|
Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, September 29, 2006
Cross-country boys place first at Wink meet
The Pecos Eagle boys cross country team placed first this past Thursday at the Wink Cross Country Invitational, and will be in Lubbock this Saturday for a meet at the site of the Region I-3A competition.
Coach Rudy Jurado said Pecos edged Fort Stockton by a 35-37 margin to win first place at the meet, held at the Winkler County Golf Course, after placing behind the Panthers at two earlier meets this season. “There weren’t as many teams this year as there were last year because they were originally going to hold the meet on (October) 21st, and I told them our district meet is in Monahans on the 23rd. So they moved it up, but some teams were already committed to other meets,” Jurado said.
Jurado said Ray Gonzales placed fourth with an 18:33.24 time, and Gus Mendoza was fifth with a time of 18:22.94 for the Eagles. They were followed by Jesse Juarez, seventh with an 18:32.68, Aaron Mendoza eighth with an 18:41.08 time; Stephen Apolinar 11th with a 19:26.42 time, and Billy ---- with a time of 19:30.22.
The girls had only three runners in Wink, not enough for a team score. Trina Morales was sixth with a 15:11.33 time, Heather Lamka was 13th with a time of 15:51.37, and Kathryn Lamka was 14th with a 15:53.04 time.
On the junior high level, Jurado said Kayla Natividad was fourth with a 15:12 time and Carissa Cerna was fifth with a time of 15:54. They were followed by Annie Cerna with an 18:21 time, Toiya Ghant with a 19:28 time and Alexsandra Guerrero with a 23:19 time.
Zack Rayos was the only runner for the junior high boys and placed fourth, with a time of 15:38.
Netters drop match against Snyder
The Pecos Eagles tennis team struggled this past Saturday against the Snyder Tigers, dropping a 21-1 decision to Snyder in a match played at Monahans.
Girls No. 1 see Priscilla Sotelo picked up the Eagles’ lone win of the day, scoring a 7-5, 6-1 win over the Tigers’ Krisa Dorsett. Earlier, she and teammate Crystal Ikler came close to a win in doubles, falling to Dorsett and Ashley Casas, 0-6, 8-6, 8-6.
For the boys, their closest match in singles was a 6-1, 7-5 loss by No. 3 seed Curtis James to Dylan Bunch, while in doubles, James and Cody Zamarippa were beaten by Cody Lee and David Strayhorn, 6-3, 6-2.
The match was the second neutral site match for Pecos in Monahans this season, after they were beaten earlier this month there by Sweetwater. Pecos will be back in Monahans on Oct. 3 to face the Loboes, then host Monahans the following week in their only home match of the fall tennis season.
Boys Singles
Francisco Ornelas lost to Daniel Burk, 6-1, 6-3; Jerris Rayos lost to J.W. Wesson, 6-1, 6-2; Curtis James lost to Dylan Bunch, 6-1, 7-5; Cody Zamarippa lost to Will Stewart, 6-1, 6-0; Robert Buentello lost to Colton Brewster, 6-0, 6-0; Noah Munoz lost to David Strayhorn, 6-0, 6-0; Rojelio Alvarado lost to Jonathan Spiegel, 6-0, 6-0.
Girls Singles
Priscilla Sotelo defeated Krisa Dorsett, 7-5, 6-1; Crystal Ikeler lost to Ashley Casas, 6-1, 6-2; Hope Mora lost to Kim Harlan, 6-0, 6-0; Veronica Munoz lost to Amy Fogelman, 6-2, 6-2; Jessica Munoz lost to Stacey Elam, 6-0, 6-0; Julie Licon lost to Kim Furgeson, 6-0, 6-0; Marisol Martinez lost to Cassie Cuchraw, 6-0, 6-1; Hope Mora lost to Eleanor Powell, 8-2.
Boys Doubles
Ornelas and Rayos lost to Burk and Wesson, 6-1, 6-3; James and Zamarippa lost to Cody Lee and Strayhorn, 6-3, 6-2; Derek Barron and Buentello lost to Stewart and Brewster, 6-0, 6-1.
