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SPORTS

Monday, September 30, 1996

Eagles take to air, bomb Wildcats, 28-7

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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer

PECOS, Sept. 30 -- The Pecos Eagles have seen a lot of teams line up 8-
and 9-man front line defenses against them over the years, daring the
Eagles to pass.
Friday night, the Eagles saw it again, this time from the Fabens
Wildcats, who put single coverage on wide receiver Moses Martinez three
times in their own territory.
But this time, quarterback Jason Abila made the Wildcats pay, as he and
Martinez hooked up on 35-, 19- and 17-yard touchdown passes that lifted
Pecos to a 28-7 homecoming victory.
"We saw on the films they ran an 8-man front in that situation, so we
really weren't surprised," Eagles' coach Mike Belew said. "We just tried
to take advantage of what the defense gave us."
Abila's passing was better than his numbers indicate. He was just
6-for-15 with one interception to go along with his three TDs, but had
six other passes dropped and two others just deflected away. The
junior's only bad pass was his last of the night, a ball over the middle
Miguel Ontiveros picked off midway through the final period.
"Jason threw some real good passes. Outside of missing a couple of
audibles, I thought he had a good game," Belew said.
Abila's three TD passes equalled Pecos' total for all of last season,
and so far this year, he and Martinez have hooked up on four passes, all
for touchdowns.
The first two on Friday were part of a 21-point first period for Pecos,
as the second of four lost fumbles by the Wildcats set up the Eagles to
score two touchdowns in a 38-second span.
The Eagles took a 7-0 lead on their opening series, when Abila found
Martinez on a quick cut-in on the left side against single coverage, and
he raced in untouched from 35 yards out. Richard Gutierrez added the
extra point 5:01 into the game, and would get a touchdown of his own
with 1:38 left in the period. going over from 1-yard out, after a
20-yard run on the previous play and a 29-yard hookup between Abila and
Nufie Flores on the opening play of the 50-yard drive.
The Eagles had missed a scoring chance earlier, when they were stopped
after T.J. Huffman recovered a fumbled snap by quarterback Richard
Jimenez at the Fabens 29. But they didn't squander their next chance,
after Steve Harrison fell on a Michael Jones fumble at the Wildcats' 31.
It came on the second play after Gutierrez' score, and after the
fullback took a pitch right for 12 yards, Abila again found Martinez
isolated on the left side, and hit him for his second TD of the night
with 50 seconds left in the period.
Up by three scores going into the second period, the Eagles ran into
some problems, and almost let the Wildcats back into the game.
"I don't think we let up. They just changed their defense and we just
had some breakdowns in our blocking as a result," Belew said, as Fabens
shut down the Eagles' ground game in the second period.
Pecos also had trouble with their punt snaps for the second game in a
row. Gutierrez was able to run down one low snap and get off a kick, but
he was tackled at his own 33 by Cesar Escobar after the second bad snap,
which set up Fabens' only score.
Frank Macias pulled in a pass from Jimenez for 27 yards, down to the 1,
and then, after the Wildcats lost two yards on their next three plays,
Jimenez was able to get around left end for the score, cutting the lead
to two touchdowns.
The Eagles were in the same position a year ago at Fabens, but saw
things fall apart after a fumble on the opening drive of the second
half. This time, the Wildcats stopped Pecos' initial third period drive,
but there was no key turnover, and the Eagles would limit Fabens'
rushing attack to just three yards in the final two quarters.
Gutierrez, meanwhile, had his third 100-plus yard rushing effort in four
games, although the Eagles' 140-yard ground total was their lowest of
the year. Gutierrez finished with 113 yards on 26 carries, including a
16-yard loss on the bad punt snap in the second period.
"Richard had some good runs, and he had a couple of them even when the
blocking broke down," Belew said of the junior, who had to briefly leave
the game after a couple of first down runs on the opening drive of the
third period.
That series ended with Abila hitting Martinez for his third score of the
night, But the key play was one which backfired on the Eagles a week ago
against Monahans, a sideline pass from Abila to his brother Mark.
Last week's pass fell incomplete and was ruled a lateral, which the
Loboes recovered. This time, the pass went forward, and was turned into
a 22-yard gain by Mark Abila on a 4th-and-10 from the Fabens' 39. The
touchdown would follow two plays later.
Fabens had two more scoring chances in the game, but Jason Abila would
pick of Jimenez on a pass to Mario Gomez at the Pecos 4 late in the
third period, and Arnulfo Granado would sack the Wildcats' quarterback
in the closing minutes of the game and force a fumble, which Joseph
Strain recovered at the Eagles' 20.
The win evened Pecos' season record at 2-2 on the year, while Fabens saw
its mark slip to 1-3. The Eagles will now try for the third time this
season to go over the .500 mark for the first time since the final week
of the 1993 season, when they play their final pre-district game on
Friday at Kermit. The Yellowjackets fell to 1-3 on the season Friday
night, with a 26-8 loss at McCamey.
at Pecos
Fabens 0 7 0 0 - |7
Pecos 21 0 7 0 - 28

