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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
VAN HORN, Nov. 1 -- By pulling off a Halloween surprise, the Pecos
Eagles will likely get a chance to see what kind of results they can
come up with on election night.
Competing in their first playoffs in four years, the Eagles won their
first post-season match in seven years, as they eliminated El Paso
Burges, 15-9, 15-11, in the bi-district round of the Class 4A volleyball
playoffs.
The victory moves the Eagles into the area round of the playoffs against
their former district rival, Lamesa. That game is tentatively set for
Tuesday night at Odessa Permian, though the final details won't be
confirmed until later today.
Thursday's victory in Van Horn continued the Eagles' recent strong play
away from home. Pecos raised its season mark to 14-16 while Burges
finished at 21-9 on the year, but the Eagles' road mark is now 9-6 after
their third straight out-of-town win.
"The good Eagles came to play," said Eagles' coach Nora Geron. "We
played better defense than we have in a while."
The Eagles trailed only once in the entire match, at 1-0 in the opening
game off a bad relay by Marisol Arenivas. But Burges had problems of
their own handling Pecos' serves, both in the first game and the second,
when the Eagles raced out to an 8-0 lead.
"Both teams were tight. It was just a matter of who got over their
nervousness first," Geron said. "Burges is better than what they showed.
They didn't play the way they're capable of, but I'm not complaining."
Pecos took a 2-1 lead off a pair of kills by Lori Marquez then regained
the lead after Burges tied the score at 2-2 and later 4-4. A bad set by
Erin Esparza and a by relay by Leaha Richardson put the Eagles up 6-4,
while two more errors by Esparza and a bad spike by Sicilly Slayton
widened the lead to 9-6 and forced Mustangs' coach Connie Vaughn into a
time-out.
The strategy worked, as Richardson was able to knock back a Pecos spike
for a point, Slayton scored off a spike and a bad relay by Veronica
Carrasco tied the game at 9-all. That resulted in a time-out by Geron,
and again, the momentum turned around.
Pecos broke serve and then got two breaks, as Burges touched a pair of
balls headed out of bounds. That put the Eagles ahead to stay, and they
were able to keep things going even after an El Paso time out, finishing
the game off on a spike by Sherrie Mosby, a bad hit by Nique Cervantes
and a block of Slayton by Mosby.
"Sherrie was intimidating at the net tonight. They started hitting ball
out on her blocks," Geron said.
Marquez controlled the front line as Game 2 opened. While she scored
only the last of the Eagles' eight straight points, Burges' shorter
hitters couldn't get a shot in on their own, hitting five bad spikes
before finally breaking serve and scoring off a shot out-of-bounds by
Marquez.
But once Burges got on the board, the began to close the gap, as the
Eagles ran into problems getting their shots down. El Paso cut the lead
three times - from 8-0 to 8-4, 10-4 to 11-9 and then got to within one,
at 12-11, all on unforced errors.
"We let up after they gave us a lot of unearned points," Geron said. The
Eagles even had trouble setting up Marquez during her second rotation up
front, and managed only a Mosby spike during Burges' mid-game rally.
"We weren't passing into packed sets. They (the sets) were coming in
behind her, and those are real hard to hit," Geron said.
Up by one, and with their time-outs gone, the Eagles still managed to
recover. Gail Taylor broke serve with a cross court spike, Vizney Cortez
then set a shot past the back line, and after Marquez blocked Veronica
Garcia to make it 14-11, she ended things a few moments later with a
spike Esparza was unable to return.
"Lori did exceptionally good tonight, and Gail had some hits and so did
Ivy (Thorp)," said Geron, whose last three post-season trips had ended
with opening round losses to Dumas and Hereford.
The Demons and Whitefaces are only concerns for San Angelo Lake View and
Andrews for now. Lake View, which drew a first round bye as District
4-4A champion, will face the Dumas-Levelland playoff winner next
Tuesday, while Andrews opens bi-district on Saturday in Alpine against
El Paso Riverside, with the winner there taking on Hereford, which
earned its bye after winning the District 1-4A title.
Lamesa, 23-6, also drew an opening bye, thanks to their first place
finish in District 2-4A. The teams got to scout each other in early
September at the Seminole Tournament, where the Eagles won consolation
while the Golden Tornadoes finished fifth.
