|
Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Pecos qualifies four runners for cross-country regionals
The Pecos Eagle girls cross-country team qualified three runners at the Region I-3A meet in Lubbock this coming Saturday, while Pecos’ boys will have one runner and one alternate at the regional meet, following Saturday’s District 4-3A meet at Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso.
Clint’s boys and girls both won the district team titles, with the Lions taking a close battle over Fabens and Pecos on the girls’ side. Clint had 34 points to 41 for Fabens and 47 for the Eagles. Clint’s boys won with 27 points to 45 for Tornillo and 70 for Fabens. Fort Stockton placed fourth on both sides, while the Eagles, with only four boys competing, were one runner short of qualifying for a team score.
“Even if we had had a team, I don’t know if we could have placed. We’re stronger on the girls’ side,” said Eagles’ coach Rudy Jurado.
“It was a good race. I’m proud of my team. It’s tougher running over here, but I felt at the end our girls had a shot at first, if not second.”
Kayla Natividad, Kristal Carrasco and Aileen Rayos qualified for regionals with Top 10 finishes. Natividad and Carrasco came in together in fifth and sixth place with times of 14:12.68 and 14:12.93 for the two-mile course through Chamizal. Rayos placed eighth, with a 14:39.15 time, while Pecos’ other two runners, Ashley Jasso and Sabryna Moya, finished 12th and 16th with times of 15:13.48 and 15:27.95.
Clint’s Sarah Reyos and Heather Delgado took first and second, with 13:16.38 and 13:53.29 times, while Fabens’ Gabriela Gonzales and Jesasica Meza placed just ahead of Natividad and Carrasco, with 14:05.17 and 14:07.19 times.
On the boys’ side, Clint’s Fred Cordero won the meet as expected, with a 16:21.05 time for the three-mile course, 20 seconds in front of Tornillo’s Alonzo Perez. Pecos’ Gus Mendoza was a little over a minute in back of Cordero, and took eighth place and earned a return trip to regionals with a 17:28.45 time.
Placing one spot out of a regional berth was the Eagles’ Edward Rodriguez, who was 11th with an 18:17.53 time, 13 1/2 seconds in back of 10th place Adan Black of Clint, the final regional qualifier. Alonzo Contreras took 21st place with a 19:42.57 time and Dario Morales was 24th with a 20:01.98 time for the other Pecos finishes.
“I’m looking forward to taking our kids to regionals,” Jurado said, though he added they might have to go without Rayos, because of Pecos’ Class 3A area round volleyball playoff match. Pecos is waiting to face the winner of the bi-district match between Border and Abilene Wylie.
If Borger wins, the area match might also be in Lubbock this Saturday, but Jurado said, “Since we’re not taking a team, just individuals, it’s not as important that she runs. Plus running a two-mile race will take something out of you later in the day. You might feel all right at the end of the race, but a few hours later it really hits you and you start feeling tired.”
Pecos hosting Class A playoff
Pecos High School will host one volleyball playoff match on Tuesday evening, while the Pecos Eagles await the results of another match to see who and where they’ll be playing this coming weekend.
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD athletic director Chris Henson said Fort Davis and Dell City will meet on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for a bi-district playoff match at the new PHS gym. The winner of that match will take on Wink this coming Saturday, in a game also tentatively set for the PHS gym, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Pecos’ volleyball team is enjoying an opening round bye, after winning their first district championship since 2000 and going unbeaten in district play for the first time since 1990. The 27-12 Eagles will face the winner between Abilene Wylie and Borger, in a match set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Lubbock Coronado High School.
Borger placed second in District 1-3A this season, while Wylie was third out of District 2-3A. The area round match will likely be on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Region I-3A quarterfinals against Seminole, Clint or Brownwood next week.
Eagle boys fifth, girls eighth in Andrews golf
The Pecos Eagle boys golf team placed fifth on Sautrday while Pecos’ girls took eighth place at the Andrews Fall Invitational Tournament.