First Quarter
Pec. -- M. Martinez 35 pass from J. Abila (Gutierrez kick), 5:01.
Pec. -- Gutierrez 1 run (Gutierrez kick), 10:22.
Pec. -- M. Martinez 19 pass from J. Abila (Gutierrez kick), 11:10.
Second Quarter
Fab. -- Jimenez 3 run (Macias kick), 8:21.
Third Quarter
Pec. -- M. Martinez 17 pass from J. Abila (J. Abila kick), 4:51.

Fab _Pec
First Downs10 18
Rushes-Yds.37-85 41-140
Passing Yds130 145
Passes10-20-1 7-17-2
Punts-Avg5-33.6 2-24.7
Fumbles-lost5-4 1-0
Penalties-Yds.4-35 4-25
<ip1>
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Fabens, De Anda 16-44, Acosta 3-28, Jones 7-22, Tapia 2-8,
Jimenez 9-(-17). Pecos, Gutierrez 26-113, M. Abila 2-9, Strain 2-9, J.
Aguilar 6-7, E. Aguilar 3-3, J. Abila 2-(-1).
PASSING -- Fabens, Jimenez 10-20-1-130. Pecos, J. Abila 6-15-1-129, J.
Aguilar 1-1-0-16, E. Aguilar 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING -- Fabens, Macias 3-59, Tapia 2-30, Gomez 1-20, Acosta 3-15,
Salcido 1-6. Pecos, M. Martinez 3-72, Flores 2-45, M. Abila 1-22,
Contreras 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS -- None.

Rematch with Mustangs

nets same result for Bears

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By MAC McKINNON
Enterprise Editor
PECOS, Sept. 30 -- Balmorhea's Bears opened district 8-A six man play in
convincing style Friday as they duplicated the score of the opening game
of the year against the Marathon Mustangs, winning early in the second
half by the tune of 52-7.
It was homecoming for the Bears with a large crowd on hand to see Celia
Rodriguez crowned homecoming queen. She was escorted by Seniors Hebert
Zuniga and Ryan Steig.
Zane Rhyne was named high school football beau and Cherry Garcia
football sweetheart. For junior high, Billy Lozano was named football
beau and Celina Rodriguez was football sweetheart.
In the first quarter, the Bears only had the ball for one play from the
line of scrimmage but yet at the end of that period they led 22-0.
Their play reflected the theme song played from the loudspeakers as the
team took to the field, "Bad to the Bone."
Marathon took the kick-off to start the game and on their third play,
Roger Lopez intercepted a pass and ran 24 yards to score. Arturo Miranda
added the PAT, making the score 8-0 with 8:43 left in the opening stanza.
Then the lights and the score board went out with power being restored
shortly before halftime, thanks to quick work by West Texas Utilities.
The lights were already out - in a figurative sense - for Marathon.
On their next possession, Rhyne intercepted a long pass at the Bear 8.
On the next play, Lopez raced around his right end for 72 yards and the
score. He was simply too quick and fast for the Mustang defenders. The
PAT was no good, making the score 14-0.
Rhyne had another interception on Marathon's next possession, but he
took this one all the way - 48 yards - to score. Miranda added the PAT
to make the score 22-0.
Shortly after the second quarter started, the Bears ended a short drive
that started on the Marathon 22. Miranda made the final 2½ yards for the
score and he did double duty by adding the PAT to up Balmorhea's
advantage to 30-0 with 7:23 left in the first half.
Marathon was able to move the ball on several of their drives, using up
much of the first half clock. However, most of the drives ended with a
turnover.
After the Bear's fourth score, the Mustangs had a promising looking
drive stopped by Rhyne's third interception, this one on the Bear 36.
Balmorhea looked like they were going in to score but fumbled on the
Mustang 6.
Marathon mounted yet another drive that moved inside the Bears' 10 late
in the half but Balmorhea's defense stiffened. After the Mustangs got to
the 6, Marathon was set back to the 17 where the Bears took over.
With time running out in the first half - with officials calling out the
time from the field - Balmorhea mounted a quick drive using two sets of
players on offense. Miranda got the final yard and then kicked the PAT
to make the halftime score 38-0.
After homecoming activities at the half, Balmorhea got the kick-off to
start the second half, recovering an attempted onside kick at their own
32. It looked as if they were going to score a game-ending touchdown,
until the Mustangs intercepted at the Balmorhea 33.
This time Marathon finally got a score, on a 15-yard run by Erik
Estrada. A run for extra point was good, cutting the Bears' lead to 38-7
with 8:39 left in the third quarter.
Lighting struck quickly as another onside kick effort by the Mustangs
failed. Zane Rhyne launched a Troy Aikman looking rainbow right into the
hands of Scott Clark in the end zone for a 39 yard touchdown. The PAT
was blocked but the Bears had opened a 44-7 lead.
On the Bears' kick-off, the ball bounced off a Mustang player, and was
taken by Lopez, who ran the final 9-yards into the end zone. Miranda
added the PAT to give the Bears a 45-point lead at 52-7 and end the game
on the 45-point rule.
The Bears are now 4-0 but face their first real competition of the year
next week as they travel to Grandfalls. The 4-0 Cowboys closed out their
non-district schedule with a 68-7 win over Midland Trinity on Friday.

