Weekly Newspaper and Tourism Guide for Ward County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Oct. 29, 1998

Loboes gain state playoff berth

In Midland, lightning flashed. and thunder boomed. The night
was Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1998; the venue, Midland Greenwood's
gymnasium; the occasion. a volleyball game between
Greenwood's Rangerettes and Monahans High School's Lobo Pack
led by Coach Patty Hall.

The weather outside was frightful. Inside the confines of
the Greenwood gym, none of the about 500 volleyball
aficionados, including more than 100 from Monahans, noticed.

Monahans started slow like that storm outside, built
strength and then rained all over the Greenwood parade as
the Loboes won the District 2-3A championship 14-16, 15-10,
15-9.

Hall's Pack is on the way to the playoffs and state
championships. The Loboes are back at the state level after
a one-year hiatus. It is the first Monahans High School
athletic district title of the 1998-99 academic year.

Because they are district champions, the Pack draws a bye in
bidistrict play and will not play until the area round. The
Lobo opponent in area competition still is to be determined
but the game probably will be on Nov. 7.

"This is a team better than the team of two years ago,"
beamed Traci Jasso, a major gear in the Mean Green
Volleyball Machine. "And we're not just going to state,
we're going to win it."

Jasso's match reflected the intensity and balance of the
Lobo volleyballers. She had two kills, two blocks, 12
service points, eight aces, three digs and here's the most
important statistic of all to the team - 17 assists.

If Jasso was the balance, Dedra Wessels was the base on
which the district championship victory over Greenwood was
built. Wessels' powerful presence at the net left her 11
kills in the match - at least one of which almost took the
head off an unlucky Rangerette blocker. Defensively Vanessa
Collins led with four blocks and Shayla Terry had five digs.
Everyone got in the act. This was truly a team victory.

Coach Hall was happy and cautious. Her team had come back in
the first game of the match through an at first unanswered,
opening salvo of Rangerette points and a barrage of ice and
hard candy thrown onto the Monahans side of the floor from
a few hooligans - a nasty little incident the Greenwood
coach Patti Purser stilled after officials stopped the
match to control the ice and candy throwers. No more ice or
candy came. The Loboes came back through a series of
sometimes phantom calls by the officials which hurt and
then helped either side.

Then it was over.

No district playoffs and no three-team ties for the title
have to be decided.

Monahans is queen of District 2-3A volleyball.

The next stop is the post-season.

Says Coach Hall: "Greenwood is very competitive. They went
to state last year and they wanted to go back. But my girls
have become very focused and very consistent. We've been
steadily improving for the past four matches. I feel real
positive."

More from Hall: "I thought the girls finally played like the
Monahans teams of old. They finally played Monahans
volleyball. It was what I've been looking for."

Standing alone atop District 2-3A before the match, the Lady
Loboes needed only to do what they did, beat Greenwood and
finish with a league record of 5-1 to take the district
crown.

The lone loss had been to Midland Greenwood on the Monahans
floor at the Complex. Even if the Loboes had lost on
Greenwood's floor, which they didn't, they would have faced
a three-way playoff for first place with Greenwood and
Crane, the preseason favorite the Loboes beat in both league
matches.

The Monahans Tuesday victory dropped the Rangerettes to
third.

Tuesday night with the storms outside was the climax of a
furious final week of district play.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Ladies had put on a commanding
performance in their rescheduled match against the Lady
Jackets in Kermit.

The Kermit match was moved to a later time because several
members of the team also marched in the area band contest in
Lubbock.

Did the extended road trip affect the team?

"The morale of the girls was great. On the way to Kermit
from Lubbock, they found out the band advanced to state, and
they were pumped. When we got to Kermit, they just took
over the match," said Coach Hall after the straight-match
victory over Kermit, 15-8, 15-4. .

Of that triumph, Hall says: "We came out aggressive in
warm-ups, and the girls were enthused. They just carried
that feeling into the game with them."

Now Coach Patty Hall and her Lobo Pack are 1998 champions
of Volleyball District 2-3A.

See-saw game close to final second

Those cliches, usually reserved for a close, hard fought
football game, do not accurately describe the 48-minute
battle in the trenches Friday night, Oct. 23, between the
Alpine High School Bucks and the Monahans Loboes. None of
those cliches come close to reflecting what happened in the
District 4-3A gridiron contest at Alpine.

