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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Thursday, December 31, 1998

Eagles hoping to begin `99 with home wins


Two teams will be making two long trips to face the Pecos
Eagles on Saturday, as both the boys and girls basketball
teams play their first games of the New Year at the Pecos
High School gym.

Pecos' girls will host their former district rival,
Sweetwater, in junior varsity and varsity games, at 2:30 and
4:30 p.m. That will be followed by Pecos' boys playing their
second game in two weeks against the Sonora Broncos, with JV
and varsity games set for 6 and 7:30 p.m. starts.

The girls come off losing to Crane by a 49-32 final score in
the 11th place game of the Mary Tatum Invitational
Tournament at Reagan County, which left the Eagles with a
3-13 record for the season.

"We didn't play well at all," Eagles' coach Brian Williams
said. "We started off at the end of the first quarter down
16-7 and I think they had us 10-0 before we could get on the
scoreboard."

Shaye Lara led Pecos with nine points and Katrina Quiroz
added six for the Eagles. "One thing we did improve on was
rebounding. We out-rebounded all three teams we played
(Iraan and Reagan County earlier in the tournament), and
against Reagan County, that was the first team we held to
one shot while we got three or four. But we just couldn't
hit out lay-ups," Williams said.

While the girls have had trouble scoring in most of the game
this season, Pecos' boys have been in a scoring slump since
mid-December, though they did come up with a 44-40 win at
Sonora on Dec. 21. Oscar Luna had 17 points in that win,
while Fernando Navarette added 10.

Navarette had 20 and Mark Marquez 10 in Tuesday's game
against Presidio. But the rest of the Eagles managed just
nine points and Pecos lost in overtime, 40-39.

Cowboys hope Deion's toe heals


By DENNE H. FREEMAN
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The painful big left toe of Deion
Sanders remains the Dallas Cowboys' biggest playoff mystery.

It's apparent the team plays better with him. They are 2-4
without him in the lineup doing his thing on punt returns,
occasional big plays on offense, and tenacious coverage on
pass defense.

``It's a timing thing, and we don't have much time,'' said
Sanders, who is listed as ``doubtful'' for Saturday's NFC
playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Doctors say the toe is sprained and there's really nothing
modern medicine can do to get it well. Sanders worked alone
at practice on Wednesday, but didn't participate in drills
with the team.

``It's in the hands of the Lord,'' Sanders said.

Dallas lost its last four games last season after Sanders
suffered a rib injury. He has missed games in the past
because of baseball, but his absence has never hurt the
Cowboys like it has this season.

The Dallas players have almost given up thinking Sanders
will be able to give them any help in the playoffs.

``We've had to play without him in the lineup, and we just
might have to face up to the fact that's the way it's going
to be in the playoffs,'' Dallas fullback Daryl Johnston
said. ``Hopefully he'll be out there Saturday moving around,
but it will be a big bonus if he's able to play.''

Johnston said there's nothing that can be done to heal
Sanders' injury quickly.

``There's nothing that can be done to alleviate the pain,''
Johnston said. ``You hear about it and think it's just a
minor injury. But it's not. And you can't take a shot where
the sprain is.''

Running back Emmitt Smith said Sanders' injury is much worse
than a turf toe.

``A toe is a very important part of the body,'' Smith said.
``I've never had anything like Deion has. I've had turf toes
but this is much worse. It's not even close to a turf toe.''

Smith said Sanders wants to play.

``It's frustrating to him and frustrating to us,'' Smith
said. ``We know we're a better team with him in the lineup.
But we've won two games without him now. We just have to
mentally prepare without him.''

Trainer Jim Maurer said Sanders was ``still feeling pain but
not as much. The MRI he had shows the area is healing but
there's still swelling in the joint of his toe.''

Quarterback Troy Aikman said it would be a big morale boost
for the Cowboys if Sanders could play on Saturday.

``We miss Deion,'' Aikman said. ``Hopefully, we'll get him
back. Our fingers are crossed. If not, we'll just have to
play without him.''

Sherrill doesn't mind TV dictating times


By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) -- Jackie Sherrill says he could never coach at
the University of Texas because he doesn't believe in being
politically correct. He likes to speak out on issues,
consequences be damned.

With that in mind, here's what the Mississippi State coach
thinks about the 10:15 a.m. kickoff of Friday's Cotton Bowl
between his Bulldogs (8-4) and the Longhorns (8-3):

``It's something you've got to understand about college
football. It's called exposure,'' Sherrill said Wednesday.
``Bowl games and TV contracts have been very good for
college football. ...

``We can debate this over and over, but you have to
understand that there is only one sport in college athletics
that pays the bills and that's football. ... Even at the
University of Texas, which probably has more money than
anybody -- and I'm saying that with respect, but it's true
-- it's still football that carries Texas.''

Longhorns coach Mack Brown doesn't mind the early start
time. After all, his team's last game -- against Texas A&M
the day after Thanksgiving -- also kicked off at a time more
suited for breakfast.

``The thing we found with the A&M game is there is not
another TV game on ... so everybody in America will be
focused on this ballgame,'' Brown said. ``That helps the
exposure of both teams nationally.

`There's no question it makes an impact on recruiting
because everybody watched our A&M game through at least
three quarters. I think that's a real positive for the
Cotton Bowl.''

Sherrill hasn't had a game start this early since 1979,
when he was coaching Pittsburgh and the Pirates were in the
baseball playoffs.

However, Sherrill said the Bulldogs have started games at
11 a.m. and noon, so the extra hour or so shouldn't be too
different.

``We've played enough early games that I don't think it'll
have any effect,'' he said. ``It's probably tougher on the
assistant coaches because I make them get there about an
hour earlier than everybody else. So they'll be getting up
at 4:30, 5 o'clock.''



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Pecos Enterprise
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