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Van Horn Advocate

Sports

Monday, October 6, 1997

Eagles fly past Jackets at finish


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By JON FULBRIGHT
Sports Editor
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- After moving up and down the field for 3½ quarters with
little to show for it, the Pecos Eagles took to the air in the final
minutes of their game against the Kermit Yellowjackets and were able to
pull out a 19-7 victory before Pecos' 1997 homecoming crowd.

Jason Abila connected with his brother, Mark for a 43-yard completion on
a 3rd-and-9 at the Eagles' 27, which set up Hector Garcia's second
touchdown of the night, an 11-yard run that gave Pecos a 12-7 lead with
4:47 to play.

Then, after Mark Abila picked off a Todd Allen pass and returned it to
the Jackets' 26-yard line, Jason Abila was able to avoid Kermit's pass
rush on fourth down and find Oscar Luna behind a pair of defenders in
the end zone for the clinching score with 2:08 to play.

"That was a great throw," said Eagles' coach Mike Belew. "I saw Jason
going down and didn't feel like he could get enough on the ball, and
wound up almost overthrowing Oscar. To me, that was one of those all-pro
plays."

"The line was blocking good, we gave him time to throw, and Oscar did a
great job on a couple of catches," the Eagles' coach added.

Abila hooked up with Luna on two other pinpoint passes and did the same
another time with tight end Manuel Contreras, as the Eagles wound up
gaining a season-high 168 yards through the air. Pecos also racked up
183 yards on the ground, but first half mistakes limited Pecos to only a
30-yard TD run by Garcia, midway through the opening quarter.

"It takes the offense a lot longer to come around than the defense.
There are a lot more intricacies with timing and execution and we hurt
ourselves a couple of times. But the kids are making improvements, and
if they continue to make improvements I think we'll have an offense to
go along with our defense," Belew said.

Penalties and turnovers not only hurt Pecos' offense, they forced the
defense to come up with some big plays early. Three times, the Eagles
set up the Jackets inside their own 40 yard line, off a bad pitch out by
Jason Abila to Lucio Florez, a deflected interception by Kermit's Robert
Henderson and a 20-yard punt return by Jack Keen to the Eagles' 25.

That came after Pecos stopped Kermit on downs inside their own 10, when
Keen was ruled to have trapped a fourth down pass from Allen in the back
of the end zone. Although the play failed, Kermit liked it enough to try
it again two plays after the punt return, and this time Keen didn't have
to dive to haul in Allen's pass from 13 yards out.

Pecos' Robert Gonzalez, subbing again for Richard Gutierrez as kicker,
was wide with his first extra point try, while Louie Bossett hit his, to
give the Jackets a 7-6 lead. The Eagles' kicking difficulties also hurt
them later, at the end of the half and the start of the third period, as
they opted against go-ahead field goal tries and came up empty after a
couple of long drives.

A 27-yard reception by Luna and Contreras' 12-yard catch set up Pecos
with a first down at Kermit's 15. But a fumbled snap by Abila on second
down put the Eagles in a hole, and two passes to Mark Abila were
incomplete, giving the ball back to the Jackets as the half came to an
end.

A hit by Kermit's Jocolby Phillips jarred the ball loose from Abila on
fourth down, and he'd do it again early in the third period, after a
couple of runs by Lucio Florez gave Pecos a first down at Kermit's 11.
Kermit took over at their own 4-yard-line, and they would stop the
Eagles at the Kermit 31 on their next series.

Bossett had been threatening to spin out of the Eagles' grasp on a
couple of first half runs, and he finally succeeded early in the fourth
quarter, breaking free for a 47 yard gain to Pecos' 20-yard-line. Two
runs by Henderson and Jared Mills gave the Jackets a 3rd-and-1 at the 11
when the error bug finally hit Kermit, after they wet without a penalty
or turnover for nearly 3½ quarters.

The Jackets were flagged for an illegal block that set them back to the
26. They got half of it back on an Allen option run, but pressure by
T.J. Huffman on fourth down forced the quarterback to hurry his throw to
Bossett on the right side and it fell short, giving the ball back to
Pecos.

That still left the Eagles 84 yards from the end zone with 8:32 to play.
They got a quick first down on two runs by Florez, but appeared ready to
stall until Jason Abila rolled out right, then threw back across the
middle to his brother for the Eagles' longest pass play of the season,
down to Kermit's 27.

This time, the Eagles weren't stopped short. After runs by Florez and
Garcia got the ball just inside the 11, Garcia took a handoff and was
able to get around the right side and just inside the goal line pylon
for the score.

