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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
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Sports

Friday, November 6, 1998

Eagles' Parent seeking state berth


PECOS, Nov. 6 -- If you can get out of district
cross-country competition on the boys side in the El Paso
area, the road to state pretty much gets easier after that.

However, on the girls' side runners from the Panhandle have
been just as tough as those from El Paso, which means Pecos
Eagles' senior Liz Parent will have to improve on her
personal-best time on Saturday at the Region I-4A meet in
Lubbock to have a shot at a state berth.

Parent, the Eagles' lone regional qualifier, will run at 12
noon at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock, coach Rudy Jurado said.
"It's a two mile course with a few hills and nothing really
rugged. It's a good course," he said.

Parent placed fifth at last Saturday's District 2-4A meet
in El Paso with a 13:47 time. Her best of the season.

The Eagles did qualify their only runner on the girls'
side, as senior Liz Parent took fifth with a 13:47 time over
a two-mile course in the east El Paso park. Clint's Belinda
Cernavntes won the race with a 13:03 time, and Jurado said
Parent will have to get closer to that area if she's going
to earn a trip to the Austin area.

"If she can break 13 (minutes) or go in the low 13s,
hopefully it will work out," Jurado said.

Canyon will be the favorite in Lubbock on Saturday.
Defending state champion Jennifer Marable won her District
4-4A meet last week with a 12:55 time, and Canyon also took
next four spots in their district race.

"We pretty much went through a light workout this week
because of the weather, and I'm hoping that helps out,"
Jurado said.

Pecos' Oscar Medrano just missed out on a regional berth at
El Paso last week, finishing 11th with a 17:14 time, which
would have been good enough to earn first place in the
Eagles' old District 4-4A.

Eagles' junior high teams end with wins


By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 6 -- The Pecos Eagles junior high `A' teams
closed out their 1998 football seasons with wins Thursday
night, while the Eagles' ninth graders dropped their final
regular season game to the Crane Golden Cranes.

Playing in Crane, Pecos' eighth graders rallied for a 18-6
victory over the Cranes, while the ninth graders saw Crane
score twice in the second half to win by a 20-8 final score.

Playing in Pecos, the Eagles' seventh graders got their
first win of the season, downing Crane by a 24-20 score
after the seventh grade `B' team closed their season with a
28-0 loss to Crane.

The seventh graders had been having trouble scoring all
season until Thursday, when they scored on all three of
their first half possessions, then rallied for the
game-winning touchdown midway through the final period.

Joe Anthony Marruffo scored on the first play from
scrimmage, a 60-yard run, before Crane scored on their first
series and added a two-point conversion for an 8-6 lead.
Pecos then made it 12-8 on a fourth down touchdown pass from
12 yards out from John Parent to Isiah Juarez, but the
Crane's came back on their next series with their second
one-yard TD run, this one also on fourth down, to go ahead
14-12.

The Eagles made it 18-14 just before the half, when
Parent passed 26 yards to Oscar Parada for a score, but fell
behind again in the third period, when the Cranes scored
from two yards out following a blocked quick-kick. Pecos'
winning score came with 3:53 to play, when Parent hooked up
with Juarez again, this time from 61 yards out, and the
Eagles then stopped Crane on two last possessions.

The win ended the `A' team's season with a 1-6 record,
while Pecos' `B' team ended up 1-6 with their loss.

The eighth graders ended the season with a completely
different backfield than the one they started with due to
injuries, but were able to finish with a 4-3 record by
scoring twice in the second half.

Coach Rudy Jurado said running back Paul Juarez was the
latest injury victim. "Paul broke his collarbone and he'll
be out six to eight weeks," Jurado said. "I didn't see the
play, but the kids said he jumped up and was spun around,
and then one of their big kids landed on him."

The Eagles were already minus quarterback Matthew Levario
and running back Eddie Mata due to injuries, though they did
get tight end Joey Ortega back for the final game. "We had
to make some adjustments. I put Barney (Rodriguez) in at
quarterback and then had `B' teamer Ruvel Carrasco in
there," Jurado said.

Tony Trujillo was moved into the fullback spot, and he and
Carrasco ended up scoring Pecos' second half TDs, Carrasco
on a one-yard quarterback sneak and Trujillo on a 10-yard
run.

Before Juarez left he returned an extra-point interception
for Pecos' first two points, after Crane took a 6-0 lead on
a blocked punt. A bad punt snap by the Cranes turned into a
safety and a 6-4 score before and the Eagles then took the
kickoff and scored on Carrasco's sneak. Trujillo added a
two-point conversion run after his own touchdown.

