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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
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Sports

Friday, September 11, 1998

Eagles back to playing varsity squads


Pecos Eagles coach Becky Granado said there's no doubt her
volleyball team will be playing varsity squads on Saturday,
when they travel to Midland to face the Greenwood
Rangerettes and San Angelo Central Bobcats.

The Eagles will play Central, then turn around and face
Greenwood on the Rangerettes' home court, starting at about
3:30 and 5 p.m. It's the final dual matches scheduled for
Pecos before the start of District 2-4A play, but they'll
have one last single match, next Tuesday at home against
Monahans.

The Eagles snapped their three game losing streak last
Tuesday night in Odessa -- sort of. They were scheduled to
face Odessa Permian's varsity, only to find out after going
to Odessa that the Panthers were in Hereford for a pair of
matches against the Whitefaces and Amarillo High. Permian
lost those matches, while the Eagles ended up sweeping the
Panthers' junior varsity by 15-2, 15-7 scores.

"I got to get my juniors some more playing time," said coach
Becky Granado of the match, which lifted Pecos' season
record to 5-8 on the season.

Greenwood advanced to the Class 3A state tournament last
year, but without their main offensive threat from a year
ago, Karen Gasch, the Rangerettes struggled early this
season. However, they do come off a 15-5, 15-10 win over
Pecos' former District 4-4A rival, Sweetwater, at home this
past Tuesday.

San Angelo Central lost a fifth place tournament match to
Odessa Permian in El Paso last Saturday, but bounced back on
Tuesday to down a pair of Class A teams in Grandfalls, 15-5,
15-11, and Water Valley, 8-15, 15-8, 15-6.

Pecos' freshman team is also scheduled to face the
Rangerettes and Bobcats on Saturday, also at about 3:30 and
5 p.m.