After Luna's score, Allen just missed hitting Keen on a deep route,
before Gonzalez ended Kermit's comeback hopes, picking off a pass over
the middle meant for Mills with 90 seconds to play.

The Eagles wound up surpassing the 350 yard mark in offense for the
fourth time in their five games this season. Pecos gained 351 while
holding Kermit to just 187, despite Bossett's 113-yard rushing night.

Kermit saw their three game win streak ended, while the victory allowed
Pecos to equal their win total for all of last season, at the halfway
point of their schedule. However, the tough part of the schedule opens
this Friday for the Eagles, as they begin District 4-4A play at home
against the Big Spring Steers, 40-0 winners at home on Friday over
Levelland.

Fort Stockton, Sweetwater and San Angelo also won their final
pre-district games, the Panthers 28-20 over Crane, Sweetwater 39-13 over
Lubbock Monterey and Lake View by a 25-21 margin against Snyder. Andrews
lost for the first time this season, dropping a 16-10 decision at
Lubbock Estacado.

at Pecos
Kermit 0 7 0 0 - |7
Pecos 6 0 0 13 - 19

First Quarter
Pec. -- Garcia 30 run (kick failed), 5:00.
Second Quarter
Ker. -- Keen 13 pass from Allen (Bossett kick), 5:34.
Fourth Quarter
Pec. -- Garcia 11 run (pass failed), 7:13.
Pec. -- Luna 28 pass from J. Abila (Gonzalez kick), 9:52.

Ker Pec
First Downs 9 16
Rushes-Yds. 28-147 51-183
Passing Yds 40 168
Passes 3-10-2 8-16-1
Punts-Avg 3-30 1-38
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-Yds. 1-15 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Kermit, Bossett 16-113, Henderson 7-16, Baker 1-8, Mills
1-6, Allen 4-4. Pecos, Florez 23-82, Garcia 9-58, M. Abila 9-43, J.
Aguilar 3-4, Nunez 1-3, J. Abila 5-(-3), Gonzalez 1-(-3)
PASSING -- Kermit, Allen 3-10-2-40. Pecos, J. Abila 8-16-1-168.
RECEIVING -- Kermit, Mills 1-15, Keen 1-13, Green 1-12. Pecos, Luna
4-96, M. Abila 1-43, Martinez 2-19, M. Contreras 1-12, Florez 1-2. MISSED FIELD GOALS -- None.

Comeback falls short as Cowboys edge Bears


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By MAC McKINNON
Enterprise Editor
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- The Balmorhea Bears didn't lose to Grandfalls-Royalty
Cowboys Friday night 62-60, they simply ran out of time.

The Bears came storming back from a 34-point deficit to close to within
two but there were only two ticks left on the clock. In spite of an
onside kick attempt in which it was hoped a high hop could land in the
hands of a Bear who could race for the end zone, Grandfalls got the ball
and escaped with a District 8-A win and probably the district title.

It was Grandfalls' first district game of the year while the Bears are
now 1-1 in 8-A play.

Coach Ennis Erickson said when two good teams meet, one has to lose and
unfortunately it was the Bears. He noted that Balmorhea got off to a
slow start but through great character and heart, never gave up and
almost pulled it out.

Everyone knew it was going to be a tough contest with lots of hard
hitting. Grandfalls was determined to show pollsters they should have
been ranked higher than Balmorhea in pre-season ratings.

The Bears were determined to keep their 16-game home win streak alive.

Both teams got pretty banged up with Grandfalls' Running Back Roy
Vasquez taken off the field on a back board as a precaution and taken to
Reeves County Hospital. He was released before the game ended.

Grandfalls was the smallest and quickest of the two teams while
Balmorhea was bigger and taller with both teams using their advantages
to the ultimate.

At times the game looked like a track meet while there were lulls in the
scoring but not in the hitting as defense took center stage.

It didn't take long for the Cowboys to set the pace for the game as they
took the kick-off and on fourth and two, Danny Santiago raced 60 yards
to score with Jeff Corean adding the PAT, giving Grandfalls an 8-0 lead
with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

The Bears came right back however with Arturo Miranda running the
kick-off 51-yards to the Grandfalls eight, and Debiasie Mendoza going
that eight yards on the next play. The try for PAT was no good, leaving
Grandfalls with an 8-6 edge with 7:39 left in the first stanza.

The Cowboys came right back with Roy Vasquez taking the kick-off deep in
his own end zone and going the 80-plus yards to score. Corean added the
PAT, upping the advantage to 16-6 with 7:19 to go in the first period.