Girls Doubles
Ikler and Sotelo lost to Casas and Dorsett, 0-6, 8-6, 8-6; Mora and J. Munoz lost to Harland and Fogelman, 6-0, 6-1; V. Munoz and Licon lost to Elman and Martinez, 6-0, def.
Mixed Doubles
Munoz and Martinez lost to Speagle and Richardson, 6-0, 6-0.
Pecos enters district off sweep of Kermit
The Pecos Eagles volleyball team closed out the pre-district portion of their 2006 schedule on Tuesday night by picking up their 20th victory of the season with a three-game win over the Kermit Yellowjackets.
Playing in Kermit, the Eagles scored a 25-18, 25-18, 25-14 victory over the Jackets for their 20th win and their 19th in their last 21 matches. “We did good. That’s what happens when you practice,” said Eagles’ coach Helen Kimbrough. “We’re adding a little as we go, not just with the varsity but with all of them, and it’s getting results.”
The Eagles were at a height disadvantage up front against Kermit, but were able to get the Jackets out of their offense, “Kimbrough said. “She had one young girl who had to be about 6-1 or 6-2, and they had another good hitter,” she said. “But Adrianna (Armendariz) had some key blocks that shut her down.
“She’s going to get that angle hit, but Adriana blocked her over the middle and made her change her hits to where either she hit it out or hit it into the net,” the Eagles’ coach said. “They’ve got a real young team that’s going to be very good, but I think our experience and determination outlasted them.”
Kimbrough said the Eagles had to play minus senior backline player Amalie Herrera against Kermit. “I’m looking forward to her coming back, but Cheyenne Carrasco came in and played well. She passed well, blocked well and hit well,” she said.
Offensively, she said sophomore Jasmine Rayos had a good match against the Jackets. “Jasmine went up and got a girl in the head and that opened it up for our off-speed hitting,” Kimbrough said. “It’s easy to go up there after you’ve hit it and they’re waiting for a dig, because if they’re expecting a hard shot, that’s when the off-speed hitting starts working.”
Pecos played the last four weeks of matches on the road, and has only played four of their 26 matches so far in Pecos. That will continue next Tuesday, when the Eagles open District 2-3A play in Fort Stockton, where they won a five-game non-district match a week ago.
“We’re getting more confident. We’re learning each other, and when they start gelling that’s when they start getting smooth and relaxed,” she said.
Pecos also swept Tuesday’s junior varsity and freshmen matches. The JV scored a 25-7, 25-6 win, while the ninth graders won by 25-15, 25-10 scores. The ninth graders have a 4:30 p.m. match scheduled this Saturday in Monahans, while the JV will join the varsity in getting this weekend off prior to their 1-3A opener next Tuesday. All three Pecos teams go to Monahans the following Saturday to take on the Loboes.
Eagles look to stop Wildcats from spoiling homecoming
Based on their season records and this past week’s results, the Pecos Eagles shouldn’t be looking past the Anthony Wildcats, when the teams meet on Friday in both the teams’ District 1-3A opener and the Eagles’ 2006 homecoming game.
The 2-2 Eagles take on the 3-0 Wildcats in the first of their six district games this season. With a trip to unbeaten Monahans due up next for Pecos, it’s a game the Eagles can’t afford to lose if they hope to get into the playoffs again after a four-year absence. And while Anthony, with just 230 students, is the smallest school in Class 3A, the Eagles only have to look back to last season to see that the Wildcats are capable of going on the road and pulling off an upset.
Anthony came east last year to face Kermit, and spoiled a homecoming day that also featured the Walt Disney Co. promoting the Muppets by painting the image of Kermit the Frog on the city’s water tower, along with other events that aired nationally on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Fortunately for the Eagles, Disney hasn’t done any big promotions for movies involving Pecos Bill for about 60 years or so, but coach Chris Henson said he and his staff have been trying to keep the players focused on Friday’s game and not on the surrounding activities.
