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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Thursday, October 21, 1999
Eagles, Lions' records similar, styles different
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Oct. 21, 1999 -- They’re both 4-3, both looking to get back
to the playoffs for the second year in a row, and they both posted six-point
wins over Fabens in their last road games.
Other than that, you couldn’t find two more different teams than the
Pecos Eagles and Clint Lions to square off Friday night in Clint, starting
at 8:30 p.m. CDT.
The Eagles do have one advantage over the Lions – they’re 2-0 in District
2-4A play after their win over Fabens and last Friday’s 28-20 homefield
victory against El Paso Mountain View. Clint lost their district opener
to San Elizario before recovering last week at Fabens, but while Pecos
used an overtime touchdown to beat the Wildcats, 6-0, Clint outscored Fabens,
48-42, winning on a 25-yard pass from D.J. Check to Johnny Torres
with 1:14 to play.
“It works in their favor that we have to travel out there, and we’re
2-0 while they’re 1-1, so they know they have to win,” said Eagles’ coach
Gary Grubbs, whose team had posted two straight shutout victories before
getting past Mountain View in the fourth period a week ago.
Meanwhile, Clint’s average score this season has been 33-31, and last
Friday’s win doesn’t even come close to their highest combined score this
season – the Lions beat El Paso High in Week 2 by a 63-56 final score.
Last week’s win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Lions, which
began when running back D.J. Shephard quit the team after a 3-0 start,
forcing all-state receiver Jeremy Arnold to move to running back.
“We’ve got it all ironed out. We executed a lot better last week and
we executed a lot better on defense, though it may not look like it,” said
coach Bill Culpepper. “We had three interceptions and a fumble recover
which helped put us in a lot better situation.”
“It will come down to how we play defense,” said Grubbs, who added
“It wouldn’t bother me if we’re running up and down the field with our
offense. If we score, we score, and I don’t care how much time it takes.”
Clint needed just 1:01 to get their winning touchdown last week after
Fabens took a 42-41 lead, though Check’s fifth touchdown pass of the night
appeared to have been dropped by Torres before he reached the end zone.
It was the second week in a row Fabens felt a goal line call went against
them (the Wildcats thought Vicente Macias scored in overtime against Pecos),
but the play counted, and it gave Check 22 TD passes for the year and 77
for his career.
That’s 17 off Chavis McCollister’s state record, set last year, while
his 7,388 passing yards is within range of Stephenville’s Kelan Luker,
who also set the mark of 8,297 yards a year ago.
He didn’t look like he’d have a shot at either mark after injuring his
knee four weeks ago against El Paso Parkland. “He’s still hobbled a little
bit, but he practiced two days this week and also practiced last week and
that makes a big difference in execution, because we don’t execute nearly
as well without D.J. out there,” Culpepper said.
“They’ve got two great athletes in Check and Arnold,” Grubbs said. “Pretty
much wherever Arnold is, that’s where the ball is.”
Arnold has had different problems, learning a new role. “He plays tailback
and receiver and we’re trying to teach him to pass protect so we can do
something besides run the ball when he’s in the backfield,” the Lions’
coach said. “I think he’s getting there, so we can be a little less predictable.”
Certainly, focusing just on Arnold will get the Eagles in trouble. He
and Torres both have seven touchdown catches, while tight end Patrick Tullius
and receiver Sergio Medrano have a combined 32 catches for 652 yards and
eight TDs between them.
Pecos had just three completions last week, but the two in the second
half allowed them to complete their first sustained scoring drives in a
month.
Alex Garcia passed to Derek Zubledia for one score, while Zubeldia’s
pass to Kevin Bates set up Donny Winfrey’s winning touchdown run. It was
part of a 189-yard rushing night for Winfrey, as the Eagles gained 262
of their 348 yards overall against Mountain View on the ground.
“I’m sure they’ll stack the line to make us throw the football,” Grubbs
said. “A lot of people don’t think we can throw the football, but we can.”
Pecos did add a pair of players to their varsity roster this week, in
freshmen Matthew Levario and Jason Carrasco. They join backup quarterback
Peter Juarez, who was brought up from the junior varsity two weeks ago,
while Pecos’ other freshmen and JV players will face Monahans and Kermit
tonight.
