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SPORTS

Nov. 13, 1997

Cowgirls detour through Lubbock

Grandfalls-Royalty's Cowgirl volleyballers are on the road
to Austin but that road goes through Lubbock, cautions
Cowgirl Coach Laura Moses.

Moses was speaking in the wake of her District 7-1A
champions's destruction in Alpine of Fort Hancock, the
District 5-1A title holder. The Cowgirls won the area
championship match 15-4, 15-4 on Tuesday night, Nov. 11, at
Sul Ross University's Berger Center.

No one expected that kind of a walk, especially after the
Cowgirls tough bi-district victory, 15-11, 15-13, on
Thursday, Nov. 6, over Miles, a match much closer than it
was supposed to be.

Moses believes the Cowgirls learned something in the
bi-district win.

Against Fort Hancock, a better volleyball team than Miles,
according to the conventional wisdom, Grandfalls
volleyballers put those Miles lessons to work.

Says Moses: "We were very consistent. We made very few
mistakes and didn't give Fort Hancock anything. They hit
the floor on our side maybe twice. We picked up everything
else they hit at us."

More from Moses on the area championship her women won: "The
girls were just ready. Everything came together. Everything
was consistent. They learned something against Miles."

The area championship brought Grandfalls-Royalty to 25-6 for
the year. Fort Hancock drops to 15-14.

Next comes the regional tournament in Lubbock this weekend.
After that, if the Cowgirls keep playing like they can and
have, the state tournament is in Austin next weekend.

But Moses cautions that talking state tournament is a little
premature although the Cowgirls are now bi-district and area
champions for the second consecutive year. Last season, the
Cowgirls were derailed in Lubbock by Water Valley. Water
Valley went to the state tournament. Grandfalls came back to
Ward County to think about what happened in the regional
round last year.

This is virtually the same team that came close to the
regional championship last year except that it is a year
older, a year better and Moses says they are ready.

"We're going back to Lubbock on Friday," says Moses. "We
play Fort Elliott at Monterrey High School in Lubbock at
5:45 p.m."

On this team, the team is the star. That's one of the
hardest lessons for young athletes in team sports to learn.
There may be an all star but the team makes that all star.

All stars really aren't needed. Teams are.

Moses knows this. The team, she notes, includes all the
team, even if a player does not get into the match, the
player learns how to be ready when she does get there. On
the road to Austin, everyone must be ready, the coach warns.
"I have confidence in my bench," says Moses, "whenever I put
them in. All of this team knows how to win. And they're
hungry for it."

Grandfalls played Fort Elliott in the first round of the
reginal last year and won. Then they played Water Valley and
lost.

Water Valley, District 8-1A champion, meets Chillicothe,
District 2-1A champ, at 8 p.m. after the Cowgirls and Fort
Elliott Friday play earlier on the same floor.

First things first, says Moses, and the first thing is Fort
Elliott.

"We're not going to take them lightly," says Moses. "That
almost cost us against Miles."

She continues: "After Fort Hancock, I'm confident. We have
very talented girls and they play as a team."

Lobos playoff bound

ALPINE - Every little boy in Monahans someday dreams of
being a Lobo, to be on the field on Friday night, playing
for his school's glory. More than that, though, every
little boy dreams of being in the playoffs, winning a
district championship, and finally winning a state
championship.

One group of little boys accomplished the first two of those
three goals in Alpine.

They clinched a playoff berth with the 69-0 trouncing of
Presidio, and brought home a second consecutive district
championship Friday night, Nov. 7, by defeating Alpine
35-16. The Loboes improved to 7-2 on the season and 5-0 in
district, while the Bucks fell to 5-5 and 4-1 in district.

"We started off slow, but got our act together and played as
a team. We never looked for an excuse to lose,
says Monahans Coach Larry Hanna. "Everybody contributed to
this great victory. Next week, we have the biggest game of
most of our careers. It'll be exciting."

That game will be with Midland Greenwood.

Alpine's Bucks, also playoff bound, play Colorado City at
7:30 Friday night in Crane.

The Mighty Loboes will meet Midland Greenwood in a
bi-district showdown at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at
Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.

Although the Loboes won the conference title game handily,
their victory was like a roller coaster ride, despite never
trailing the Bucks. The Loboes won the opening toss, and
elected to defer to the second half. Alpine chose to
receive, and the game got underway. The Alpine offense was
quickly stopped by the stingy Lobo defense headed by
Sophomore Brandon Lee. Alpine's punt was short, and the
Loboes took over with good field position. The Loboes drive
down to the Alpine seven, where Robin Hanna found daylight
between his blockers in the middle for the first Lobo TD.