Pecos falls to Andrews, beats Alpine


By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 11 -- It was a rough start for the Pecos
Eagles' junior high and freshmen football teams on Thursday
against the Andrews Mustangs, while Pecos' junior varsity
squad made a first half touchdown stand up for their first
win of the season, in beating the Alpine Bucks.
The Eagles' JV, winless in 1997, improved to 1-1 with their
7-0 victory over Alpine, after Andrews' ninth graders beat
Pecos, 30-14 at Eagle Stadium.
Over at Crockett Middle School, the Zavala seventh graders
lost `A' and `B' games to Andrews by 30-0 scores, while on
the Mustangs' home field, Crockett's `A' and `B' squads fell
by 28-0 and 48-0 scores.
Alex Garcia passed 20 yards to Jaime Llarez early in the
second period, and Frankie Alvarez added the extra point for
the only scoring of the game. Alpine got inside Pecos'
20-yard line once late in the half, while the Eagles missed
two chances to score after getting inside the Bucks
15-yard-line in the second period, and inside the five in
the fourth quarter.
The freshmen got their touchdowns on passes from Richard
Rodriguez to Ricky Plummer. The second, a 64-yarder, cut
Andrews' lead to 16-14 in the third period. But Pecos
couldn't take advantage of two fumbles by the Mustangs in
the second half, while seeing themselves lose and Andrews
get a touchdown thanks to officials calls.
Rodriguez lost a defensive score when the whistle blew
after he stripped an Andrews runner of the ball in the
second period, while the Mustangs were allowed to keep the
football for their last TD on the final play of the game
after fumbling the ball at the 1-yard-line, and then
knocking it out the side of the end zone.
The loss dropped the ninth graders to 0-2 on the season.
The seventh grade teams both gave up four touchdowns and
three two-point conversions in their losses. Pecos' best
chance to score ended when they were stopped on downs inside
the 20 early in the third period of the `A' game, after
Andrews took a 14-0 halftime lead.
Pecos' eighth graders played a scoreless tie with Andrews
as seventh graders a year ago, the only blemish on both
teams' records. But coach Rudy Juardo said in Thursday's
opener the Eagles' line play broke down.
"They ran down the middle and we couldn't stop them. They
just ran it down our throats," he said. "On offense, we
completed a couple of passes and had receivers open all the
time, but our quarterback just did not have time to throw
the ball."
Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Eagles varsity plays its 1998
home opener, against the Alpine Bucks. It's the third of
five meetings between the Eagles and teams from District
4-3A this season. They scrimmaged Monahans and Greenwood and
will face Crane and Kermit on the road in a couple of weeks.
Presidio is the only 4-3A member Pecos will not face this
year. The Eagles will try to even their record at 1-1 after
a 20-6 opening loss to Denver City, while the Bucks look to
go 2-0 after beating Van Horn, 48-20.
Meanwhile, three of the Eagles' new district rivals, and
formally in Alpine's district - Fabens, Clint and Mountain
View, will be trying for their second win in as many game
this season, while Pecos' two other District 2-4A opponents,
Canutillo and San Elizario, will look to avoid 0-3 starts
with games against a couple of Class 5A schools, El Paso
Jefferson and El Paso Americus.
Canutillo (0-2) at El Paso Jefferson (0-1): The Eagles were
routed last week by El Paso Riverside, While the Silver
Foxes lost their opener to Ysleta, two of the three teams
expected to make the playoffs out of District 1-4A.
Canutillo has had problems running the ball so far in their
two games, though both quarterbacks Richard Kastl and Jesus
Navarrette have been able to find receiver Ignacio Juardo
for big gains this season. But they've been giving up yards
both on the ground and through the air, and may have
problems stopping Ysleta's running game tonight.
San Elizario (0-2) at El Paso Americus (0-1): While this
group of Eagles has had problems in recent years winning
games, they're playing a team tonight that has never won a
varsity game -- Americus just began competition last week
and have no seniors either on their squad or in their school.
But Americus did come close to beating El Paso Bowie in
their opener, falling 24-19. The Trail Blazers ran for 274
yards in the loss, and will probably be running a lot
tonight, since El Paso Parkland gained 505 yards on the
ground in their 59-16 win over San Elizario. The Eagles ran
for over 200 yards themselves in the loss, and need to keep
control of the football as much as possible tonight.
Mountain View (1-0) at Parkland (1-0): Two teams that put
up ridiculous offensive numbers last week will match run
against pass tonight. Mountain View's Adolfo Villa,
overshadowed by Clint's D.J. Check last season, threw for
363 yards and six touchdowns in the Lobos' 59-14 win over
Cobre, N.M. Parkland was led by Alex Rose's 222 yards in
their 505 yard rushing night against San Elizario. Mountain
View allowed just 167 yards in offense, and one of Cobre's
touchdowns was on a game-opening 95 yard kickoff return.
El Paso High (0-1) at Clint (1-0): Check had six TDs as
well in the Lions' 42-12 win over Anthony, but he only threw
for four of those, while rushing for the other two. Clint
scored the game's first four touchdowns, and running back
D.J. Shepherd ended up gaining 116 yards, to go along with
Check's 249 through the air.
El Paso High didn't have anywhere near the success running
the ball on El Paso Eastwood last week that Andrews' Shaud
Williams did two weeks ago. Williams gained over 300 yards
by himself against the Troopers, while El Paso was held
under 250 total yards and only one first half touchdown.
El Paso Cathedral (0-1) at Fabens (1-0): Fabens is about
the only other team besides Pecos in 2-4A that likes to run
the ball more than pass, and their 1,200 yard rusher from a
year ago, Mike Morales, gained 102 in last week's 20-6 win
at Deming, N.M. However, quarterback Jaime Valenzuela also
threw for 87 yards and TD in the win, while the Wildcats'
defense limited Deming to just six first downs and 143 yards
in total offense.
Cathedral, meanwhile, had minus-17 yards on the ground in
their 29-7 loss to El Paso Del Valle, while giving up 201
yards rushing and 382 yards overall. The Fighting Irish got
their lone score off a late game punt return.

Top women's seeds in Open semifinals


By BOB GREENE
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK, Sept. 11 -- The most wide-open U.S. Open in years
has no surprises in the women's semifinals.

The defending champion, top-seeded Martina Hingis squared
off in the opening match today against the reigning
Wimbledon winner, No. 3 Jana Novotna, at 29 the oldest of
the group. No. 2 Lindsay Davenport takes on No. 5 Venus
Williams in the second match, with the winners advancing to
Saturday's title match.