The boys cut 11 strokes off their opening day’s score, shooting a 317-306-623 score, 20 shots in back of tournament winner Frenship, while the girls were up a little over the final 18 holes from their first round effort on Friday, shooting a 381-390-771 in their division, which was won by the host Mustangs with a 661 score.
Freshman Josh Aguilar had the low round of the tournament on Saturday, shooting a 69 after an opening 78 to place fifth in the medalist race, with a 147 score. He was followed by Coe Duke, with a 79-77-156, Richard Dutchover, with an 82-77-159, Nathan Duke with a 78-85-163 and Heath Armstrong, with an 88-83-171.
The girls also had one golfer place in the Top 10 in the medalist race, sophomore Tatum Windham, who tied for eighth with an 84-88-172 total. She was followed by Ari Alligood, with a 100-96-196, Rina Pino with a 96-104-200, Samantha Sparkman with a 101-106-207, and Katrina Hinojos, with a 107-102-209.
“Tatum did a good job finishing eighth overall as a sophomore,” said coach Tina Doan. “She wasn’t pleased with her play the second day and with the way she was hitting the ball, but she was scoring well.
“My other girls are just going to have to go out there and compete better. We made some bad shots and some bad decisions the first day, and that hurt them the second day. They put more pressure on themselves and made some more bad shots and bad decisions,” Doan said.
“It shows what we need to go out and work on,” she added. “We’re through until the spring, so we have some time to go out and regroup.”
Boys coach Gaylon Doan was in Sweetwater on Monday with the Eagles’ junior varsity team for a one-day tournament. Saturday’s finish for Pecos was the second-best among the Class 3A teams entered, behind Andrews, which shot a 297-315-612 on their home course to finish second. Midland Lee and Midland Christian, both 617 scores, were the other two teams to place ahead of Pecos. On the girls’ side, Andrews beat out Monahans for first by 21 strokes for first place, with Frenship (715) taking third. Seminole and Lamesa were the other Class 3A teams entered in the 36-hole tournament.
Sanchez earns cross-country regional berth
The Balmorhea Bears will have one runner advancing to the Region I-A cross-country meet at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock this coming Saturday, following the District 8-A meet, held this past Wednesday at Balmorhea State Park.
Jalonnie Sanchez took fourth on the girls’ side, while the Bears finished overall with 148 points in the meet, which was won by Rankin with 43 points. Sanchez covered the two-mile course in 14:38, while meet winner Amanda McCoy of Comstock took first with a 13:07.3 time.
The other finishers for the Bears were Sarah Yackel, 28th with a 17:58.8 time; Maritza Mendoza, 34th with a 19:38.7 time; Madeline Baeza, 40th with a 21:16.7 time and Stephanie Alvarez, 41st with a 22:06.8 time.
On the boys’ side, Balmorhea had only one runner competing, Matthew Corrales, who finished 35th with a 25:28.1 time over the three-mile course. Sanderson’s Travis Roberts won with a 17:42.1 time, and the Eagles edged Big Bend-Terlingua for first place by a 39-41 margin.
Swimmers win at Big Spring, go to Andrews, Midland next
The Pecos Eagle boys and girls swim teams came away with first place finishes on Saturday at the Big Spring Invitational, in a meet that matched Pecos against five of their six District 4-4A rivals.
Pecos boys score 370 points to 243 for the host Steers in the six-team meet, while the girls had a little closer finish, winning with 344 points to 293 for runner-up Monahans.
Coach Terri Morse said the times overall were a mixed bag for the Eagles, who have two meets scheduled for later this week, in Andrews and Midland.
“We looked a little tired on Saturday. Some did well and cut their times and some stayed about the same or added,” she said. “It was a slow start. They had some technical problems, and I don’t know if the kids got flat sitting around for 30 minutes. But we picked it up after that, so overall it was a good meet for us.”
The Eagles won nine individual events and five of the six relays. On the girls’ side, they got two wins from Alyson Reynolds, who took the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:24.94 time and the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:14.08, and had single wins from Alexcia Mendoza, in the 100-yard butterfly with a 1:09.53 time; Adrianna Roman, in the 100 free with a 1:02.14 time; and Lauren Elliott, in the 500 free with a 6:07.31 time.