In a game where the issue was in doubt until the final
second (literally), Alpine escaped with a 7-0 victory over
the Loboes. The win gave both the Loboes and Bucks
identical 2-6 records, as well as equal 1-2 records in
league play.

Alpine's lone score came in the second quarter, as
quarterback Adam Llanez passed to Cody Carpenter, who ran 36
yards down the right side for the only TD of the game.
Julian Molinar added the extra-point.

Despite losing the game, the Loboes, in almost all facets of
the game, dominated. The Big Green had several long drives
fall just short, as Alpine's defense rose to the occasion
four times in the "red zone."

The fourth quarter told the tale of the roller-coaster
battle, as the Loboes began the quarter with the ball near
the 50 yard line. The Pack drove down to the Alpine 2, but
failed to get into the endzone. Alpine held the ball for
almost four minutes in the fourth quarter, but were forced
to punt. Their punt was taken by Raul Hinojos on the Lobo
25, and after a couple of great blocks, Hinojos was off to
the races. As the path to the endzone became more inundated,
Hinojos was tackled just inside Alpine's 10 yard line with
just over 3 minutes remaining. The Loboes moved the ball to
the Alpine 6, but failed to get any closer. Alpine took
over on downs on their own six yard line.

The Lobo defense, stifling as they were all night, held the
Bucks to just one first down on that last drive, and forced
another punt. Monahans took back possession with 49
seconds left on their own 39, with no time-outs. The Loboes
quickly attempted to pass the ball down the field. On the
first play, Jared Thomas threw a pass to Louis Moreno, whom
was heavily interfered with by the Alpine secondary. Pass
interference was called, and the Loboes moved up 15 yards.
After a pair of incompletions, Thomas hit Chris Adams across
the middle for a just under 20 yard gain, as well as a first
down. The Loboes quickly lined up as Thomas spiked the
ball, stopping the clock with 19 seconds remaining. Thomas'
next pass fell incomplete, and left 14 seconds on the clock.
On the very next play, Thomas found Chris Adams in the
middle of the end zone. The entire town of Alpine took a
collective gasp as Adams got both hands on the ball.
However, just as Adams got his hands on the ball, he was
nailed by two Alpine defe
nders. The ball rattled around the hands of Alpine
defenders and Adams before dropping helplessly to the turf
with six seconds remaining. Alpine fell into a "prevent"
defense on fourth down, trying to ensure that a similar play
could not happen. The final pass fell out of Lobo hands, and
Alpine kneeled out the final second.

Hope alive for Lobo 11

Every team in district 4-3A, with the exception of Presidio,
still has a shot at the playoffs.

A Midland Greenwood win over Monahans or Alpine will clinch
a playoff berth. A Kermit victory over playoff-bound Crane
or Monahans will place them in the playoffs. Alpine must
win their final two games to make the playoffs.

Monahans will take on the Rangers from Midland Greenwood
Friday night, Oct. 30, at Lobo Stadium at 7:30. It will be
the final home regular season game for the Lobo seniors.

Cowboys set for homecoming

The game is against District 7-A Six Man foes Imperial Buena
Vista. If the Cowboys win, they will clinch their third
consecutive district championship.

Last Friday, the Cowboys whipped Sanderson 65-36 as handily
as they have continued their romp through the season. Their
only loss has been that slim one to Trinidad earlier in the
season. Trinidad is ranked number one in the state. The
Cowboys want Trinidad again but the only way that could
happen is if they meet for the state championship, a highly
likely possibility if the experts (essentially the Huntress
Report based in San Antonio) and the computers are guessing
right.

Although probable it definitely is not certain that the
Cowboys will finish the district schedule on Homecoming
Friday night, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m. and next week against
Dell City without a loss.

The reason: injuries.

"We do have some kids out," notes Cowboy Coach Dewaine Lee.
"Ronnie (Vasquez) twisted his ankle against Sanderson. Andy
Leyva has a bruised leg."

The casualty list also includes Ronnie's brother, Roy,
recuperating from an appendectomy, and Sean Francisco, who
had to have knee surgery. All are stars.

"The injury situation is the worst since I have been here,"
says Lee, who still has a lot of weapons.

Then Lee says: "We are going to the playoffs." He's
thinking Trinidad.

