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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Thursday, September 30, 1999
Eagles, Jackets seek to overcome problems
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 30, 1999 -- The Pecos Eagles and Kermit Yellowjackets
have experienced similar struggles so far this football season. On Friday,
both teams will try to solve some of those problems in their final pre-district
game, when the Eagles host the Jackets at 7:30 p.m. in their 1999 homecoming
game.
Each team has had a forgettable time the past two weeks, and both come
off home losses they'd rather forget about.
After a win in Alpine over the Bucks, Pecos was beaten 17-14 in Fort
Stockton, then were pounded a week ago in their home opener by Crane, 61-8.
Kermit, meanwhile, was hammered two weeks ago in Lamesa, 50-0, then came
home to Walton Field and were blanked last Friday night by McCamey, 19-0.
Kermit coach Todd Pearson said his team's problems on offense are similar
to Pecos' troubles, with a lack of experience among his starters.
"Anytime you lose some good seniors and have to follow it up with some
young kids, it's going to be kind of hard," said Pearson, whose team is
winless in four tries this season.
The teams didn't light up the scoreboard a year ago, but running back
Louis Bossett did enough for Kermit to score a 13-2 victory. Bossett had
114 of the Jackets' 203 yards in total offense, but he's gone and last
week's leading rusher, Sergio Saenz, is hurting.
Allen Smithart is Kermit's other runner, and Pearson said both he and
quarterback Norma Castillo have been doing a good job in their new roles.
"He (Castillo) had to replace our starting quarterback earlier in the
year," the Jackets' coach said. "He's thrown for about 300 yards so far.
The first two games were big games _ he had about a 45 percent completion
rate, but we haven't thrown the ball as much the last two games."
"They're a true wing-T team and they try to run the lead, the sweep
and the toss," said Eagles' coach Gary Grubbs. "They try to throw the ball
a little bit, and they've been pretty effective."
Castillo and Smithart are both two-way starters, playing linebacker
and free safety on defense, while Brandon Hobbs is one of three senior
starters for Kermit, at wide receiver.
"They're plenty big inside, and they look like they've got decent speed,"
Grubbs said. Offensive tackles Michael Reed and Troy Wallace are the two
other senior starters on offense, while the only senior starter on defense
is cornerback Ivor Ramirez.
"Lamesa hit them with some big plays, plus they did like we did against
Crane and turned the ball over on their own 20," Grubbs said. "They moved
the ball on McCamey, but turned it over deep in their territory the first
time. McCamey didn't have any big plays, but they moved the ball on them."
While Kermit's offense has appeared to struggle more than the defense
so far in 1999, Pearson said the Jackets' problems haven't all been the
offense's fault.
"When you're not stopping them on defense and the offense does sputter
it looks like you're putting pressure on the defense, but they both go
hand-in-hand," he said. "The defense also needs to make plays to help the
offense out."
Pecos' defense couldn't make the big plays a week ago, failing to recover
four Crane fumbles and dropping an interception, but the main problem for
Pecos was kickoff and punt return coverage. Crane only needed to gain 304
yards to score their nine touchdowns, because the Eagles surrendered another
275 yards to the Cranes on kickoff and punt returns.
The Eagles are in better shape physically than at any time since before
their opening scrimmage, though Grubbs did say they've lost three players
for at least the next couple of weeks due to grades.
"We've got everybody else back except for (Micah) Huffman, and I believe
he'll be back next week," Grubbs said. Huffman suffered a concussion against
Alpine, then hurt his knee in practice and has missed the last two games.
"He could play this week, but we want to give him one more week of resting
his knee."
The Eagles get back fullback Jacob Esparza, who missed last week's game
with a sore neck, and tailback Len Carson is closer to 100 percent, though
Donnie Winfrey will start again on Friday.
"We'll use Len a little more and use Jacob and Mason (Abila) at fullback,"
Grubbs said. Abila gained 65 yards in last week's loss, but the Eagles'
coach said playing both ways was a little tough on the sophomore.
"We're going to try and limit Mason a little more on offense, so he'll
be a little fresher on defense," Grubbs said.
While grades only got three varsity players, about 20 junior varsity
and freshman players will be lost after tonight's games in Kermit under
the no-pass, no-play rule. Grubbs said the JV would have just 15 players
available for the next few weeks, and as a result, will cancel their Oct.
7 game against Marfa's varsity.
The freshmen and JV will play at 5 and 6:30 p.m. today in Kermit, while
the Eagles' junior high teams will host the Jackets for `A' and `B' games
at 4:30 and 6 p.m. The eighth graders will play at Eagle Stadium, while
the seventh grade games will be at the Crockett Middle School field.
