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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Friday, October 22, 2004

Eagle swimmers face district, regional rivals

The Pecos Eagles swim team will get to see a number of their Region I-4A rivals for the first time this season on Saturday, when they compete in the Big Spring Invitational. Diving will be held Friday night and the swim finals on Saturday morning. It’s the second invitational meet of the season for the Eagles, who placed third in the girls division and fourth on the boys’ side three weeks ago at the Odessa Invitational. The boys edged Big Spring by six points for fourth place, while the girls took the No. 3 spot by 10 points over Abilene Wylie.

Eagles’ coach Terri Morse said Wylie would also be at the meet, along with the Eagles and the host Steers, and a number of teams Pecos will see in February at the Region I-4A meet in Lubbock will also be in Big Spring.

“Fort Stockton is the only district team that’s not going to be there. El Paso Burges and Hanks will be there, Amarillo Caprock, Pampa will be there, and the Wichita Falls schools will be there,” she said.

Since the Odessa meet, the Eagles have won a pair of dual meets over Fort Stockton and Monahans. Morse said for this week’s meet, she would be getting one swimmer back off the ineligible list, but may still be shorthanded.

“I’ve still got some who are sick, so I’m waiting to see if they’re going to be able to compete,” she said. “I was going to have two girls ‘B’ relays, but I’m going to have to wait and see if Ashley Horsburgh is able to swim.”

Cross-country team prepares for 3-3A meet

Pecos Eagles’ cross-country coach Rudy Jurado is a little more hopeful about his boys’ cross country team following this past weekend’s Wink Invitational, with the District 3-3A meet coming up on Monday at the Ward County Golf Course in Monahans. Pecos has won the boys’ district title each of the past two seasons, but Jurado said on Tuesday he didn’t know how many runners he’d have available for district this season. But he said after getting second in the team standings at Wink, “I’m optimistic we can get second or third at Monahans.”

He said Nolan Blount got ninth place last Saturday and Javier Mendoza finished 18th for the boys, which were the Eagles’ Top 20 finishes at Wink.

On the girls’ side, freshmen Heather Lamka placed ninth and Kathryn Lamka 16th at Wink, and Jurado is hoping junior Jennifer Martinez will be back for the district meet. Martinez placed third at district a year ago.

“She didn’t run it at Wink, but she should be at Monahans,” he said. “All three of my girls have a good shot at getting to regionals.”

He said the meet will open with a junior varsity divisions on Monday at 9 a.m. The varsity girls should run about 10:30 a.m. and the varsity boys would begin sometime around 11 a.m.

Pecos goes for playoff clincher despite defeat

The two don’t seem to go together, but thanks to the tiny district for volleyball created by the University Interscholastic League back in March, the Pecos Eagles will be trying for only their second win in District 3-3A play on Friday and at the same time attempting to clinch their eighth straight trip to the playoffs with a victory at home over the Presidio Blue Devils.

The Eagles play the Blue Devils starting around 5:15 p.m. on Friday, in a game moved up a date to avoid conflicts with Saturday tests. And even though they come in with just one win in four district matches and off a four-game loss to the Fort Stockton Prowlers on Tuesday, with Monahans the only other team in 3-3A the Eagles would wrap up a trip to the playoffs with a victory over the Blue Devils.

The Eagles scored a 25-22, 25-15, 25-23 win in Presidio two weeks ago, after needing five games to be the Blue Devils in non-district play two weeks before that. Presidio comes off a three-game loss on Tuesday to Monahans, and can tie Pecos for third place with a win on Friday.

Tuesday’s loss for the Eagles was their second four-game defeat against Fort Stockton in district. But unlike their loss at the start of the month in Pecos, they had a chance at the end to win all of their games, but fell to the Prowlers by scores of 26-24, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23.

“We played good defense, but just when we would get momentum we’d always make one mistake that killed it,” said Eagles’ coach Becky Granado. “All season lone we’ve had trouble with serving and that’s what hurt us last night again.”