The ninth graders got their only touchdown on a Cris Lara
run, tying the score at 8-8 at halftime, before Crane got
two more TDs in the final periods.

"Kendrick Evans took a pitch and went about 40 yards, but
it was called back and we missed two other opportunities to
score," coach Steve Cross said. "The kids played hard. We
just made some mistakes and had some turnovers."

The loss left the freshman with a final 2-7 record.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Eagles' varsity will try to
complete their regular season undefeated at home when they
host San Elizario. The Eagles will be in the playoffs next
week and could have another home game, depending on the
outcome of Saturday morning's coin flip between Pecos and
either El Paso Parkland, El Paso Riverside or El Paso
Burges. Their bi-district opponent will be determined by
tonight's District 1-4A games that sent Parkland to Burges
and have Riverside hosting Ysleta.

The Eagles' District 2-4A rivals Clint and Mountain View
will be playing tonight to decide which of them will face
either Riverside or Parkland next week in the bi-district
round, while Canutillo, which will face Ysleta in the
bi-district round of the `Big 4A' playoffs, plays Fabens in
the other 2-4A matchup.

Mountain View (2-2 district, 6-3 season) at Clint (2-2,
4-5): The Loboes almost got more yards rushing than passing
last week, but they had a decent amount of both against
Fabens, so that was good overall. Clint did get more yards
on the ground than through the air for the first time this
season against San Elizario, but neither was as many as what
the Eagles got, and that cost the Lions a chance to tie
Pecos and Canutillo for first.

D.J. Check has been pretty much shut down in his last two
games against Pecos and San Elizario, something Clint will
have to turn around at home tonight if they're to earn the
final post-season berth. They also need a better effort
against the run, after allowing over 600 yards on the ground
the past two weeks.

That may make Mountain View look more towards running the
ball than usual. They did pick up 147 yards a week ago, but
three of their four touchdowns did come off passes from
quarterback Adolfo Villa. If both quarterbacks are on, the
final score of this game may not even make the Saturday El
Paso paper.

Canutillo (3-1, 5-4) at Fabens (1-3, 6-3): This is a great
argument for a strong pre-district schedule, since Canutillo
had the toughest of the five El Paso area schools and is
going to the playoffs after an 0-3 start, while Fabens had
the easiest and is finished after tonight, even though they
started with a 5-0 record.

Just as Pecos will try to recover from their last-second
loss at Canutillo a week ago, it will be interesting to see
how the other group of Eagles reacts a week after their win,
which ended their 18-year playoff drought. One thing they
will need to work on is the running game, which was all but
shut down by Pecos and will face another strong defense next
week in Ysleta.

The Wildcats fell behind Mountain View last week 17-0, then
fought back to within 27-21 before a late interception
return for a score ended their shot at a post-season berth.
Fabens can still finish with a 7-3 mark by winning tonight,
and senior Mike Morales will be shooting for a 1,000 yard
rushing season if he can gain 80 yards against the Eagles.

Maynard looks to avoid giving Deion kicks


By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 6 -- Against the Dallas
Cowboys, the last thing Brad Maynard of the New York Giants
worries about is how far his punts go.

The more important thing is how far Deion Sanders brings
them back, and Maynard did not do well in their first
meeting this year.

Sanders scored on a 59-yard punt return to get the Cowboys
going early in a 31-7 victory over the Giants on Sept. 21 at
Giants Stadium.

The win put the Cowboys (5-3) in first place in the NFC
East, and Dallas could pretty much end the Giants' chances
of winning the title a second straight year by beating New
York (3-5) on Sunday at Dallas.

That would give the Cowboys a three-game lead over the
Giants, plus a sweep of the season series, the first
tiebreaker if the teams are tied at the end of the regular
season.

``We've got no room for error,'' Giants coach Jim Fassel
said.

That's especially true when it comes to Sanders. He killed
New York in the first game, also scoring on an interception
return while setting up a TD with a 55-yard reception.

Sanders is averaging 15.9 yards on his returns, second best
in the league. He has returned two for touchdowns, including
one Monday night against Philadelphia.

``He is an amazing athlete,'' Cowboys quarterback Troy
Aikman said. ``I don't know if I have ever been around an
athlete that is as gifted as he is on the football field. He
can make a lot of things happen.''

The punt return against the Giants was one of the few major
mistakes by Maynard this season. The second-year pro is
averaging 46.1 yards with a 38.1 net average. The average is
fourth best in the league and the net third best.

However, the one Sanders returned had neither hang time nor
a directional element, which would have made it hard to
field. It was a line drive down the middle of the field with
a 2.8 second hang time.