Mendoza and Anatalia Hernandez placed second and third to Reynolds in the 200 medley, and Pecos also had a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 fly, where Anatalia and Maggie Hernandez took the second and third place spots. Elliott placed second in her other race, the 200 free, losing by just under half a second to Big Spring’s Kelly Sage. Dakota Hegar was fifth and Tiffany hunter 10th in that race, while the other finishes for Pecos included a second for Conner Armstrong and a third for Roman in the 50-yard freestyle; a second for Hegar in the 100 free; a third for Maggie Hernandez in the 500 free; and second for Armstrong and a seventh for Hunter in the 100-yard backstroke.
In the relays, Armstrong, Reynolds, Mendoza and Roman won the 200 medley, with a 2:06.04 time; Anatalia Hernandez, Hegar, Elliott and Roman took the 200 free with a 1:55.85 time; and Roman, Armstrong, Elliott and Reynolds won the 400 free with a 4:10.50 time, with Mendoza, Hunter, Hegar and Maggie Hernandez placing fourth.
On the boys’ side, Josh Elliott, Frankie Morin and Carlos and Edward Navarro took the 400 meter relay with a 3:39.80 time, while Gregory Roman, Tye Hegar, Tanner Hardwick and Derek Teague placed third. The 200 medley was won by the team of Elliott, Gus Mendoza and both Navarros, with a 1:51.20 time, edging Big Spring by just under a second, with Abraham Lujan, Hegar, Hardwick and Roman placing sixth. In the 200 free relay, the Eagles’ ‘A’ team was disqualified, while the ‘B’ team of Luis Villescas, Austin Demor, Clay Teague and Lujan finished fifth.
Individual winners were Elliott, who took the 100-yard backstroke in 58.46 and took the 200 medley with a 2:11.01 time; Edward Navarro, who won the 500 free with a 5:39.06 time; and Carlos Navarro, who took the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:09.91 time. Edward Navarro also took second in the 200 freestyle, while Carlos Navarro was third in the 100 free. The other medal for Pecos came from Hardwick, who won Friday’s one-meter diving competition with a score.
Pecos’ other results on the boys’ side included a second by Mendoza in the 200 medley and a third in the 100 fly; a second by Morin in the 500 freestyle and a third in the 200 free; a second by Derek Teague in the 100-yard breaststroke and a third in the 50 free; a fifth by Hegar in the 200 free and an eighth in the 100 breaststroke; a fifth by Hardwick in the 100 fly; a sixth by Lujan in the 100 fly and an eighth in the 100 backstroke; an eighth by Demor in the 200 medley and the 100 fly; a ninth from Clay Teague in the 100 back and a 14th in the 50 free ; and a 17th from Villescas in the 100 freestyle and a 19th in the 50 free. Roman, the Eagles’ other 1-meter diver, finished fourth.
Abilene Cooper was the only District 4-4A rival not at Saturday’s meet in Big Spring. The Eagles will see two of the teams they faced Saturday when they go to Andrews on Thursday for a dual meet with the Mustangs and Monahans, then compete in the Midland Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Thursday’s meet will be the Eagles’ first look at the new Andrews High School swimming pool, which will host both the District 4-4A meet in January and the Region I-4A meet in February.
Eagles use TD passes to bomb Wildcats, reach playoffs
Luis Alvarez was pretty spectacular at times racking up his numbers Friday night against the Pecos Eagles. But in the end, Paul Zubeldia’s numbers may not have been as exciting, but they were more productive for the Eagles.
Alvarez bounced off, went around and spun away from Pecos tacklers much of the night, on his way to a 175-yard rushing night for the Anthony Wildcats. The senior quarterback would run and throw for scores in the first half, but there were two plays when he couldn’t get through or away from Pecos’ defense in the third quarter that helped stop the Wildcats’ comeback effort.
They needed the comeback after Zubeldia was able to just get into the end zone on a 4th-and-5 scramble midway through the second period, which broke a 14-all tie. Before the half was over, the Eagles’ senior quarterback would hook up with Jeremy Martinez on a 28-yard touchdown pass, the second of five TD passes on the night, as the Eagles ended a seven-year playoff drought with a 47-14 victory.
“It was a little sloppy at times, but we held in there,” said Eagles’ coach Chris Henson, whose team will be advancing to post-season thanks to their third straight victory after an 0-6 start.
Running quarterbacks were a problem for the Eagles during that 0-6 start, and Alvarez caused similar trouble for Pecos’ defense on Friday. “We knew coming into the game their quarterback was good, and the counter (play) was going to hurt us,” Henson said. “But the thing we stressed to the kids was they had 1-2 good kids on offense who were going to make plays, but if they did make then don’t get your heads down, and they didn’t.”
Alvarez’s big night – with many of his plays coming after he escaped several tackles behind the line of scrimmage – took some of the spotlight off Zubeldia, who had his best passing night of the season. He ended up 8-for-10 and matched Alvarez’s 175 yards on the ground with 176 passing yards.
But the big night came after the Eagles started the game staying almost exclusively on the ground on their first two drives, both of which resulted in touchdowns.
Hector Ramirez, who finished with 144 yards rushing on the night, got most of the yardage in the opening drive, include first down runs of 10- and 12-yards, while the Eagles were helped by a facemask call against Anthony on a 2nd-and-11 bootleg by Zubeldia, one of 21 combined penalties on the night assessed against both teams. But Ramirez was stopped for only one yard on two attempts from inside the 10, and on 3rd-and-goal Zubeldia threw his first pass of the night, rolling right and finding Joseph Rodriguez in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.
Junior Carrasco’s extra point made it 7-0, but the Wildcats would score on their first possession 2 1/2 minutes later, on a 41-yard run by Alvarez. Pecos actually had the drive stopped inside the Anthony 25, but allowed punter Manny Pena to escape a couple of tackles after fielding a low punt snap on a 4th-and-8 play and ran 11 yards for the first down. Alvarez then scrambled away from Pecos’ pass rushers and found Ricky Perez for a 26-yard completion to set up the score.
The Eagles stayed in front when Chris Martinez blocked Ernie Solis’ extra point try, and Pecos then responded with a 65-yard scoring drive, this one entirely on the ground.
Joseph Ontiveros opened the drive by gaining 20 yards on a pair of runs, and Ramirez then broke loose for a 27-yard gain. Zubeldia would then scramble inside the 10 just before the end of the quarter, and two plays into the second period Ramirez went over from two yards out.
Carrasco’s extra point made it 14-6, but that lead would last for less than three minutes. Alvarez returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards, and a facemasking call against Pecos on a Juan Carlos Cisneros run got the Wildcats into Eagles territory. Alvarez then got through the line for a 20-yard gain, with another personal foul penalty against Pecos moving it down to the Eagles’ 9.
Carlos Hernandez then dropped a touchdown pass from Alvarez and Mike Lugo was trapped for an eight-yard loss on second down before Alvarez scrambled free of a couple of Pecos tacklers again behind the line and found Perez inside the 10, and he eluded two Eagle defenders to make it into the end zone. Alvarez then got around the right end for the tying two-point conversion.
“He is slick,” Henson said. “The only way we could simulate him during practice was to have coach (Eric) Garcia and coach (Oscar) Luna play quarterback for us. They did a good job, but that’s the problem trying to prepare for a kid with that kind of quickness.”
Ramirez would go over the 100-yard mark in rushing on the Eagles’ next series with runs of 12 and 21-yards. Zubeldia followed up the latter with a 29-yard pass to Jeremy Martinez, who made a diving catch at the 4-yard-line. But again two Ramirez runs were stuffed at the line, and after a fade pass to Carrasco was incomplete, Zubeldia rolled right on fourth down and after finding no open receivers, took off around the end and was just able to hit the goal line pylon with the ball for the go-ahead score.
“Paul showed a lot of determination on that play,” Henson said. “He had a good night running the ball, as well as throwing it.”