Volleyball

Seventh Grade

at Andrews
Oct. 19
Andrews (W) vs. Monahans White
15-10; 15-5
Coach Wilkinson comments: "The girls played a hard game
against Andrews and Andrews won 15-10 and 15-6. Top Lobo
servers wer Bianca Ramos and Kadye Hill; most saves, Ashley
Swan, Kadye Hill and Lyndi Cypher; most improved was Emily
McKellips. The girls played very well together. I am very
proud of them."
Lobo Players: Merissa Merrick, Ashley Swan, Lyndi Cypher,
Emily McKellips, Kadye Hill Bianca Ramos, Cristal Garcia,
Kasey Baysaw, Sarah Calzada, Selina Polanco.

Pecos vs. Monahans Green
15-7; 15-8
Coach K. Gilliam's comments: "The ladies played consistently
for the first game. Good serves, good execution! In the
second game, we were down 3-8. Due to excellent serves by
Kara Rodriguez, we rallied back to win 15-8.
Lobo Players: Aubrey Andrews, Tristan Martinez, Valerie
Lozano, Priscilla Sanchez, Kiley Blalock, Laura Crumrine,
Rocio Valenzuela, Nicky Dickson, Emily Bennett, Whitney
Mitchell, Kara Rodriguez, Brandie Horton.

at Pecos
Oct. 12
Pecos (W) vs. Monahans White
8-15; 5-15
Coach Wilkinson's comments: "The girls tried and played
hard, but Pecos won. Our top servers were Emily McKellips
and Kadye Hill."
Lobo Players: Maressa Merrick, Ashley Swan, Lyndi Cypher,
Emily McKellips, Kadye Hill, Marelena Ramos, Bianca Ramos,
Crystal Garcia, Kasey Boysaw,Sarah Calzada, Selena Polanco,
Jennifer Gonzales.

Punt, pass, kick raises funds for PTO

Children in grades one, three, five, and seven competed on
the Walker Junior High field. Students from grades two,
four, six, and eight took over Lobo Stadium for the morning.

The fun lasted from 9 a.m. to noon.

This is one of many fundraisers PTO sponsors, say officers
of the organization. The proceeds go to anything from school
dances to computers for the classroom.

As Jill Brin, a member of the PTO, says, it's also "a great
way to promote football in our area."

Prizes were donated by several Monahans area merchants and
organizations. The winners were:

BOYS
First grade: 8 participants
Punt: Ruben Briones, 37 '.
Pass: Rex Rose, 41'
Kick: Andy Dickson, 60'7"

Second grade: 16 participants
Punt: Spensor Phipps, 31'6"
Pass: Aaron Armendariz, 34'8"
Kick: Danny Roten, 45'

Third grade: 18 participants
Punt: (Tie) Zach Cypher and Monico Rodriguez, 54'5"
Pass: Cain Sconiers, 54'
Kick: Justin Tester, 54'4"

Fourth grade: 18 participants
Punt: Sean Merrick, 65'7"
Pass: Cameron Bennett, 71'4"
Kick: Chris Franco, 93'10"

Fifth grade: 10 participants
Punt: Chase Cornelius, 69'7"
Pass: Joe Joe Birdwell, 74'
Kick: Cole Cornelius, 69'8"

Sixth grade: 8 participants
Punt: Patrick Kirby, 83'2"
Pass: Patrick Kirby, 59'11"
Kick: Kyle Smith, 105'2"

Seventh grade: 2 participants
Punt: Marcus Rodriguez, 87'
Pass: Marcus Rodriguez, 90'3"
Kick: Marcus Rodriguez, 75'2"

Eighth grade: 16 participants
Punt: Eric Rivas, 105'3"
Pass: Noah Miles, 86'9"
Kick: Nathan Gaddis, 101'9"

GIRLS
First grade: no participants

Second grade: 3 participants
Punt: Brittani Fan, 12'4"
Pass: Brittani Fan, 25'
Kick: Allison Parks, 20'3"

Third grade: 5 participants
Punt: Alexia Armendariz, 31'4"
Pass: Baily Marcum, 37'8"
Kick: Alexia Armendariz, 44'1"

Fourth grade: 5 particpants
Punt: Amanda Craighead, 36'6"
Pass: Bethany Willmon, 34'3"
Kick: Paige Shaw, 49'1"

Fifth grade: no participants

Sixth grade: 3 participants
Punt: Raquel Hawkins, 37'4"
Pass: Raquel Hawkins, 51'1"
Kick: Raquel Hawkins, 47'7"

Seventh grade: 3 particpants
Punt: Lyndi Cypher, 52'9"
Pass: Nicky Dickson, 60'10"
Kick: Nicky Dickson, 54'4"