Given room to operate, Sanders made a couple of tacklers
miss and then danced into the end zone.

Maynard would not discuss the Giants' plans to stop Sanders
this time around. He said there are a number of options,
such as angling the punts to the sidelines, punting out of
bounds and adding hang time, but the Giants do all of those
things already.

``You have to stick to your game plan, the things that have
been working for you all the time,'' Maynard said. ``But you
just have to be on your toes, make that extra effort going
down the field, hustling. For me I just have to get the
extra hang time.''

Maynard admitted that being too cute can hurt a team. Trying
to kick a ball out of bounds can easily result in a 25-yard
punt.

While directional punting to a certain part of the field
often makes it difficult for a return man, Sanders does an
outstanding job of running after and catching the ball.

``Deion played center field in professional baseball,''
Maynard said. ``He is good at running and looking up at the
same time. It's something you can't do against him. You just
have to hit them high and hope the guys get down there.''

That probably means shorter punts.

``Average is out this week,'' Maynard said. ``You're more
worried about your net average, 'cause he can take one back
any time.''

Nebraska QB says teammates doubt injury


By PETE HERRERA
AP Sports Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe is
upset with some of his teammates and his confidence has been
shaken, but he has no plans to leave the Cornhuskers, his
father says.

The talented sophomore returned to his hometown this week to
undergo further tests on his injured left knee. But the knee
isn't the only thing bothering him.

Newcombe told the Albuquerque Journal some of his teammates
have started to question the seriousness of his injury.

``When they speak to me, there's a good group who support
me,'' Newcombe said. ``But I always have to deal with some
of those people who say I'm goldbricking it. They see that I
can walk and run a little and they think I'm not that
hurt.''

Nebraska coach Frank Solich on Thursday said he was unaware
of any criticism directed at Newcombe by other players
because of the injury.

``Certainly, if he felt that, there must have been something
there that's bothering him, but I've heard nothing,'' Solich
said.

Newcombe's comments sparked speculation in Albuquerque that
he might consider transferring, and Newcombe didn't exactly
squelch it.

``Nothing's impossible,'' Newcombe said. ``You never know
what's going to happen tomorrow. ... But more than likely,
I'll stay where I'm at. I'm pretty happy, but I'm going to
leave my options open.''

His dad, Robert Newcombe, downplayed that possibility.

``That's only wild speculation. There's no substance to
that,'' he said Thursday.

But the elder Newcombe also said his son's confidence has
taken a hit since he suffered the injury in the
season-opener against Louisiana Tech.

``There was a lot of pressure to begin with. With the
injury, there's a whole new set of pressure. The coaches put
him in the game, then they take him out,'' he said.

``He's a kid who thrives on the coaches' confidence. When he
doesn't think he has their complete confidence, it affects
him even more than the injury.''

Newcombe's injury was initially thought to be a
partially-torn ligament, but Robert Newcombe said doctors in
Albuquerque have determined the injury is more extensive.

``According to what doctors have told us, the ligament is
torn completely,'' the elder Newcombe said. ``Also, they
thought there was perhaps a small tear in the medial
meniscus, or cartilage, and a bone bruise. I hadn't known
those things.''

Robert Newcombe said no decision has been made on whether
his son will undergo surgery.

``I don't think there's a clear prescription of what to do
with this type of injury,'' he said. ``That's why we're
talking to a number of doctors. To determine whether
arthroscopic surgery or reconstruction would be needed, or
whether he can do other things.''

Newcombe's high school coach, Judge Chavez, said Thursday
that it's obvious Newcombe is hurting.

``All they have to do is look at the tapes of him as a
freshman. It's obvious there's something wrong with him,''
Chavez said. ``You can see he doesn't have the explosiveness
and breakaway speed.''

Newcombe's comments on the reaction of some of his teammates
to his injury are in contrast to the picture of solidarity
that Solich and some of the Cornhuskers projected following
the loss to Texas.

``We have good chemistry. There's no doubt in my mind that
we've got a great bunch of guys and everybody gets along,
offensively and defensively,'' said center Josh Heskew. ``We
can't point the finger at anybody for some things that have
happened this season.''

``I don't see anybody finger-pointing,'' Solich said. ``I
don't see anybody saying, `If you would have done something
a little differently in this ball game, we would have won
this ball game. Or if the defense would have done better or
the offense would have done better or if the disposition
would have been better.' There has been none of that.''

Solich said he and quarterbacks coach Turner Gill talked
with Newcombe this week and a transfer wasn't discussed.

``No, that's never come up,'' said Solich, adding that
Newcombe is expected to be back in Lincoln by Sunday.



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