Starting Lineups
Pecos
Kermit
Defense
Offense
DE (52) _ Jose Loa
QB (11) _ Norman Castillo
ST (80) _ Jacob Weidner
FB (26) _ Allen Smithart
WT (71) _ Gilbert Rodriguez
TB (20) _ Miguel Porras
SE (32) _ Roy Marta
SE (14) _ Brandon Hobbs
LB (86) _ Daniel Terrazas
LT (77) _ Michael Reed
LB (44) _ Omar Luna
LG (70) _ Brian Duncan
LB (56) _ Trent Riley
C (63) _ Corbett Graves
CB (27) _ Kevin Bates
RG (74) _ Ricky Rodriguez
SS (19) _ Jason Payne
RT (78) _ Troy Wallace
FS (20) _ Mason Abila
TE ( 4) _ Manny Munoz
CB ( 9) _ Richard Rodriguez
FL (83) _ Fabien Quiroz
Offense
Defense
QB ( 7) _ Alex Garcia
DE (10) _ Brent Leeson
FB (20) _ Mason Abila
DT (79) _ Anthony Glover
TB (21) _ Donnie Winfrey
NG (44) _ Raul Marquez
SE (27) _ Kevin Bates
DT (78) _ Troy Wallace
LT (64) _ Ivan Guebara
DE (64) _ Thomas Rinheart
LG (51) _ Sebero Jaquez
LB (35) _ Omar Gallardo
C (77) _ Chris Deishler
LB (11) _ Norman Castillo
RG (55) _ Orlando Lara
LB (54) _ Mario Garcia
RT (54) _ Cesar Coria
CB (12) _ Ivor Ramirez
TE (86) _ Daniel Terrazas
FS (26) _ Allen Smithart
FL (10) _ Derek Zubeldia
CB (20) _ Miguel Porras
P (86) _ Daniel Terrazas
K (32) _ Roy Marta
K/P ( 4) _ Manny Munoz
Pippen popping off `bluberry' Barkley
BRISTOL, Conn., Sept. 30, 1999 (AP) — The war of words between Scottie
Pippen and Charles Barkley has escalated.
Pippen unleashed a torrent of criticism at his teammate on Wednesday,
calling Barkley "selfish" and "fat' and saying he doesn't have the desire
to win an NBA championship. Pippen was responding to criticism initiated
by Barkley, who was angered that Pippen said he'd welcome a trade to the
Los Angeles Lakers.
"I probably should've listened to Michael (Jordan) a year ago when he
said that Charles will never win a championship because he doesn't show
any dedication," Pippen told ESPN. "He's a very selfish guy. He doesn't
show the desire to want to win. That's my reason for wanting to get away
from playing with him — because he just doesn't show the dedication."
Barkley said he sacrificed to make salary cap room on the Rockets for
Pippen, who signed a five-year, $67.2 million contract before last season.
"For him to want to leave after one year, it disappointed me greatly,"
Barkley said Tuesday. "The Rockets went out of their way to get Scottie,
and the fans have treated him well, so I was just disappointed in him."
Pippen was offering no apologies Wednesday and reiterated that he wants
to play elsewhere, preferably for the Lakers and Phil Jackson.
"I wouldn't give Charles Barkley an apology at gunpoint," Pippen said,
never raising his voice. "He can never expect an apology from me. ... If
anything, he owes me an apology for coming to play with his sorry fat butt.
"I was very shocked to see what type of player he was by spending half
a season with him," he said of Barkley. "I'm a guy that's dedicated to
winning, and I put out a lot of effort on the court. I expect that from
my teammates, especially from a guy of his caliber.
"Charles is definitely one of the guys that needs to show more leadership
for this ball club to be successful, and he don't show that to me. ...
He feels that if he gets 10 rebounds and double-figure points, he's done
a good job. But that's not what the game's about. It's about defending,
being professional and coming to work every day."
Pippen said one of the reasons he wants to play for Jackson is because
he longs to return to the system in which they won six NBA titles together
in Chicago.
"I would like to play for Phil," Pippen said. "(But) I'm not demanding
a trade."
The Houston Chronicle and Portland Oregonian, citing unidentified league
sources, reported today that the Rockets and Trail Blazers were discussing
a trade that would send Pippen to Portland for Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon,
Walt Williams, Ed Gray, Brian Shaw and Carlos Rogers.
Pippen averaged 14.5 points last season, his lowest since his rookie
year, and shot a career-low 43.2 percent. He also averaged 6.5 rebounds
and 5.9 assists.
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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