She said a missed serve cost Pecos a chance to win Game 1 with the Eagles ahead by a 24-23 score. “I really think if we had won that first game everything would have fallen into place in the next game,” she said. “We got to game point and that missed serve deflated us.”

“But I was very pleased after the first game. We continued to fight, when we very easily could have stopped. But what we lack is mental toughness. We make one mistake, and it throws us off,” she said.

“Amalie (Herrera) and Tiffany (Tarango) did a good job on the back line. They got to a lot of balls,” Granado said. “Offensively our hitters had their moments, but we just didn’t do it enough.”

Granado added that unlike the match in Pecos, when the Panthers had a number of hitters getting shots past Pecos, “They mostly dinked us to death,” she said. “They had maybe five good hits all night, all the rest were a dink here and a dink there.”

“I was upset, but at the same time I was happy they came back and fought,” she said. “I’m pretty sure they felt bad to fight so hard and lose, but hopefully this will help us against Presidio on Friday and help get us into the third spot.”

As of now, the third place qualifier will likely face Lamesa or Snyder in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs. Sweetwater leads District 4-3A right now with a 4-0 record, while Lamesa is 3-1 and Snyder is 2-2, with three games left on their schedule. Fort Stockton also won Tuesday’s junior varsity match in two games, while going three games to beat the Eagles’ ninth graders, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24. No score was available for the JV match.

Pecos edged by Stockton after weekend losses

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer

The Pecos Eagles tennis team didn’t come up with any wins over the past week, in dual meets against the Fort Stockton Panthers, Sweetwater Mustangs and Midland Christian Mustangs. But coach Mike Ortiz said the Eagles did have better results against the first two teams than they did last season.

The Eagles played their 2004-05 home opener on Tuesday against Fort Stockton, and were edged by the Panthers, 8-7. In the matches on Saturday the Eagles split their six singles and doubles games against Midland Christian, but dropped an 8-5 decision, as that group of Mustangs took five of seven on the boys’ side.

The final score wasn’t as close against Sweetwater. Those Mustangs swept the boys, while the girls picked up one win in singles and one in doubles play. But Ortiz said he was still happy with his team’s effort.

“Sweetwater was a little too strong for us, but the kids played well,” Ortiz said. “We were in a lot of games. Last year, we weren’t in most of the games.”

Ortiz said that the matches were also closer against Fort Stockton on Tuesday. “Last year when we played them two times, we lost 17-2 and 16-3, so to come out 8-7 is a moral victory,” he said. “I was very happy for the ones that won, and those that didn’t played well.”

As with the match against Midland Christian, Fort Stockton won thanks to their 4-2 advantage on the boys’ side, while Pecos’ girls won five of their nine matches. Ortiz said the Panthers were shorthanded on the boys’ side due to a conflict with band practice for the UIL Regional Marching Contest in Lubbock.

Mimi Ornelas and Crystal Ikeler won their singles matches against Fort Stockton’s Leigh Hampton and Darcy Ripley, after they defeated Ripley and Kayla Gulihur in split sets in doubles play, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Sara Natividad also won in singles, after she and Catherine Garcia defeated Hampton and Victoria Burgess, 6-2, 6-1.

Winners on the boys’ side were Curtis James and Pedro Gomez, 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 over Alex Marquez and Jake Rascon, and Cody Zamarippa, who won 8-1 over Rascon.

“After 6:30, we decided to change them to pro-sets, because it’s getting darker sooner,” Ortiz said. Both the wins by Ornelas and Ikeler in singles also were pro-set victories.

Catherine Garcia was part of the Eagles’ two wins against Sweetwater. She won a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) decision over Beth Villa, after teaming with Sara Natividad or a 7-1, 7-5 win over Gessig Adames and Erin Spradlin. There were no split set matches, but Crystal Ikeler lost in singles to Adames, 7-5 6-4 (10-6) and Natividad fell to Spradlin in singles, 6-3, 6-3. On the boys’ side, the closest matches were a 6-2, 6-4 loss by Francisco Ornelas and Jerris Rayos to A.J. Arteaya and Jeff Ludlum, and a 6-4, 6-4 loss in singles play by Pedro Gomez to Tatum Harrison.