at Balmorhea
Marathon 0 0 7 - |7
Balmorhea 22 16 12 - 52

First Quarter
Bal. -- Lopez 24 interception return (Miranda kick), 1:17.
Bal. -- Lopez 72 run (kick failed), 3:45.
Bal. -- Rhyne 48 interception return (Miranda kick), 7:37.
Second Quarter
Bal. -- Miranda 3 run (Miranda kick), 2:37.
Bal. -- Miranda 1 run (Miranda kick), 9:36.
Third Quarter
Mar. -- Estrada 15 run (McGuire kick), 1:21.
Bal. -- Clark 39 pass from Rhyne (kick failed), 1:31.
Bal. -- Lopez 9 muffed kickoff return (Miranda kick), 1:37.

Mar _Bal
First Downs7 17
Rushes-Yds.21-66 11-204
Passing Yds88 56
Passes8-18-4 3-6-1
Punts-Avg1-23 0-0
Fumbles-lost3-2 1-0
Penalties-Yds.1-3 2-16

Pecos survives slow start in Big Spring

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PECOS, Sept. 30 -- It took the Pecos Eagles a little while Saturday
afternoon to recover from homecoming activities the night before, but
they did get things together in time to score a must-win victory in Big
Spring, and stayed close to the leaders in the District 4-4A playoff
race.
The Eagles, who were also trying to recover from their loss at home last
Tuesday against Fort Stockton, dropped their opener to Big Spring,
15-11, before coming back to grab a 15-5 victory in Game 2. They then
went up 10-5 in the deciding game before holding on for a 15-12 win,
evening their district record at 2-2.
"In the first game, we came out real flat and didn't really take off,"
said Eagles' coach Nora Geron. "We regrouped and played real well in the
second game, and in the third game we would have finished it out earlier
but we missed eight serves."
Four of those came on consecutive attempts from four different players.
"That's when we got stuck and couldn't get out of there," the Eagles'
coach said of the problems, which cut Pecos' 10-5 lead first to 10-8,
and then to 12-11 before the Eagles recovered.
Offensively, Geron said her team played better than in last Tuesday's
defeat. "Ivy (Thorp) had some key kills when we needed them. She found
the corner on some cross court hits. Gail (Taylor) had one key kill and
Sherrie (Mosby) had a couple of kills and had some key blocks," Geron
said, adding that Mosby was inserted at middle blocker for the first
time this season.
"She blocked that big girl (Big Spring's LaTosha Wilbert) a couple of
times. ... She still needs some experience, but she did a good job on
the net."
The Eagles took the early lead in all three games, only to see the
Steers rally. They wiped out a 6-1 lead in the opener, tying things at
7-all, then used a 5-0 run to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 12-10 lead.
The Eagles kept the Steers from coming back more than once in Game 2,
after Big Spring came from a 5-1 hole to tie things at 5-all, while in
Game 3, Big Spring fell behind early 3-0 before tying things at 5-5.
Lori Marquez had 10 kills to lead Pecos, which saw its season mark
improve to 10-12. Big Spring fell to 0-3 in district and 6-14 overall on
the year.
The Steers did win Saturday's freshman and junior varsity matches. The
Steers' JV scored a 15-5, 15-6 win, while the freshman beat Pecos'
purple team, 2-15, 15-5, 15-3, and the Eagles' gold squad, 15-9, 15-9.
The Eagles have two more road games this week, but Tuesday's contest
will be a non-district neutral site matchup against Seminole. District
play resumes for Pecos on Saturday at San Angelo Lake View, which leads
in 4-4A play after a home victory over Fort Stockton.