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 1 -- The volleyball team wasn't the only Pecos
Eagles squad to have a good time in Van Horn Thursday night.
Pecos' freshman football team had some fun -- mostly in the second half
-- against Van Horn's junior varsity, as they assured themselves of a
winning record for 1996 with a 30-8 victory over the host Eagle squad.
The freshmen's second meeting of the season against Van Horn was a
last-minute replacement for Alpine, which cancelled out. However, the
Eagles' junior varsity and eighth grade teams did get in their second
games of the season against the Bucks, and both came up with victories
-- the JV at home by a 21-7 margin and the eighth graders in Alpine,
30-16.
After two narrow losses at Andrews and Monahans the past two weeks, the
JV improved to 7-2 with their win. "We came out firing and scored on the
second play of our series," coach Mike Ferrell said.
Orlando Matta ran in from 75 yards out off a reverse, then had a
70-yard punt return for his second touchdown after the Eagles stopped
the Bucks' initial offensive series. Alpine cut the margin to 13-6 at
the half before Pecos added an insruance score on a 1-yard run by Robert
Gonzales.
Gonzales also had an extra point kick and Hector Garcia had a two-point
run for the JV, while Ferrell said Ricky Rubio added an interception and
Louis Valencia was 7-for-8 passing.
In Van Horn, Pecos' offense struggled from much of the first half,
getting their only score on an 81-yard run by Roy Marta one play after a
missed field goal. Donnie Winfrey had the two-point run late in the
first period, but Van Horn tied it at the half on a 29-yard option run,
following a Pecos fumble.
The Eagles then struggled early in the third period, before Joe Camacho
hit Jason Payne for a 76-yard touchdown off a 3rd-and-14 halfback option
pass. Marta added the two point run, and just over two minutes later got
his second TD of the night, on a 1-yard dive after a long run by
Camachom, who would get his own touchdown in the final period.
Quarterback Jomar Gallego ran in the two point conversion after Marta's
score for the freshmen, who are now 5-3 with one game remaining.
Crockett's eighth graders got a touchdown apiece on offense and defense
from Orlando Munoz and Chris Bryant. Munoz had a 40-yard fumble return
for a score and ran in from 50 yards out, while Bryant intercepted a
pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown and caught a 50-yard TD
pass from Saul Garcia.
"We did an excellent job last night executing the fundamentals of
football," coach Tino Acosta said. Vincent Prieto's 15-yard run
accounted for the other six points for Crockett, which is now 2-4 on the
year.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. in San Angelo, the Eagles' varsity faces the Lake
View Chiefs in Pecos' final road game of 1996. Pecos has won four of its
last six games in San Angelo, but all but one have been low scoring
affairs by the Eagles, and the last one was anything but for the Chiefs
-- a 48-0 win in 1994.
San Angelo, at 3-0 in District 4-4A, 7-1 overall, will be playing for
the district title in Sweetwater next week, no matter, what, while at
0-3 and 3-5, Pecos needs wins in their final two games and outside help
to have a shot at the third and final 4-4A playoff berth.
The other three district teams, Andrews Big Spring and Fort Stockton,
all control their own destinies, but the Panthers would be in the best
shape with a win tonight.
Andrews (1-2 district, 3-5 season) at Fort Stockton (1-2, 4-4): That's
because theyy beat Big Spring last week, 21-20, and could clinch their
first playoff berth since 1978 with a win tonight and a Big Spring loss
to Sweetwater. That would give them the the tie-breaker over both the
Steers and Mustangs.
However, last Friday's win was very costly, since the Panthers lost
Jacob Vasquez and his 1,260 rushing yards for the rest of the season due
to a broken collarbone. Meanwhile, they'll still have to contend with
Shaud Williams and his 1,429 rushing yards tonight, so lots of emotion
and a strong defensive effort will be needed.
After putting up 30 points on Pecos and 18 in the first 18 minutes
against Lake View, Andrews returned to their former ways, moving up and
down the field, but not into the end zone. They're averaging 350 yards
per game in district, but have only scored 10 second half points so far.