Pecos only had four players in singles against Midland Christian on both the boys and girls’ sides. The boys’ win were both long matches, and came from Jesse Hanks, 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 over Rogg Darden, while in doubles Rayos and Francisco Ornelas defeated Matthew Daugherty and Seth Donnell, 3-6, 7-5, 10-4. The girls also had an extended split set win, by Mimi Ornelas in singles, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 over Callie Smith.

The Eagles have one more match on their fall schedule, on Nov. 2 when they’ll host Monahans. Pecos will then take a 2 1/2 month break before starting the spring portion of their 2004-05 season in late January.

Tuesday Fort Stockton (8) at Pecos (7) Boys Singles Francisco Ornelas lost to Bryan Rainwater, 6-1, 6-0; Jerris Rayos lost to Robby Barriga, 6-1, 6-0; Curtis James lost to Alex Marquez, 6-0, 6-3; Cody Zamarippa defeated Jake Rascon, 8-1. Girls Singles Imari Ornelas defeated Leigh Hampton, 9-7; Crystal Ikeler defeated Darcy Ripley, 8-6; Catherine Garcia lost to Kayla Gulihur, 0-6 6-4, 10-6; Sara Natividad defeated Victoria Burgess, 6-0, 6-1; Sada Orona lost to Laura Casas, 8-1; Delicia Ramirez lost to Rubina Garcia, 8-2. Boys Doubles Ornelas and Rayos lost to Rainwater and Barriga, 6-2, 7-5; James and Gomez defeated Marquez and Rascon, 6-2, 4-6, 11-9. Girls Doubles Ornelas and Ikeler defeated Ripley and Gulihur, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6; Garcia and Natividad defeated Hampton and Burgess, 6-2, 6-1; Orona and Ramirez lost to Casas and Garcia, 6-2, 5-7, 10-7. Saturday Pecos (5) at Midland Christian (8) Boys Singles James lost to Nick Harrison, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7; Jesse Hanks defeated Rogg Darden, 6-3, 5-7, 11-9; Rayos lost to Seth Darnell, 6-4, 6-4; Gomez lost to William Barkes, 8-4. Girls Singles Ornelas defeated Callie Smith, 3-6, 7-5, 10-4; Ikeler defeated Smith, 6-3, 6-2; Garcia lost to C.C. Nunez, 8-5; Ramirez lost to Nunez, 6-0, 6-3. Boys Doubles Ornelas and Rayos defeated Daugherty and Donnell, 3-6, 7-5, 10-4; James and Gomez lost to Darden and Harrison, 6-3, 6-3; Hanks and Rayos lost to Bradshaw and Carter, 6-0, 6-1. Girls Doubles Ornelas and Ikeler lost to Phillips and Wiener, 8-6; Garcia and Bradshaw won 6-3, 6-0 (no names available). Pecos (2) vs. Sweetwater (16) Boys Singles Ornelas lost to A.J. Arteaya, 6-1, 6-4; Hanks lost to Ivan Ramirez, 6-1, 6-1; Rayos lost to Kelsey Matcham, 6-1, 6-0; James lost to Jeff Ludlum, 6-4, 6-2; Gomez lost to Tatum Harrison, 6-3, 6-4; Cody Zamarippa lost to Matthew Reagan, 6-1, 6-1. Girls Singles Ornelas lost to Leslie Cortez-Lomas, 6-1, 6-1; Ikeler lost to Gessing Adames, 7-5, 6-4 (10-6); Garcia defeated Beth Villa, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Natividad lost to Erin Spradlin, 6-3, 6-3; Orona lost to Sydney Bilbo 6-0, 6-0, Ramirez lost to Becca Myers, 6-0, 6-0. Boys Doubles Ornelas and Rayos lost to Arteaya and Ludlum, 6-1, 6-1; James and Gomez lost to Ramirez and Metchem, 6-2, 6-3; Hanks and Zamarippa lost to Harrison and Reagan, 6-3, 6-0. Girls Doubles Ornelas and Ikeler lost to Cortez-Lomas and Villa, 7-5, 6-1; Garcia and Natividad lost to Adames and Spradlin, 6-1, 7-5; Orona and Johnson lost to Bilbo and Myers 6-1, 6-1.