Bears need win to remain in playoff picture
PECOS, Oct. 21, 1999 -- Having their backs against the wall is nothing
new for the Balmorhea Bears' football team. They've faced must-win situations
over the final month of the season for the past two years, and will be
in the same position on Friday night, when they host the Buena Vista Longhorns,
starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Bears are 0-2 in District 7-A six man play after last week's 42-18
loss at Dell City, and coach Ennis Erickson said the Bears will have to
sweep their final four games, then get some help from Grandfalls, to have
a shot at their fifth post-season trip in six years.
"Out of Dell City (2-0 in district), Grandfalls (3-0) and Sanderson
(2-0) two of those teams have to lose twice, and we have to win the remainder
of our games," Erickson said. Balmorhea already has lost to Grandfalls,
but has yet to play Sanderson, so the Bears will be rooting for a win by
the Cowboys at home over the Eagles on Friday.
Two years ago Balmorhea dropped its first two district games, then came
back to win their final four before losing out for the second place playoff
berth on a coin flip. Last season, a 51-48 loss at Buena Vista put the
Bears in a 1-2 hole, before then won their last three district games, then
advanced to the state semifinals.
This time, the Bears come in with a three-game losing streak, as slow
starts have hurt Balmorhea in each of those games. Dell City jumped out
to a 22-0 lead last week, and three weeks ago Grandfalls went ahead of
Balmorhea 23-0 in an eventual 37-24 victory.
Buena Vista got a win and a week off last Friday, when Sierra Blanca
forfeited their game to the Longhorns. It put them at 1-2 in district and
3-4 on the season.
Series to determine `Team of Decade' title
By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 1999 — No need to ask John Schuerholz. Just look
at the ring the Atlanta Braves general manager is wearing and read what's
engraved: "Team of the 90s."
The way he sees it, there's not a debate on baseball's team of the decade.
To him, the Braves already own that title, even if the New York Yankees
take home the next World Series trophy.
"To answer that question for the 1,442nd time, we don't need to do anything,"
Schuerholz said. "We've won more games than any team, we've won 100 games
three years in a row, we've won eight straight division titles."
"If you choose any criteria except one narrow criteria — World Series
championships — we lead it," he said.
To the Yankees, though, that's not such a narrow category.
"Aren't we the team of the century?" New York GM Brian Cashman said
Wednesday. "World championships, that's the goal."
Fittingly, the clubs that had the majors' two worst records in 1990
get a final chance to make their cases starting with Game 1 Saturday night
at Turner Field.
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, MVP of the AL Championship Series, probably
will start for the Yankees. The Braves can pick from any of their Big Four
of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Kevin Millwood.
For Atlanta, it's an opportunity to win that elusive second World Series
title. The Braves beat Cleveland in 1995 — prompting them to put that boast
on their rings — but have nothing else to show for eight straight trips
to the NL Championship Series.
For the Yankees, it's a chance to win their record 25th title and third
in four years. That recent run began when they beat Atlanta in six games
in 1996.
"We've got another shot at them," Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones
said.
The Braves earned their fifth trip to the World Series in the 1990s
by beating the New York Mets 10-9 in 11 innings Tuesday night in Game 6
of the NLCS. The Yankees beat Boston in five games in the ALCS.
Atlanta took a day off Wednesday while New York's practice at Yankee
Stadium was rained out. That gave extra time for the Yankees to talk about
— or turn down — debate about the top team in the last 10 years.
"Players don't worry about it," catcher Joe Girardi said. "There are
a lot of different players on both teams."
True, a lot has changed for the Yankees since 1990, when they went 67-95
with a starting lineup that included Oscar Azocar, Steve Balboni and Bob
Geren, plus a rotation that had Tim Leary, Chuck Cary and Andy Hawkins.
The Braves were even worse that season at 65-97. That was the year they
traded Dale Murphy and could only hope that young Glavine and Smoltz would
blossom.
Overall, Atlanta is a major league-best 925-629 in regular-season games
during the decade and the Yankees are next at 851-702. Oh, their interleague
record against each other? Appropriately, 5-5.
The Braves have won titles in the West and East in the 1990s and became
the first NL franchise to reach five World Series since the Dodgers in
the '50s. The Yankees have gone to the playoffs for five straight years,
their best stretch since going to the World Series from 1960-1964.
And now, with no slight intended to Toronto for its championships in
1992-93, it's all come down the Braves and Yankees.
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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