Several possessions later, Grandfalls moved from their own 20 to score
with the TD coming on a 17-yard pass from Ronnie Vasquez to Jimmy
Ramirez. Again, Corean added the PAT and Grandfalls was head 24-6 just
nine seconds into the second quarter.

The Bears started their next possession from their won 28 and moved
quickly downfield to score with a rainbow aerial from Zane Rhyne and a
fingertip catch by Travis Woodruff covering 35-yards. Rhyne added the
PAT, narrowing the Cowboy lead to 24-14 with 8:09 left in the first half.

The Bears got the ball on their own 11 and moved down to score again
with Miranda going up the middle for two yards and Rhyne adding the
two-points on the PAT to get to within 24-20 with 5:56 left in the
second period.

But then Grandfalls got the ball on their own 22 and on the first play,
Roy Vasquez bolted for 58 yards to score and Corean added the PAT,
upping the Cowboy lead to 32-20 with 5:38 left in the half.

On the Bears' next possession, the expression that it is a game of
inches came to mind as on a fourth down play, the Bears came up about
½-inch short on a measurement.

The Bears had another chance later, as they got the ball deep in Cowboy
territory but couldn't take it in, before Grandfalls took over and
scored with Roy Vasquez going the final 13 yards. The try for PAT was no
good, leaving the score at 38-20 with 38 seconds to go in the half.

The Bears got one of many onside kick attempts by the Cowboys and gained
good yardage as the clock ran down but as the clock expired a pass to a
wide open Miranda in the end zone was just out of reach.

Balmorhea got the ball to start the second half and Bear fans thought
their team would come exploding back. However, the Grandfalls defense
had something to say about that and stopped the Bears cold.

The Cowboys were up to their old tricks again when they got the ball
back as Roy Vasquez on the first play for Grandfalls in the second half
and raced 41 yards to score. This time Corean converted the PAT, upping
the Cowboy advantage to 46-20 with 8:24 left in the third period.

As the Bears moved on their next possession, the drive ended on an
interception at the Cowboy 11. That turnover resulted in a Cowboy score
as Danny Santiago passed 14 yards to Eric Garcia and Corean added the
PAT, increasing the Grandfalls lead to its maximum of 52-20 with 4:55
left in the third.

With Bear fans getting dismayed and riding an emotional roller coaster,
new hope was provided on the next Balmorhea possession. The Bears moved
from their own 38 after another unsuccessful onside kick effort by
Grandfalls and scored on 25-yard pass from Mendoza to Miranda. The PAT
was good and the Bears had cut the Grandfalls lead to 52-28 with 3:25
left in the third stanza.

Balmorhea later got the ball on their own 21 and moved downfield to
score with Miranda going the final 11 yards and Rhyne adding the PAT,
making it 54-36 with 7:48 left in the game.

Grandfalls was next stopped at the Bear four and the Bears mounted their
own drive and scored on another pass from Mendoza to Miranda, this one
covering 27 yards. Rhyne added the PAT, closing the gap for the Bears to
54-44 with 3:18 left in the fourth.

However, Grandfalls felt the pressure and came back to score what turned
out to be the game-winning touchdown, starting at their own 33 and
ending on an 11-yard run by Alfonso Marquez. Corean added the PAT,
upping the Cowboy advantage to 62-44 with only two minutes remaining in
the game.

Balmorhea countered quickly as they moved from their own 25 to score on
a 27-yard pass from Mendoza to Miranda, with Miranda using his height
once again to grab the aerial. Rhyne added the PAT, making it 62-52 with
1:16 left.

An onside kick failed, but Grandfalls was stopped and the Balmorhea got
the ball on their own 37. Once again a score, this one covering 32
yards, came on a pass from Mendoza Miranda. The pass was tipped by a
Cowboy defender but Miranda hauled it in on the rebound. The PAT by
Rhyne was good but the Bears were still two points behind at 62-60 and
only two seconds remained.

The onside kick that followed resulted in a wild scramble as the ball
was loose and squirming around it loomed out of reach only to finally be
grabbed by a Cowboy. The game was over.

Next week, Balmorhea will host Sierra Blanca in another district
contest, hoping to avoid another loss and make the play-offs.

at Balmorhea
Grandfalls 16 22 16 8 -62
Balmorhea 8 14 8 32 -60

First Quarter
Gra. -- Santiago 80 run (Corean kick), 1:59.
Bal. -- D. Mendoza 9 run (kick failed), 2:21.
Gra. -- Ry. Vasquez 80 kickoff return (Corean kick), 3:41.
Second Quarter
Gra. -- Ramirez 16 pass from Rn. Vasquez (Corean kick), 0:09.
Bal. -- Woodruff 35 pass from Rhyne (Rhyne kick), 1:01.
Bal. -- Miranda 2 run (kick failed), 4:04.
Gra. -- Ry. Vasquez 56 run (Corean kick), 4:22.
Bal. -- Ry. Vasquez 13 run (kick failed), 9:22.