Eagles seek turnaround in Greenwood

Things aren’t going much better for the Pecos Eagles’ football team right now than they were the last time the Eagles went over to Midland to face the Greenwood Rangers. But things aren’t going nearly as well for Greenwood, which means despite an awful first half that led to their fifth straight loss last week, the Eagles figure to have a better chance against the Rangers on Friday night than they did in the last trip to Greenwood’s home field.

The Eagles closed out a 2-8 season in 2002 with a 58-13 loss to the Rangers, a game a lot like last week’s 48-18 loss by Pecos to Seminole. Greenwood dominated from the outset in that game and led by five touchdowns at the half, the same margin Seminole held a week ago.

But the Eagles played the first three quarters of last Friday’s game without several players who were benched by head coach Patrick Willis for missing practice during the week. And they’ve played the past two games minus leading rusher Luis Ortega, sidelined due to ineligibility.

Willis said Ortega would be back this week, and for at least the first couple of days of workouts this week, “Everybody showed up for practice, and everybody’s attitude has been good.”

He said he planned to use Ortega on offense, while Booker Fobbs would move back to defensive end. Fobbs ran for 226 yards and a touchdown last week against Seminole, but almost all of that came in the second half, after the Indians had grabbed a 35-6 lead. Ortega ran for over 200 yards twice in the Eagles’ first five games.

Meanwhile, the Greenwood team that beat Pecos two years ago was wrapping up an undefeated season, and would go on to fall to Bandera in overtime of the Class 3A-Division II state championship game. This year’s team started off 0-4, won their next two games but lost a week ago in Fort Stockton, 28-15, to fall to 1-1 in District 3-3A play and 2-5 on the season.

The Rangers were hurt even before the season began when they lost starting quarterback Bronson Valencia to a broken leg. That forced head coach Bob Purser to hurt for a new starter over the first couple of games, before settling on Colton Wilbur, the freshman brother of Dawson Wilbur, Greenwood’s starter the previous three seasons.

Purser said, “It would be an understatement,” to say Wilbur has had a few problems while leading the varsity squad. “He’s just a baby, coming right out of eighth grade to start playing on Friday night. He’s made some progress. He’s starting to mature a little bit, but he’s got a ways to go.”

He added that Valencia also has a little ways to go in his recover, but the senior is able to practice again after breaking his leg in mid-August and could play again this season. “He’s been working out a little bit. He’s not to where we can put him in a game, but he’s pretty close” Purser said. “His leg swells up after he works out right now. He won’t play until that’s better.”

Valencia was expected to be one of the main runners in the Rangers’ offense, as well as doing the passing. Without him, Greenwood’s offense has been hurt more in its passing game than on the ground.

“They’re not quite as athletic as they have been, but their running backs are good, and they’re lining up and running through people,” Willis said. “They don’t throw very much. They’ve only thrown about 40-50 times, and completed about 11. They’re just going to try and line up and bring it to you.”

Senior Jarrell Brooks has been the top runner for Greenwood, gaining 820 yards, though Purser said an injury cost Greenwood their main rusher down near the goal line, in Taylor Himbury.

Brooks has shared time with Justin Sebree, who has run for 322 yards this season. “He’s been our second guy. We’ve used him some to try and take the load off Jarrell,” Purser said, since Brooks also starts on defense.