Davenport, 22, reached the semifinals at both the Australian
Open and French Open earlier this year, while Williams, 18,
is seeking to make her second straight trip to the final at
Arthur Ashe Stadium.

``She won Wimbledon,'' Hingis, 18, said of Novotna. ``It
definitely gives you more confidence, even if sometimes you
don't play well. You know the other girls -- they have
respect.''

Pairings for the men's semifinals, which will be played on
``Super Saturday,'' were completed Thursday when No. 10
Carlos Moya defeated Sweden's Magnus Larsson 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
and Australia's Mark Philippoussis served 30 aces as he
outlasted Thomas Johansson of Sweden 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7),
6-3, 7-6 (12-10).

The other semi sends top-seeded Pete Sampras against
defending men's champion Patrick Rafter in what could be the
real battle for the crown.

The tournament's first title was decided Thursday when
Serena Williams completed a Williams family Grand Slam of
sorts when she teamed with Max Mirnyi of Belarus to capture
the mixed doubles, defeating Lisa Raymond and Patrick
Galbraith 6-2, 6-2.

Williams and Mirnyi also won the Wimbledon mixed doubles,
while Serena's older sister, Venus, captured the mixed at
the Australian and French Opens with Justin Gimelstob.

Hingis dominated the women's game a year ago, capturing
three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. This year has been
a different story, however. She hasn't won a title since the
Italian Open in May.

``I have the feeling I'm getting better again, so that gives
me a lot of confidence,'' Hingis said after beating
eighth-seeded Monica Seles in the quarterfinals. ``I just
feel like I control the game a little bit better again.''

Until Wimbledon, Novotna was best known for her losses, even
though she has been in the top four in the world for the
past three years. Wimbledon changed all that.

``I've been playing extremely consistently over the years,''
Novotna said. ``And now this year it's becoming better and
better.''

Davenport has been the best player on the Corel WTA Tour
during the hardcourt season this summer, winning three
consecutive tournaments in her native California. She also
reached the semifinals at the year's first two Grand Slam
events, the Australian and French Opens. Davenport was
ousted in the quarters at Wimbledon by Nathalie Tauziat, a
loss she avenged in the Open.

``I haven't lost a set,'' she said. ``I'm just happy to be
in the semifinals.''

Philippoussis slammed 11 aces in the final set in his
victory over Johansson, who had 20 aces and 15
double-faults. Philippoussis hit one serve at 132 mph, only
to be outdone by the Swede, whose 136 mph serve was the
fastest of the tournament.

The beginning of the match gave no indication of the
nail-biter it would become. There were five service breaks
in the opening set, a 10-game span that saw both players
spray the ball all over Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Neither really took charge, but the quality of play improved
tremendously in the final set.

``I got the first serves in when I needed it, I kept the
pressure on and it finally paid off,'' Philippoussis said at
the end of the 3-hour, 26-minute match.

In contrast, the other quarterfinal lasted just 90 minutes.

Moya, who reached the Australian Open final in January, then
won this year's French Open, made just 15 unforced errors
against Larsson. Moya faced only one break point in the
match and never lost his serve.

He becomes the first Spanish man to advance to the U.S. Open
semifinals since the event switched from a green clay
surface to hardcourt and moved from the West Side Tennis
Club to the National Tennis Center in 1978. Manuel Orantes
is the last Spaniard to reach the Open semifinals, having
done so in 1975 when he went on to defeat Jimmy Connors for
the title.

The only other Spaniard to win America's premier tournament
was Manuel Santana, who did it on a grass court in 1965.

Moya and Sampras, the Wimbledon winner, are the only men to
reach the semis of two Grand Slam tournaments this year.

``If you would have told me at the beginning of the week
that I am going to be in the semifinals, I would say,
'You're crazy,' Moya said. ``I had no confidence at all. I
thought I cannot beat anyone the way I am playing.''

The Spaniard said he was worried about Philippoussis, but
not afraid.

``He's 20-something in the rankings, but he has really big
potential,'' Moya said. ``He can win any tournament. But I
won the French Open, I won Monte Carlo and I'm in the
semifinals right now. I don't think I have to be afraid of
anyone.''



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