The snap on the extra point was fumbled, and the Loboes held
a 6-0 lead with 7:17 left in the quarter. The rest of the
first quarter was a defensive battle, headlined by the Lobo
defense, which allowed Alpine only 191 total yards and eight
first downs all night.

The second quarter started much like the first quarter.
After another brilliant defenseive stand, the Loboes took
over after an Alpine punt and drove the field. This time,
Mark Thompson ran in from two yards out to give the Loboes a
12-0 lead. The two-point conversion was no good, and the
Loboes held the 12-0 lead with 9:20 remaining in the second
quarter. The score remained at 12-0 until Robin Hanna
capped off a long Lobo drive by soaring over Alpine
defenders with a one yard leap. The two-point conversion
once again failed, and the Loboes held the 18-0 lead at
halftime.

The Loboes received the kickoff to start the second half,
and wasted no time getting back on the board. On the third
play of the drive, Brandon Stephens hit Ruben Sanchez on a
pass across the middle, and Ruben did the rest, running 60+
yards of the 72 yard total for another Lobo TD. Gerald
Lopez hit the extra point for a 25-0 lead.

With the game seemingly wrapped up, nothing forseeable could
taint the Loboes day. However, Alpine had other plans.
Alpine drove down to the Lobo 45 on the ensuing drive, where
QB Justin Yarborough ran up the middle for Alpine's first
TD.

Kevin Caughman ran from 3 yards out to add the
two-point conversion and cut the Lobo lead to 25-8. The
Loboes took back over the ball, and for one of the few times
nightly, the Buck defense forced the Loboes to punt.

The Bucks stormed through the Lobo line, and blocked Robin
Hanna's punt. By the time Alpine recovered, there was
nothing the Loboes could do but watch as Dewey Nadden ran
the blocked punt 25 yards for a TD.

Justin Yarborough hit Cooger McBride on the two-point conversion, and the Lobo lead was cut to 25-16 with 4:40 to go.

With the Loboes dominating games for the past 5 weeks, it
was wondered how they would respond to Alpine's two quick
scores. Would they rise to the occasion or fold under the
pressure?

Without a doubt the Loboes rose up. The third quarter ended
during the Loboes next drive, and thus began the fourth
quarter-Lobo Time. In case you haven't heard, nobody beats
the Loboes in the fourth quarter.

Under one minute into the fourth, Brandon Stephens hit Ruben
Sanchez on a 10 yard pass for another Lobo TD. Lopez added
the PAT to make a 32-16 score.

The score reamined the same until just under five minutes
remaining in the fourth, when Gerald Lopez busted a 20 yard
field goal from the left hash (which would have been good
from much longer) to end all scoring at 35-16. The Loboes
likely end their two year hiatus in 3A at 10-0 in distrct,
with six games remaining in 3A.

The next step in the Lobo "Stairway to Heaven" is against
Midland Greenwood Saturday at 1:30 at Ratliff Stadium in
Odessa.

The Lobo JV ended their JV season at 8-1-1 with a 24-15
victory over the Midland Lee JV Thursday at Memorial Stadium.

Old foe on Lobo scorecard

Each week of this season, the Loboes are forced to forget
practically everything about their past opponents and get
ready for a fresh set of bodies to pound on the next
weekend. This weekend that is not the case.

The Loboes (7-2), champions of District 3-3A, face Midland Greenwood (5-5), runner-up in district 4-3A, in the bi-distrct round of the state football playoffs at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.

The Loboes and Rangers are already well acquianted, and the advantage falls to Monahans if you count encounters that don't count.

Big Green faced Greenwood in the first scrimmage of the year
for both teams back on August 15. Although no real score
was kept in that Dog Day's scrimmage, Monahans was
proclaimed unofficially victorious by outscoring the Rangers
three touchdowns to two.

The Loboes, like the Rangers, have improved in the 12 weeks since that training camp clash.

Although the Loboes defeated Greenwood, they were not, by
any means, playing at full strength. In that
lightining-shortened affair in Midland, the Loboes were
without running back Robin Hanna, then hobbled by a broken
toe.

Center Robert Dendy was ailing with a hamstring
injury. Junior Cordova went down early in that scrimmage
with an injury. Each of these three athletes have left the
injury list and are at full strength.

Aside from the improvements on these injuries, the Green
have gained a new attitude over the past three months. With
intense practices followed by Marine boot camp conditioning,
the Loboes have worked their way into the best shape of
their lives. They have adopted a "Fourth Quarter attitude."

