) - at Lubbock Inv. 6 p.m./10 a.m.
30 (Sat.) - Dist. 4 meet at Pecos Time TBA
February
12-13 (Fri.-Sat.) Region I meet at Lubbock Times TBA
26-27 (Fri.-Sat.) State meet at Austin Times TBA
Vikings bomb Packers' streak
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis., Oct. 20 -- Reggie White has seen a lot of
Randall Cunningham's magic, but he never expected anything
like this.
``He played out of his mind. This is the best I've ever seen
him play,'' White said after his former Philadelphia
teammate threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns in the
Minnesota Vikings' 37-24 rout of the Green Bay Packers on
Monday night.
White wasn't alone.
In the franchise's 80-year history, no quarterback had ever
torched the Packers for that many yards. The loss snapped
their 29-game home winning streak that included four playoff
victories.
``He did a great job dropping back and just slinging it, and
he just killed us,'' White said. ``Their receivers outjumped
our corners, we didn't do a good enough job getting
pressure.''
White saw a reformed scrambler stay in the pocket -- for
what seemed like forever -- and pick apart the league's No.
1 defense with deep jump-ball passes that All-Pro receiver
Cris Carter, rookie sensation Randy Moss and forgotten man
Jake Reed wrested away from deflated defensive backs.
Back when White and Cunningham were with the Eagles, the
athletic quarterback used to take off at the first sign of
trouble, but no more.
``They're stressing to him to stay in the pocket, and he's
doing an excellent job back there,'' White said.
And his receivers are doing a first-class job, too.
They were the chief reason the Vikings (5-0), the NFC's only
unbeaten team, ended the Lambeau Field streak by the Packers
(4-1), who last lost here on Sept. 10, 1995, to St. Louis.
``Everyone's a little down,'' said Brett Favre, who had
three interceptions. ``It's been a long time since we've
lost at home. We were just hoping it wouldn't happen during
our career.''
And to think the guy that did it to them retired two years
ago.
``I love playing the game again,'' said Cunningham, who
signed with Minnesota as a backup last year. ``I'm around
great people and great coaches and a great offensive line.''
And, of course, three great receivers, who dominated on a
muddy field, as the Vikings rolled up 545 yards in
intermittent rain and occasional showers against a defense
that entered the game ranked No. 1 in the NFL.
Cunningham, who is replacing the injured Brad Johnson, had
TD passes of 52 and 44 yards to Moss, 56 yards to Reed and
24 yards on a screen pass to Robert Smith. Three of the TDs
came in the second quarter as the Vikings broke a 3-3 tie to
lead 24-10 at halftime.
Cunningham, who was 20-of-32, has 10 TD passes without an
interception since replacing Johnson, who broke his right
leg in Week 2.
``Any team that plays the Vikings better get some pressure
on the quarterback,'' said Packers coach Mike Holmgren,
whose team didn't get a hand on Cunningham. ``Those big
receivers are going to cause a problem unless you do, and we
didn't get any pressure tonight.''
Cunningham also had a 75-yard TD pass that was wiped out by
a holding penalty and had what would have been a 66-yarder
slip off the fingers of Moss, the rookie who dropped to 21st
overall in the draft because of personal problems. Moss
finished with five catches for 190 yards.
``This was Randy's coming-out party, and Randall Cunningham
did a great job,'' Vikings coach Dennis Green said.
``I don't know what he means about my coming-out party. But
I'm going home to a party,'' Moss said.
Packers cornerback Tyrone Williams could be the guest of
honor, too.
``Somehow we got figure out a way when they throw it up like
that, we've got to climb that ladder,'' Williams said. ``I
was in position, the guy just went up and got it.''
The only Green Bay touchdown until the game was decided came
on a 101-yard kickoff return by Roell Preston.
More than the Packers' pride was hurt, too.
Receiver Derrick Mayes sustained a serious knee injury on a
punt return. Also hurt were Doug Pederson (broken jaw),
LeRoy Butler (ankle), George Koonce (hamstring), Jeff
Thomason (concussion), and Ross Verba (ankle).
``We're going to have to bounce back some kind of way,''
White said. ``We can't play this way no more if we want to
get where we want to get.''
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
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise
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Pecos Enterprise