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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Tuesday, Jaunary 26, 1999

Eagles try to reverse home woes


PECOS, Jan. 26 -- Maybe putting the Pecos Eagles on a bus
today and driving them to Van Horn and back might not be a
bad idea, based on the way things have gone for Pecos'
basketball teams at home in January.

The Eagles girls and boys host the Mountain View Lobos
tonight, starting at 6 and 7:30 p.m. at the Pecos High
School gym, where both points and wins have been hard to
come by lately.

The girls' playoff hopes depend on a win over Mountain View,
which defeated Pecos three weeks ago in El Paso, by a 57-36
score in the District 2-4A opener for both teams.

Pecos' boys are in a little better situation, but at 1-2 in
district they need a victory over the 3-0 Lobos to avoid
falling into a big hole as they near the midpoint of their
2-4A schedule.

Just as Pecos' girls played far better during the district
volleyball season after a 200-mile ride to El Paso, the
Eagles' basketball teams have fared far better far away from
home so far.

Pecos' boys are averaging 60 points per game on the road,
though they did drop a 63-59 decision this past Friday at
San Elizario. But a week ago, the Eagles were beaten at home
by Clint, 70-40, and that game after scoring just 25 points
in their previous home game, against Fort Stockton.

"I think we can do better this week," said Eagles' coach
Mike Sadler. "It was important after Friday's game to have a
good workout Saturday, because you've got to dispose of the
lactic acid and get it out of your body.

"We had a good practice on Saturday, and we didn't have a
good one last Saturday because the gym was taken up," by a
basketball tournament, Sadler said.

After scoring early and often on Pecos a week ago, Clint
went home on Friday and was held to four first quarter
points by Mountain View, which maintained a lead the rest of
way and won by a 54-42 final score. Armando Puga and Dustin
Maloney had 14 points to lead the Lobos, who are 3-0 in
district play.

Pecos' girls have been a little more consistent in their
scoring home and away than the boys have, but their recent
games have been closer on the road. After their opening loss
at Mountain View the Eagles came close to winning at Fabens
on Jan. 15, then got their first district victory this past
Friday, beating San Elizario by a 41-35 score.

"I had a chance to break down the Mountain View film down,
and go back and show them what we did wrong," said Eagles'
coach Brian Williams, whose team is 1-4 in district, two
games behind the Lobos for the final Class 4A playoff berth.
"The girls need to know that we're right back in it if we
beat Mountain View."

The Lobos got 16 points off turnovers in the first meeting,
while the Eagles managed to get off few shots against
Mountain View, which was led by Susy Alva's 11 points. Shaye
Lara and Philonicus Fobbs had seven apiece to lead Pecos
that night.

Mountain View comes off a 41-40 overtime loss to first place
Clint on Friday. Jessica Quinones and Monica Acosta had 11
apiece to lead the Lobos.

Bears play first district home games


PECOS, Jan. 26 -- The Balmorhea Bears play their District
1-A home openers tonight against the Sierra Blanca Vaqueros,
with the boys seeking to go 2-0 in district while the girls
hope to even their mark following Friday's openers at Dell
City.

The boys, who won three straight titles in their former
district, got 27 points from Manny Mendoza and 22 from
Arturo Miranda in their victory over the Cougars, who were
led by Travis Templeton, with 28 points. The Bears used an
11-point advantage in the second period to take a 26-18
halftime lead, then held off Dell City's second half
comeback effort.

Balmorhea improved to 4-7 on the season with the victory,
with one of those other wins coming over Sierra Blanca in
non-district play.

"All of them are good," said Bears' coach Adolfo Garcia
following Balmorhea's last home game, a victory over Buena
Vista. "Dell City is good, and Sierra Blanca is good. We
only beat them by three points when we played them earlier."

Girls' coach Ennis Erickson said Balmorhea hasn't gotten a
look yet at Sierra Blanca's girls, "So I'm not sure how that
will work out."