“We’ve kept them focused. We’ve stressed to them this isn’t your homecoming because you haven’t gone anywhere yet,” he said.
Anthony and Tornillo are the two El Paso area Class 2A schools that petitioned to play at the Class 3A level to cut down on travel time. Of the four schools from out west, Fabens and Clint were expected to be the two teams that would be Pecos’ biggest challenge for a playoff berth, but while Clint also is unbeaten on the season, Fabens has struggled in the early going while the 2A-sized schools are both unbeaten.
Anthony also has spent the last several years playing in the same district with Alpine, Kermit and Crane, giving them more experience with football outside the El Paso area.
“That’s one thing you can’t do, it look past anybody,” said Henson. “Anthony is a solid ballclub that is well-coached. Their kids play great technique and hustle, and if we let them stay in the game they’re going to come after us at the end.”
The Wildcats, who ended up forfeiting last year’s 28-21 win over Kermit for use of an ineligible player that cost them a trip to the playoffs, lost a likely win in late August when storms wiped out their season opener against Lordsburg, N.M. after Anthony had taken a 14-0 lead in the second period. But they followed that up with three straight victories, the latest a 53-16 win over Juarez Academy.
“They played Juarez Academy, Fort Hancock and Van Horn. We got the Fort Hancock tape and the Van Horn tape,” said Henson, whose team is 2-2 after last Friday’s 35-25 loss at Denver City.
“They’ve got a quick team,” Henson said. “With some of the teams they’ve played it’s kind of hard to tell how quick they are because of who they’ve played, but they’re 4-0 and they’re a very confident team.
While they have faced smaller schools, the Wildcats so far have had the most balanced offense in the district. Quarterback Jose Solis has thrown for 385 yards and four touchdowns, along with two others he lost in the Lordsburg game, while Gilbert Rodriguez had rushed for 429 yards and three scores.
“They’ve got a good quarterback, good running back and good receivers. They run the wing-T, the same as we do, and we’re going to have to read the keys, because they run a lot of play-action pass, and we have to make sure we don’t fall for the fakes,” Henson said.
With the Eagles allowing 80 or more yards passing in six of their eight halves so far in 2006, including 219 yards and three scores in the loss at Denver City, Solis figures to be putting the ball up often on Friday. Tight end Johnny Ortega has nine catches for 110 yards and a score this season, while wide receiver Sal Garcia has eight catches for 149 yards and a pair of TDs. He was on the receiving end of Solis’ two touchdowns against Lordsburg.
“Their quarterback can run the ball, so the defense has got to do a great job keeping him in the pocket,” said Henson. “On the offensive line, their guards are probably the best we’ve seen so far. Their pulling guards are cutting teams and putting them on the ground.”
Henson also said after last week’s game at Denver City, where alignment mix-ups hurt the Eagles on defense, “The defense is going back to the basics. … We may have gotten ahead of ourselves, so we’re going back to just work on the basics, and after we get those down we’ll add in plays.”
Offensively, Pecos had nearly 400 yards in offense last week and is averaging over 340 yards per game so far in 2006. But mistakes have stopped Eagle drives in their two losses this season. The Eagles had two interceptions and six penalties on offense last week in Denver City, to overshadow a four-touchdown, 209-yard rushing effort by Luis Ortega.
Pecos got most of their 78 yards passing in the final period a week ago, with 50 of that on connections between Jeremy Martinez and Paul Zubeldia, who threw for 204 yards the previous week against Kermit. Henson said Martinez missed a day of workouts this week due to an eye infection, but was expected to play on Friday.
Defensively, Henson said Denver City “is well-coached. They don’t do a lot of stunting, but they’ve got good technique and they’ve got a real good linebacker corps.”
Aside from Martinez, Henson said he hoped to get Travis Walker back from a knee injury this week, but he would likely only be used at backup tight end. Safety Aaron Urias was also expected to see more time after getting his hand out of a cast following an injury two weeks ago.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
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 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
|
