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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, September 3, 1999
Mustangs blank Eagles in opener
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
ODESSA, Sept, 3, 1999 -- The end zone remained an elusive place for
the Pecos Eagles Thursday night, in their season opening football game
against the Denver City Mustangs.
Pecos' offense, which did not score in either of their two pre-season
games, made only one visit to the end zone, and it came from the wrong
direction - a bad punt snap in the third quarter that gave Denver City
two points in a 17-0 shutout of the Eagles.
"Offensively we've got some good weapons. We've just got to do a better
job making decisions," said Eagles' coach Gary Grubbs, whose team was held
to just 47 yards in total offense and minus-1 yard in rushing.
That was due to four quarterback sacks by Denver City, and the snap
over the head of punter Daniel Terrazas from the 22 yard line. Terrazas
ran out of the back of the end zone after recovering the ball for a safety,
which gave Denver City a 10-0 lead at the time.
The Mustangs took nearly nine minutes to drive 51 yards for their first
score, after recovering an onside kick attempt by Pecos. They also fooled
the Eagles with a `swinging gate' play, when Fabian Rubio was left uncovered
on the far side of the field for a two-point conversion pass.
After that, the Eagles' defense had a pretty good night until quarterback
Armando Galvan broke loose on a pair of broken play runs in the closing
minutes, one going for 38 yards and the other the final nine for Denver
City last touchdown, with 1:36 to play.
"That's the way he was in the scrimmages. You think he's fixing to go
down, but he's got the speed to outrun a few people," said Denver City
coach Terry Summers, who got his first victory as a varsity head coach.
Galvan's final two runs nearly doubled his yardage for the night, as the
sophomore finished with 95 yards on 14 carries.
But he wasn't the only sophomore to have a good night. Pecos' Richard
Rodriguez got into the game after cornerback Ricky Plummer sprained his
ankle and came up with two interceptions and should have had a third, but
it was nullified thanks to a roughing the passer call against Pecos.
"Our defense did an outstanding job. Coach (Ron) Arnesen, coach (Jason)
Hewitt and coach (Charlie) Bunch really got them going on defense," Grubbs
said, while adding that a series of penalties by the defense - mainly offsides
calls - were also a problem.
"I think we had seven or eight offsides penalties, but that's correctable,"
he said. "The one that really hurt was the fourth down roughing the passer
(on Rodriguez' interception and 25 yard return). Then we had an unsportsmanlike
conduct and that was totally uncalled for. We can't do that and win."
Second down plays were the Eagles' biggest problem on Denver City's
opening drive. The Mustangs never got more than three yards on any of their
first down plays, but Galvan gained eight yards on the first attempt on
second down, and running back Amado Rodriguez picked up seven three straight
times on second down runs.
Denver City's only pass completion of the night not to Rodriguez, a
nine yard swing pass to David Folmar, got the Mustangs out of a 3rd-and-8
hole at the Pecos 14, and after being stopped three times inside the five,
Jeffrey Bird took a pitch on fourth down and got around the left end for
the touchdown.
Pecos' best drive of the night was on their first series, and was helped
by a pair of 15-yard penalties on Denver City, for roughing the punter
and spearing running back Len Carson. Quarterback Alex Garcia dumped a
pass off to Jacob Esparza for a 15-yard gain, but on the next play Espaza
fumbled after a seven yard run up the middle, and Galvan recovered at the
Mustangs' 19 yard line.
Overall it was a rough night for Garcia at quarterback, who was sacked
three times and threw three interceptions, as part of a 6-for-15 passing
night.
His first was caused by defensive pressure from Denver City's pass rushers,
as Joe Dan Garcia picked Alex Garcia off just before halftime. But No.
2 was a pass over the middle to Jacob Weidner that came in too low and
was again snared by the Mustangs' linebacker, who returned it to Pecos'
28.
"We had it wide open on that one play for a touchdown, but he just has
to get it up more," said Grubbs, who worked with Garcia on that problem
during practice this week. "But this was Alex's first game as a starter,
and in his defense he was under pressure a lot. They're a 50 (defensive)
team and they came out in an 80 and that got our blocking all messed up."
Pecos' defense was able to survive that interception, which came after
Chad Bayer hit the goalpost with a 35-yard field goal attempt. Rodriguez'
second interception stopped the Mustangs after Joe Dan Garcia's second
pickoff, but when Rodriguez went in at quarterback for one series, he had
the same problem as Garcia, getting sacked by Stephen Burleson for an eight-yard
loss.
Denver City ended up gaining 211 yard on the night, the same amount
Pecos' defense averaged in 10 games last season. "We've still got a lot
of work to do," Grubbs said. "We can stay in a lot of games with that kind
of defense, but the pressure put on the defense because we can't move the
ball eventually is going to hurt."
The Eagles will try to do better a week from tonight, when they go to
Alpine to face the Bucks, who begin their 1999 season with a game at Van
Horn tonight.
Jaguars make night rough for Cowboys
IRVING, Tex., Sept. 3, 1999 - The Jacksonville Jaguars got the road win
they wanted to end the exhibition season on a positive note. The Dallas
Cowboys were simply happy to see the preseason end.
Jacksonville assured itself of going into the season on the upswing
with a 27-6 victory Thursday night. The starters left after building a
10-0 lead and the reserves added to it for a second straight impressive
victory.
The Jaguars (3-1) outgained the Cowboys 482-264 and had 23 first downs
to Dallas' 11.
"I thought if we could focus and concentrate in this game, we'd accomplish
something," said Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin, who stresses winning
exhibition games. The Cowboys ended the summer 1-4.
"Fortunately, it's behind us for another year and we can get on with
the season," quarterback Troy Aikman said.
What mattered most to Dallas was not suffering any more serious injuries
— although there were some scary moments.
The Cowboys, who already are likely to open the season without cornerbacks
Deion Sanders and Kevin Smith and linebacker Quentin Coryatt, had two starters
limp off in the opening minutes and six more guys were treated by trainers.
The biggest concern was offensive lineman Flozell Adams, who sprained
his left knee on the game's second snap and didn't return.
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
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