The Bears will be trying to snap a losing streak tonight
when they host the Vaqueros. Balmorhea dropped a 55-36
decision on Friday at Dell City, in a game that was close
until the final period.

Dell City held just a 25-24 lead at halftime and were up by
only three after three quarters, before outscoring the Bears
22-6 in the final period. Terri Hernandez led the Bears with
nine points while Dell City put three players in double
figures, led by Crystal Mendoza with 14.

Erickson said because of stock shows and other events held
during January, Dell City had already begun District 1-A
play when they faced Balmorhea. "We're going to play right
through, but some of them are only going to be playing about
one game a week," Erickson said. The Bears will close out
the first half of their district schedule by going to
Valentine on Friday.

TSWA names Abila to all-state squad


PECOS, Jan. 26 -- A month after being named to the
Associated Press' Class 4A all-state team, Pecos Eagles'
senior Mark Abila received the same honor on Friday from the
Texas Sports Writers Association, earning third team honors
at defensive back.

The senior was named Most Valuable Player on defense for
District 2-4A, as the Eagles shared the district
championship and ended a 23-year playoff drought. He was
also a third team selection on the AP's Class 4A team, and
head coach Dan Swaim said Abila was tagged "the executioner"
during the all-district selection voting by Clint head coach
Bill Culpepper for his hard hits, including one that knocked
out Lions' wide receiver Jeremy Arnold.

Arnold was the only other 2-4A play named to the TSWA team.
The Clint junior earned second-team honors at wide receiver.
He was also selected to the AP's All-State 4A team.

Andrews' Shaud Williams was the lone first team selection
among area players in Class 4A. Williams, who'll attend
Texas Tech this fall, was named to the first team at running
back, while one of his blockers, senior Jose Gonzales,
joined Abila on the TSWA's third team roster.

Son of ex-Giant QB switches to Texas


NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 26 (AP) -- Phillip Fulmer and national
champion Tennessee finally lost one -- a recruit that is.

Chris Simms, son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil
Simms, changed his mind and decided to attend Texas instead
of Tennessee.

``There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, I'm going to
Texas,'' Simms said in today's editions of The Record of
Hackensack, confirming what his high school coach said on
Monday.

The surprise switch came more than a month after a
mid-December announcement that Simms would join the
Volunteers.

``He had some time over the last few weeks to reflect and
think about it before he made it final, and he weighed it
out in his mind and he just felt Texas was a better fit for
him,'' said Mike Miello, Simms' coach at Ramapo (N.J.) High
School.

Texas and Penn State were the other finalists in the
recruiting battle for the left-handed quarterback considered
among the top prep players in the country.

Simms' choice will not become official until he signs a
national letter of intent on Feb. 3, the first day high
school players are permitted to sign with a school.

``I took more of a hard feeling about it,'' added Simms, who
threw for more that 7,000 yards in 39 high school games.
``And I think I placed too much emphasis on playing time
instead of what I like more.''

Last month, Simms seemed happy when he appeared on a local
cable TV show to announce he would be attending Tennessee.

``I'm proud to be a Vol and it's a good place for me,''
Simms said at the time. ``I'm a big fan of Coach Fulmer and
I think it fits me right. I feel so relieved and finally I
can get back to being a high schooler and enjoying myself.''

Tennessee won the national title a few weeks later, beating
Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Tee Martin returns at quarterback for Tennessee, but Simms
may have wavered when A.J. Suggs, another top quarterback
prospect from Georgia, also verbally committed to the Vols.

Texas, meanwhile, has Major Applewhite returning for the
next few seasons, but Simms could move up quickly since the
Longhorns lack depth at quarterback, especially after
redshirt freshman Greg Cicero transferred to a junior
college in California.

A 6-foot-5, 218-pounder, Simms threw for 7,055 yards and 63
touchdowns during his high school career. He threw for 18
touchdowns with only four interceptions in his senior
season.




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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, 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

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Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise