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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, October 21, 2002
Eagles notch Jr. high wins over Presidio
The Pecos seventh grade purple football team got an easy win, while Pecos'
eighth graders got an unlikely victory Saturday at Eagle Stadium in games
against the Presidio Blue Devils.
The seventh graders scored 22 points in the first period on the way to
a 36-0 victory, while the eighth graders used a touchdown pass with 6.2 seconds
to play to defeat the Blue Devils, 16-8.
The junior high games were the only ones at Eagle Stadium this past weekend,
after Pecos' scheduled Friday night varsity game against Presidio was canceled
because of the Blue Devils' decision to forfeit their varsity schedule this
season. The Eagles ended up with a 2-0 win that lifted their record to 1-1
in District 4-3A play and 2-5 on the season.
The eighth graders also got two points against Presidio in their game,
on a safety due to a lateral out of the end zone just before halftime. Pecos
had taken a 6-0 lead on a one-yard Robert Nunez run off a bad punt snap by
Presidio, but the Blue Devils would tie it in the third period on a touchdown
and two point run after a bad punt snap by the Eagles.
Pecos had a chance to get the ball back in the final two minutes after
another bad punt snap by the Blue Devils, but allowed Presidio to run for
a first down on the play. But even with no time outs remaining, Pecos still
got the ball back after three Presidio pass attempts failed to produce a
first down, and Isaiah Rayos passed 22-yards to Luis Ortega for the winning
score. Robert Nunez added the two-point run for the eighth graders, who won
for the first time in six tries this season.
The seventh graders are 2-3-1 after their win. David Bradley scored from
60 yards out, Jeremy Dunlop scored on a 20-yard run and Marky Sotelo scored
on an 8-yard run in the opening period. In the second half, Dunlop scored
on a nine-yard run and Gerald Saenz had Pecos' final TD, on a 35-yard run.
The Eagles' varsity will be back in action this Friday against Monahans.
The Loboes are 0-2 in district after their 7-6 overtime loss at Fort Stockton
on Friday. Kermit, 31-13 winners over Pecos in their district opener, lost
to Greenwood on Friday in the other 4-3A game, 35-0.
Balmorhea run set for district cross-country meet
Balmorhea Bears freshman Brian Mendoza will be entered on Wednesday in
the District 6-A cross-country competition, scheduled for Comstock.
Mendoza is Balmorhea's only cross country runner this season. "He's doing
a real good job. He's run 17:38 as a freshman already," said Bears' coach
Doug Maynard. "He should place high in the district meet, and we both expect
him to win it."
"He did real well last week in Lamesa. He placed first in his division
and has placed in the Top 20 in every meet he's been in, and in some meets,
he's been running against 2A, 3A and 4A schools," Maynard said.
The Top 10 finishers at the district meet on Wednesday will advance to
the Region I-A cross country meet scheduled for Nov. 1-2 in Lubbock.
Meanwhile, Pecos' cross country runners were scheduled to compete this
morning in Monahans in the District 3-4A cross country meet. The races were
scheduled for 10 and 10:30 a.m. at the Ward County Golf Course in Monahans,
with the girls running their two-mile race first, followed by the boys' three-mile
run.
The Top 10 finishers and the top two teams in both divisions will also
advance to regionals in Lubbock. Coach Rudy Jurado said Pecos' boys have
a good chance at winning their division title, and he was hoping the only
Pecos girl scheduled to run, junior Leslie Rodriguez, could also advance
to regionals.
Third quarter scores carry Bears to win
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Turnovers often make the difference in a football game.
Friday night in Balmorhea, it looked for a while at the start of the third
period as though turnovers were going to do in the Balmorhea Bears, after
the second of three lost fumbles on the night helped the Dell City Cougars
tie Balmorhea at 28-all just moments into second half.
Balmorhea would fumble the ball away again on their next series, but this
time, the Cougars were unable to take advantage, and a few minutes later,
it would be the Bears using two turnovers by Dell City to score a pair of
touchdowns, as they went out to a 52-28 lead by the end of the period and
ended up winning by a 52-34 final score.
"We led by six points at the half and I told them we needed to get the
ball and go down and score and put some distance between us, but we come
out and on the first play and fumble and they go down and score and I'm thinking
`Oh man'," said Bears' coach Ennis Erickson. "But luckily we were able to
put that away and go forward, and get three scores and put some room between
us and them out there."
The Bears had used a Dell City fumble on their second play of the game
to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead, but each time Balmorhea scored in the first
half, the Cougars had an almost immediate answer, until the Bears were able
to take a 28-22 lead into the locker room by scoring on a 46-yard touchdown
pass from Keith Baeza to Alexis Lozano with 11 seconds left in the half.
"We were not playing good defense, but we're young, and there were times
we had three freshmen on the field," said Erickson, who has lost several
players from his team at the start of the season. "I never envisioned having
that at the beginning of the season, but due to some things that occurred
that's who we have, and you have to go on and work with who you have to work
with."
Dell City never led in the game but had two chances, after Balmorhea took
their first lead at 6-0 and after the Cougars scored early in the third period,
following a fumbled snap by Baeza.