Ask any varsity football and they respond, individually or
in unison, "The fourth quarter is our quarter. In the
fourth quarter, we beat you mentally, and we beat you
physically. Nobody beats Monahans in the fourth quarter."

Even with the positive physical and mental condition the
Loboes are in, Greenwood's Rangers will be a test for the
Loboes.

"It's a lot like playing Alpine," comments senior T.J.
Bustos, "However, this is the playoffs. The tempo is going
to be higher, and there's more on the line."

Gabe Ontiveros adds, "We've been steadily improving every
week, getting geared up for the next game. We'll be ready."

Greenwood will be ready too. Although just 5-5, they are
not a team to be taken lightly. Their only two District
4-3A losses came at the hands of Colorado City, the
champion, and Kermit, a team Monahans also handled in a
pre-season scrimmage.

However, the Rangers have gotten better. They easily defeated a very good Crane team in week eight.

Although the Lobo defeated Greenwood, as well as
another team that defeated Greenwood, in scrimmages, it
means nothing in the playoffs. Each team has a clean slate.
Nothing that happened before matters now. But don't tell
any Lobo that- Says one: "Everything that we have worked
for, lifted for, and ran for comes down to every game every
week. Losing is not an option."

Victory sunshine lights stands

ALPINE - When the clock ticked down to 0:00 at Jackson Field
in Alpine Friday night, Nov. 7,, Monahans football faithful
celebrated their chammpionship.

Loboes, on the field and in the seats, all ages and sizes,
cheered, jumped, and "whooped it up."

Victory sunshine lit the the visitor's area on on the
South-side of Jackson Field. The Loboes had won their second
consecutive district 3-3A crown, and had compiled a perfect
10-0 distrct record in their two seasons in 3A.

The players themselves celebrated their victory in several
different ways. After the first "dog-pile" the players
congratulated each other mainly by shaking hands and
hugging, while others went about their own ways.

"This championship was special, because we won it two years
in a row, and this is my Senior year," said Lobo hawg and
line-backer T.J. Bustos. "It was also special because we
beat them in their house. At least they thought it was
their house, but it's our house now."

Junior linebacker Gabe Ontiveros had a similar outlook on
the championship. "Last year, standing on the sideline as a
JV callup, it was great watching the varsity win the
district Championship. But this year, actually being a part
of the back-to-back district Championship team, it's a great
feeling.

The crowd, like the players, took a true, personal joy to
winning the championship again. As the band played the
fight song, the entire crowd stood and clapped in honor of
the team's accomplishments. Many parents, in response to a
quote made by Alpine's Coach Stooksberry this week, held up
poster-board signs with a huge set of lips drawn on them,
with the words "Kiss 'em Goodbye" pasted below.

A truly festive scene ended Friday night as the lights
at Jackson Field shut off, leaving the fans who hung around
to the bitter end in darkness. However, the championship
drive has and will not. The next phase is next Saturday at
1:30 at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa. Everyone is encouraged
to come out and be a part of the next Lobo celebration.

Believe it from someone who was there-you won't want to miss
it.

Cowboys begin quest for title

The Grandfalls-Royalty Cowboys will begin their quest for a
state championship Friday night, Nov. 14, at 7:30 against
the Grady Wildcats in Lenorah.

Grandfalls enters the playoffs as the unbeaten district
champions or the second season in a row.
Grady is the district runner up in six-man 7-A. In their
last game the Wildcats were held well below their season
averages in all categories.

The Wildcats rushed for 88 yards and passed for 41 for a
total of 129 yards while giving up 379 yards on the ground
21 in the air for a total of 400.

The running-minded-Wildcats had racked up 2144 yards on the
ground and 889 in the air over the course of the season, but
the 'Cats gave up 2456 on the ground and 882 in the air
which fits in nicely in Grandfalls offensive plan.

The have been dominate on the ground throughout the season
in fact many times this season the Cowboys have seen two to
three running backs close to 200 yards on the ground.

When the Wildcats run the ball the player to watch is F.
Garza who has run for 1617 and 24 touchdowns this season.
Quarterback for Grady is B. Peugh who has 83-42 for 636
yards, nine touchdowns and only two interception both of
which came in their last game against Sands.

Peugh's favorite target is G. Gibson who against Sands
caught two passes for 41 yards.

On defense the Wildcats leading tackler is P.J. Pruitt who
had eight solo tackles and seven assists against Sands.
The last time the Grady Wildcats were in the playoffs was
last year as the district champs. This is the first time in
Grady's history that they make the playoffs two years in a
row.



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