The touchdown came with 2:46 left in the half and this time, the Eagles were able to stop Alvarez, as Lucas Chavez got his for a one-yard loss on a 3rd-and-13 play. Pena’s punt was then returned 16 yards by Jonathan Dominguez to the 32 and two plays later Zubeldia hooked up with Martinez again, this time for a 28-yard score with 1:18 left in the half.
That left Pecos up 13 at halftime, but a rested Alvarez would give the Eagles more trouble as the third period began. He broke though the left side of the Eagles’ line for 42 yards on a 3rd-and-4 play from the Wildcats’ 41, and after a first down run by Lugo inside the 10, almost got into the end zone on a 2nd-and-goal run.
He was ruled down inside the 1, but on third down a quarterback sneak was stopped and on fourth down a fake run was sniffed out by the Eagles, with Dominguez sacking Alvarez at the nine to end the drive.
The Eagles the dodged a couple of bullets, as Tim Reyes, who along with Luis Morales did not play in the first half of the game, was stopped at the line on two runs, and Cisneros then dropped a potential interception when Zubeldia tried to go deep to Morales on a 3rd-and-16 play.
Anthony ended up with the ball on the Eagles’ 30, and Alvarez immediately hit Luis Seanez for a 10-yard gain. But the quarterback then threw short to Seanez after breaking a few more Pecos tackles, then was hurt on third down while winging an underhand pass towards Cisneros to avoid a sack. A time-out by Anthony allowed Alvarez to stay in the game, but he underthrew Hernandez on fourth down, giving the ball back to Pecos.
The Eagles would hold it for the remainder of the period, and started off with first down runs by Ramirez and Reyes. A facemask call on a Reyes run to open the fourth quarter got Pecos inside the 30, and one play later Zubeldia connected with Morales on a 26-yard strike in the back corner of the end zone to give the Eagles some breathing room.
Seventeen second later, Zubeldia would connect with Carrasco on almost the exact same play, this time from 16 yards out and after Alvarez was slow to get on a short kickoff by Carrasco, and was hit by Jake Varela to cause a fumble, which Rodriguez recovered at the 16.
The two scores turned a 27-14 lead into a 41-14 advantage, and took the life out of Anthony. They lost five yards on their next three plays and had to punt, and the Eagles then overcame a holding call that wiped out most of a 33-yard gain on a screen pass to Reyes. Ramirez picked up the first down with a 16-yard run, and Zubeldia then connected with Reyes again for his fifth TD pass of the night, this one from 40 yards out to complete the scoring.
“Paul could have thrown it more in the first half, but we were running the ball so well” Henson said. “Coach (Derick) Price did a good job call plays, and we had that 80-yard drive to start, with the only pass on that last play.”
Anthony did come close to scoring once more late in the game, on a 59-yard run by Alvarez. But that was wiped out by both an illegal blocking penalty and a taunting call against the Wildcats’ quarterback, who waived the ball at Pecos’ defenders on the final 10 yards of his run, part of a second half that already featured an ejection of Pecos lineman Bert Sotelo following offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the third period after Anthony was stopped at the Pecos 1.
“There was a little trash talking going on out there all night, and that was going both ways,” Henson said. “The officials did a good job trying to keep it under control, but it’s something we will not tolerate, and we’re going to get it fixed on Monday.”
The win improved Pecos 3-1 in district, while giving them their first trip to the playoffs since finishing second in District 2-4A back in 2001. They can finish second again this coming Friday with a win in their final regular season home game over Clint, which is tied with Pecos for second after their 42-7 victory on Friday over Tornillo.
Fort Stockton clinched the District 4-3A title on Friday with a win at Fabens, 43-7, and will face Seminole in the Class 3A-Division I bi-district playoff round the weekend of Nov. 14. The winner of the Pecos-Clint game will take on the loser of this Friday’s Monahans-Greenwood game, while the loser between the Eagles and Lions will face the winner between the Loboes and Rangers. Greenwood it tied for second with Seminole in District 3-3A, and can tie 4-0 Monahans for first with a win at home this week to close out the regular season.
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
|