Urban Baeza scored on a nine-yard run to open the game, after Aaron Tarin
recovered a fumbled snap by Dell City's Josh Barker. But Jourmain Matta missed
the extra point kick and two minutes later, the Cougars tied the game on
a 29-yard pass from Jonathan Utley to Jeffrey Tavarez. However, Matt Barker
missed his extra point kick to keep the score tied at 6-all.
The Bears would go up 14-6 with 1:07 left in the period on Urban Baeza's
second TD run, this one from 24 yards out one play after a 24-yard run by
Keith Baeza. Matta added the extra point kick, but the lead lasted only 21
seconds, as Robert Tate took a pitch out on the first play after the kickoff
and broke four tackles on the way to a 48-yard score.
Heavy rains hit Balmorhea as the second period opened and may have help
slow things down _ for a while. Neither team scored for the first 9:19 of
the period, but the Bears and Cougars put up three touchdowns in 30 seconds
as the half came to an end.
The Bears scored first, on a one-yard run by Lozano set up by an Urban
Baeza sack of Utley on fourth down, giving the Bears the ball at the Cougars'
30-yard-line. But Josh Barker returned the ensuing kickoff to the Balmorhea
6, where Eloy Perez scored one play later. Matt Barker's kick tied the game
at 22-22 for 13 seconds, until Keith Baeza found Lozano open over the middle
to make it 28-22.
Matta missed the extra point, but Matt Baker would see his extra point
blocked after Perez scored from eight yards out 40 seconds into the third
period, keeping the game tied at 28-all. Balmorhea then drove the ball inside
the Dell City's 10, but fumbled it away again, this time on a pitch out by
Keith Baeza to Tarin.
Things started turning around for the Bears after that, as they took advantage
of Dell City's turnovers to score 24 points in a span of just over 2½
minutes. They stopped the Cougars on downs near midfield and then went ahead
to stay on Lozano's 1-yard scoring run, set up by a 29-yard run by Tarin.
Then on the first play after the kickoff Utley fumbled after being sacked
by Matta, with Ivan Rodriguez recovering at the Dell City 20. Two plays later
Keith Baeza hit Matta on a 14-yard scoring pass, and the Bears had their
first two-touchdown lead of the night.
One play after the next kickoff Ivan Rodriguez picked off a Tate pass
meant for Clint Dean and returned in 42-yards for a touchdown. That was wiped
out by a holding call, but the Bears kept the ball and drove 27 yards in
six plays for their final touchdown of the night, a two-yard run by Benjamin
Orozco.
Dell City would score on their next possession, a six-yard run by Perez
five seconds into the final period and held Balmorhea scoreless over the
final 10 minutes. But the Bears were able to run time off the clock twice
with drives deep into Cougar territory and stopped Dell City scoring chances
with a pair of interceptions, by Sammy Dominguez and Keith Baeza.
"We were running it up the middle and doing pretty good, but it got to
where they knew what we were going to run," said Erickson. "At the end we
might have gotten too predictable, but it was working before then, so let's
keep going with it."
The win improved Balmorhea's record to 3-1 in District 6-A six man football
and 5-2 overall going into Friday's game at Buena Vista, 56-6 winners over
Marathon on Friday. The Bears are tied for second with Fort Davis while Buena
Vista is 2-2. Dell City falls to 2-5 on the season and 1-3 in district
at Balmorhea
Dell City
14 8 6
6 —34
Balmorhea 14
14 24 0 —52
First Quarter
Bal. _ U. Baeza 9 run (kick failed), 2:18.
DC _ Tavarez 29 pass from Utley (kick failed), 4:11.
Bal. _ U. Baeza 24 run (Matta kick), 8:53.
DC _ Tate 48 run (M. Barker kick), 9:14.
Second Quarter
Bal. _ Lozano 1 run (Matta kick), 9:19.
DC _ Perez 6 run (M. Barker kick), 9:36
Bal. _ Lozano 46 pass from K. Baeza (kick failed), 9:49.
Third Quarter
DC _ Perez 8 run (kick failed), 0:20.
Bal. _ Lozano 1 run (Matta kick), 5:56.
Bal. _ Matta 14 pass from K. Baeza (Matta kick), 6:31.
Bal. _ Orozco 2 run (Matta kick), 8:29.
Fourth Quarter
DC _ Perez 6 run (kick failed), 0:05.
DC
Bal
First Downs
9 10
Rushes-Yds 35-188
50-321
Passing Yds.
65
82
Passes
4-17-3 7-9-0
Punts-Yds. 2-24.5
1-19
Fumbles-Lost 2-2
4-3
Penalties-Yds. 4-30
3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING _ Dell City, Perez 15-94, J. Barker 11-80, Tate 3-47, Tavarez
1-2, M. Barker 1-2, Utley 3-(-37). Balmorhea, U. Baeza 10-115, Tarin
13-109, Lozano 16-54, Orozco 8-29, K. Baeza 2-22, Rodriguez 1-(-8).
PASSING _ Dell City, Utley 4-12-1-65, J. Barker 0-4-1-0, Tate 0-1-1-0.
Balmorhea, K. Baeza 6-8-0-75, Rodriguez 1-1-0-7.
RECEIVING _ Dell City, Tavarez 1-29, Clint 1-25, Perez 1-8, J. Barker
1-3. Balmorhea, Lozano 1-46, Matta 3-37, Domniguez 3-2.
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