Third Quarter
Gra. -- Ry. Vasquez 41 run (Corean kick), 1:36.
Gra. -- Garcia 14 pass from Santiago (Corean kick), 5:05.
Bal. -- Miranda 25 pass from D. Mendoza (Rhyne kick), 6:35.
Fourth Quarter
Bal. -- Miranda 11 run (Rhyne kick), 2:12.
Bal. -- Miranda 27 pass from D. Mendoza (Rhyne kick), 6:42.
Gra. -- Marquez 23 run (Corean kick), 8:00.
Bal. -- Miranda 27 pass from D. Mendoza (Rhyne kick), 8:46.
Bal. -- Miranda 32 pass from D. Mendoza (Rhyne kick), 9:58.


Gra Bal
First Downs 18 18
Rushes-Yds. 42-356 29-183
Passing Yds 138 261
Passes 7-16-0 11-25-1
Punts-Avg 1-30 2-29.5
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-0Penalties-Yds. 3-30 1-5

Eagles' late rally wasted in loss to Maidens


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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Oct. 6 -- Give the Pecos Eagles a `E' for effort, in coming back
from a big third game deficit to take the lead on the Lake View Maidens.
But in the end, Lake View showed the Eagles why they're the defending
District 4-4A champions.

Pecos had rallied from an awful start in the deciding game of their
match Saturday at the Pecos high School gym, climbing out of 6-1 and
12-6 holes to grab a 13-12 lead on a spike past the back line by Lake
View's Hillary Lee. It capped a run that appeared to have the Maidens
rattled, as they and the Eagles battled for a share of first place in
the district standings.

But Lee regained her composure, and instead of trying to go over Pecos'
blockers on her next shot, simply dinked the ball onto an open spot on
the floor, braking serve. She then tied the game, spiking a shot off
blocker Gail Taylor, and when the Eagles couldn't pull off the same dink
attempt Lee succeeded with, San Angelo regained the lead.

Pecos would break serve twice more, but couldn't tie the game, and the
Maidens would clinch a 15-9, 12-15, 15-13 victory off another soft dink
shot, this one by Stacy Bartz.

The match was similar in many ways to Pecos' district-opening loss to
Andrews. The Eagles again saw a big first game lead vanish, then held on
for a second game victory before seeing the visitors pull out the
victory at the finish in Game 3.

The two home losses to their main 4-4A rivals didn't make Eagles' coach
Becky Granado very happy, especially with a trip to Andrews up next on
Tuesday.

"Now we've got our work cut out for us. Andrews is a tough place to
win," said Granado, who was unhappy with her team's opening game
collapse, in which an 8-2 lead turned into a 15-9 loss.

"They're more together," she said of Lake View's ability to stop Pecos'
momentum. "They play more as a team, and we play more as individuals. We
make one mistake and come down, and they make a mistake and it doesn't
bother them."

"We were just out there (in Game 1). There was no excitement. We have to
be fired up at the beginning of the game, not just at the end," she
added.

Pecos started off well, getting a Lori Marquez kill and a block of Bartz
by Ivy Thorp to grab a 2-0 lead, and a kill by Taylor then started a 4-0
run which widened Pecos' advantage to 8-2.

The final three points on that run came off Lake View mistakes, but once
the Maidens fixed that problem, it was the Eagles' turn to make errors.
Pecos had trouble with both their relays and sets at first, then
couldn't get their spikes down in-bounds at the finish. Only four of San
Angelo's points in the 13-1 run came on offense, off kills by Bartz and
Amy Rodriugez and an ace by Lee.

The Eagles' lead wasn't as big in the second game -- they went up 8-4 at
one points -- but they did maintain their composure after San Angelo
rallied to tie at 10-10 and 11-11. A bad set by Alma Ortiz put Pecos
ahead to stay, and the Eagles won it off a dink shot by Taylor and kills
by her and Marquez.

In the third game, Lee and Bartz had blocks on Marquez and LaCrisha
Molinar for points early, and Lee and freshman Leslie Nichols each had a
pair of kills to help San Angelo to their 12-6 advantage before Pecos
made their comeback. Kills by Marquez and Thorp started the rally, while
the Maidens briefly lost their composure near the end of the 7-0 run,
letting a couple of playable balls fall onto the court.