Overall, the Rangers have averaged nearly 275 yards rushing per game since their opening loss to Abilene Wylie. “They finally figured out the right combination. They run behind their big boys, No. 76, Brad Crow, who’s 305 pounds, and their guard, No. 60 (Dustin Freeman),” Willis said. “Eighty percent of the offense they run behind those guys.”

“Defensively, they just do things well. Coach Purser has got a good scheme and they’re doing basically the same as they did last year, just moving it around a little,” Willis added.

Purser said the Panthers had problems catching Fort Stockton’s Wayne Jefferson last week, and said big plays have hurt the Rangers for much of the season. “We’ve gotten after it all year. We’re just vulnerable to the big play, because we don’t have a whole lot of speed.”

“It’s been kind of that way for us. We’ll play well for a while and then give up an 80-yard run or an 80-yard pass,” he added.

“They’re not big but they’re quick,” Willis said. “Their end, Silas Etheridge is only about 5-8, 150, but he’s quick, and their linebacker, Blake Higgins, is a force to be reckoned with. We’ve got to get him blocked.”

Higgins was hurt much of last season, and underwent knee surgery earlier this year. “He’s playing full-time now. He’s nine months past surgery, but he still hasn’t been able to get all the way back. But he’s doing a good job for us,” Purser said.

Himbury was also a starting linebacker for the Rangers, and he’s been replaced by Kevin Cole, one of two sophomores starting at linebacker. Purser said along with Wilbur, the Rangers have two other freshmen, 288-pound defensive tackle Dean Smith, and offensive guard Jake Pierce, who are starting for Greenwood.

Willis said the Eagles would put Saul Pina back at starting quarterback, after going with Miguel Estrada the past two weeks. Pina was moved from quarterback to receiver in an effort to improve the pass catching corps, Willis said, but ended up finishing both the Seminole and Lamesa games at quarterback. Meanwhile Estrada is still recovering from an injury suffered on a scramble for a fumbled punt in the third quarter of last week’s game.

“Miguel’s banged up pretty good. He didn’t even work out in pads (Monday), the Eagles’ coach said. Starting Lineups Pecos Greenwood Defense Offense DE (11) - Chad Evans 220 QB (11) - Colton Wilbur 160 DT (54) - Jacob Marquez 225 FB (40) - Lance Flowers 190 DT (55) - Adrian Barreno 200 HB (15) - Justin Sebree 162 DE (47) - Booker Fobbs 200 HB ( 8) - Jarrell Brooks 185 LB (52) - Jonathan Carrasco 170 SE (12) - Andrew Edwards 148 LB ( 7) - Eddie Vela 170 LT (76) - Brad Crow 305 LB ( 1) - Tito Gonzales 175 LG (61) - Dustin Freeman 215 CB (22) - Rashad Terry 170 C (51) - Sterling Satterfield 173 R (10) - Saul Pina 165 RG (72) - Jake Pierce 210 S (16) - Josh Payan 170 RT ( 60) - A.J. McCullough 240 CB (21) - Simon Castillo 165 TE (14) - Dalas Golden 180 Offense Defense QB (10) - Saul Pina 165 DE (70) - Jeremy Patterson 169 RB (31) - Luis Ortega 190 DT (75) - Dean Smith 288 SE ( 4) - Luis Licon 155 DT (74) - Brian Ogden 225 WB (22) - Rashad Terry 170 DE (16) - Silas Etheridge 151 LT (55) - Adrian Barreno 200 LB (42) - Kevin Cole 190 LG (50) - Julio Orosco 240 LB (34) - Blake Higgins 235 C (65) - Chance Fincher 190 LB (25) - David Hill 180 RG (62) - Albert Lopez 230 CB (21) - Jamie Crawford 145 RT (77) - Michael Lee 220 SS ( 7) - Jordan Puga 165 TE (11) - Chad Evans 220 FS ( 8) - Jarrell Brooks 185 SE (21) - Simon Castillo 165 CB (32) - Eric Skaggs 136 P/KO ( 7) - Eddie Vela 170 K (55) - Adrian Barreno 200 K/P (32) - Eric Skaggs 136



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