Fort Stockton held Big Spring to 1-for-18 passing last week, though if
Williams sees action at quarterback again this week, the Panthers don't
figure to be keying on the pass. And this piece of trivia -- while the
Panthers are trying to end an 18-year playoff drought tonight, they're
also trying to win at home in district play for the first time in six
years, since a 1990 victory over San Angelo Lake View.
Sweetwater (3-0, 8-0) at Big Spring (1-2, 2-5): The Steers are the last
district team to defeat the Mustangs, though that was while Sweetwater
was a member of District 6-4A in 1994. This year, who knows which Steers
team is going to show up -- the one that routed Pecos for homecoming or
the one that lost by one at home to Fort Stockton, and probably would
have lost by more if Vasquez hadn't gone down after gaining 162 yards in
just over one quarter.
Sweetwater's homecoming fans weren't as unhappy as Big Spring's fans
were after last week's game, but there were still a few grumbling that
their team didn't win by more over Pecos (actually, they've grumbled
after the last three homecoming games against Pecos, but that's what
happens when you get spoiled by 11 playoff appearances in 12 years).
The Mustangs completed even fewer passes than the Steers did last week,
but Sweetwater only threw three passes and has been a more explosive
team on the road than at home this season. They may also get wide
receiver Robert Reed back from a wrist injury tonight.
VAN HORN, Nov. 1 -- The Balmorhea Bears' closed out their 1996 junior
high football schedule on Thursday afternoon in Van Horn by rallying in
the fourth quarter to defeat the Dell City Cougars, 27-26.
Billy Lozano scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the
final period, coach Adolfo Garcia said. Daniel Tarin scored the other TD
for the Bears, who finished their season with a 6-1-1 record.
Thursday's game had been set for a 5:30 p.m. start, but was moved up 90
minutes due to the Pecos Eagles' freshman game against Van Horn's junior
varsity, which was a last-minute addition to the two teams' schedules.
Balmorhea's varsity football team has tonight off, after taking sole
possession of second place in the District 8-A six-man standings last
week with a 65-44 victory at Sanderson. The Bears close out their
regular season next Friday by hosting Buena Vista, but can clinch their
third straight playoff trip tonight, if district-leading Grandfalls wins
at home over Sanderson and Dell City does the same against Buena Vista.
PECOS, Nov. 1 -- Steve Cross, of the Cross Taekwon-Do Studio and eight
of his students competed last weekend at the U.S.T.F. Region IV
Taekwon-Do Championships in Odessa.
The tournament was the major regional competition and featured
competitors from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma.
"I am very proud of all of my students," says Cross, who opened his
studio at 212 S. Oak St. last month. "It takes a lot of personal
motivation to enter one of these competitions. All of my students are
winners for going and trying. They have all gained an experience that no
one can take from them."
Among those who attended were Tony Baeza, Cross' most advanced student
and assistant instructor. Angela Ortega who is also an advanced student,
took second place honors for Sparring while her brother Adam took third
place in Patterns.
Luis Martinez also took a third place trophy for Sparring and his
brother Jessie Martinez brought home second place. Tony Tovar, a Red
Belt in the junior division won a third place trophy for Sparring and a
second for Power Breaking.
Cross also had two intermediate students compete, Amanda Murphree and
Joe Kawell. Amanda won her division for Sparring and Kawell took third
place honors for Patterns competition.
In the Senior Black Belt division, Cross took first place in both the
Patterns competition and in Sparring, and the two wins cinched the Grand
Champion title for Cross.
"It was a very fruitful trip and a great learning experience for all of
us," he said. "There is another tournament in Austin in February and
several more throughout the year, two of which will be held in Odessa.
These events are a great deal of fun for the entire family and the
people we meet become fast friends, but that's part of what it's all
about."
In addition to winning Grand Championship honors, Cross competed again
on Sunday to see who would represent this region at the U.S. National
Team Trials on January 18th in Denver, Colo. He qualified in both Power
Breaking and in Men's Hyperweight Sparring.~
Als~o qualifying from Pecos were Randy Ramirez and Russell Jones.
Ramirez, a second degree black belt, qualified in Patterns and Sparring,
as did Jones, a third degree black belt.
If they make the U.S. team, they will be compete at the World
Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia, in August of 1997.
State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times
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