Lake View's win kept them tied for first with Andrews, which survived a
scare to beat Big Spring, 10-15, 17-15, 15-1. Both teams are 4-1, and
the Maidens are 20-4 overall. The Eagles are 14-9 on the season and with
a 3-2 district record are tied for third with Fort Stockton, 14-16,
15-10, 15-6 winners over Sweetwater on Saturday.

San Angelo also won Saturday's junior varsity match, 15-12, 15-6, while the Eagles' freshman defeated Lake View, 15-7, 15-6.

Cowboys' sad offensive tale easy read for Giants


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By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 6 -- Sputtering might be the word most
people use to describe the Dallas Cowboys offense these days.

The New York Giants defense feels it has a better one -- predictable.

Tito Wooten made a perfect read on a Dallas formation late in the third
quarter and returned an interception 61 yards for the go-ahead score as
the Giants defeated the Cowboys 20-17 at Giants Stadium on Sunday.

Charles Way also ran three yards for a touchdown and Brad Daluiso kicked
two field goals as the Giants (3-3) won their second straight game and
sent the Cowboys (3-2) headed toward another week of experts
second-guessing their offense.

Dallas, whose offense was limited to 180 yards in a win over Chicago
last week, outgained New York 428-166 in total yards. However, all those
yards only resulted in one late touchdown pass by Troy Aikman and three
field goals by Richie Cunningham.

``We sit there and watch tape all week and the things they show on tape
is exactly what they do,'' said Wooten, who intercepted Aikman twice
Sunday. ``I guess they think they have the talent and the people to get
it done and they don't have to really change it.

``... Whenever they lined up in certain formations we automatically knew
what they were going to do,'' Wooten said.

That was never more true than late in the third quarter with the Cowboys
leading 9-6 and driving.

On a 2nd-and-1 from the Giants 43, Michael Irvin lined up in a slot and
ran a pattern toward the middle of the field. Just as the ball was about
to arrive, Wooten cut in front of the receiver, caught the ball and sped
down the left side of the field to score his third career touchdown, but
first on an interception return.

``Whenever they put him (Irvin) in the slot we know they like to go to
him so we had inside and outside coverage on him,'' said Wooten, who
intercepted two passes his first three years in the league. ``I had the
inside and when he ran that little curl I broke on the ball and I was
there.''

Aikman, who completed 34-of-52 passes for 317 yards, never saw Wooten.

``That wound up being the difference in the ballgame,'' said Aikman, who
endured a week of hearing what's wrong with the Cowboys offense.

``It was frustrating,'' Aikman added. ``I take full responsibility for
that play and how if affected the outcome of the ballgame.''

Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn said the Cowboys' predictability also
helped New York's defense force three field goals.

``We did a good job inside the 20, but they are also very predictable,''
he said. ``If you know their tendencies, you can take things away from
them.''

After Wooten's touchdown gave New York a 13-9 lead, Way scored with 6:18
to play, a tally set up by a 37-yard punt return by Amani Toomer and a
26-yard pass interference call against Kevin Smith.

Dallas came back though. Aikman drove them 75 yards in 14 plays, capping
the march with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller and a 2-point
conversion pass to Eric Bjornson with 1:54 left.

David Patten of the Giants fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and at least two
Cowboys failed to recover the fumble before Tyrone Wheatley of New York
fell on the ball at the 14. Billy Davis seemed to have the ball in his
hands and lost it.

After holding on downs, the Cowboys got the ball back at their 36 with
48 seconds to play and that was nearly enough to force overtime.

With 18 seconds to play and no time outs left, Aikman hit Bjornson down
the middle on a 32-yard pass play to the Giants 17.

Aikman tried to spike the ball before the clock ran out, but 328-pound
tackle Erik Williams could not run upfield and get set before the ball
was snapped.

Under the rules, a team that isn't set when a ball is spiked in the last
two minutes of a half loses 10 seconds off the clock.

``We just ran out of time,'' said Williams, who hurt his ankle earlier
in the fourth quarter. ``That's all it was.''

Williams didn't seem worried about the Cowboys' offensive problems.
Dallas came into the game ranked No. 27 in red zone offense.

``This is the fifth game,'' Williams said. ``No way. I remember we
started one year 0-2 (1993) and we went to the Super Bowl. This is the
NFL. Don't count us out. Don't count us out.''

The Giants scored all their points after quarterback Dave Brown was
sidelined late in the second quarter after aggravating a bruised chest.

Brown completed 2-of-7 passes for 8 yards before aggravating a sore
chest muscle. Backup Danny Kanell finished 10-for-17 for 101 yards and
no interceptions.


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. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.

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