District-leading Steers run past Eagle netters

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PECOS, Sept. 30 -- The Big Spring Steers have dominated tennis in
District 4-4A for the past several years, and Saturday afternoon proved
to be no exception in their match against the Pecos Eagles.
The Steers, ranked eighth in Class 4A this season, scored a 17-1 win
over the Eagles at the Pecos High School tennis courts. It dropped Pecos
to 1-2 in district, after an opening loss to Andrews and a victory over
San Angelo Lake View.
"I think the biggest different between us, Andrews and Big Spring is
they're a little bit more match tough," said coach J.R. Torrez. "I
thought coming out of the doubles it should have been 3-3, but we let
three of the matches in which we were ahead or had a chance to win slip
away, and that put the pressure on us in the singles matches, just like
it did up in Andrews."
The only victory for the Eagles came from Albert Lee in boys singles,
6-3, 2-6, 6-3 over Devon Swofford, while earlier, the closest match on
the girls' side was in doubles, where Randa Taylor and Renea Rasberry
lost in three sets to Stephanie Lewis and Christina Vera, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
While none of the other boys matches went three sets, all were fairly
close. No. 2 seed David Zuniga dropped a 6-4, 7-6 decision to Drew
McKinney, while those set scores were reversed in No. 5 seed Tye
Graham's loss to Jeff Castle.
"The best things to come out of our losses to Andrews and Big Spring is
the kids have found out they're not that much better than we are," said
Torrez, who added he hopes the results will be better in the spring,
when district tournament play is held.
Before then, the Eagles have tow more road matches to close out their
fall season, this Saturday at Sweetwater and next week in Fort Stockton.

Big Spring (17) at Pecos (1)
Boys Singles
Clifton Ikeler lost to Hsiao Hsuan Li 6-2, 6-4; David Zuniga lost to
Drew McKinney, 6-4, 7-6; Jonathan Fuentes lost to Kayne Stroup, 6-3,
6-4; Mark Marquez lost to Jeff Moss, 6-3, 6-4; Tye Graham lost to Jeff
Castle, 7-6, 6-4; Albert Lee defeated Devon Swofford, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Girls Singles
Stephaine Armstrong lost to Monica Villarreal, 6-1, 6-0; Renea Rasberry
lost to Kim Dominguez, 6-3, 6-1; Christi Breiten lost to Stehpanie
Lewis, 6-2, 6-0; Randa Taylor lost to Yu Ching Li, 6-0, 6-4; Robyn
Matthews lost to Christina Vera, 6-3, 6-0; Nichi Dannelley lost to Kylee
Welch, 6-3, 6-1.

Boys Doubles
Ikeler and Zuniga lost to Stroup and McKinney, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6; Fuentes
and Marquez lost to Li and Swofford, 6-3, 6-3; Graham and Lee lost to
Welch and Moss, 6-2, 6-3

Girls Doubles
Armstrong and Breiten lost to Villarreal and Dominguez, 6-1, 6-1;
Rasberry and Taylor lost to Lewis and Vera, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Stefanie
Pharoah and Brenda Natividad lost to Welch and Li, 7-5, 6-0.
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State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times


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