Mustangs Ready for Pecos
By Lew
September 23, 2004
This Friday, Sweetwater meets up in a non-district game with a former Class 4A district foe that it dominated during the 1980s and '90s.
Sound familiar? Only it's not San Angelo Lake View we are talking about. That game was three weeks ago, remember.
Instead, the Mustangs are heading to Pecos for their longest road trip of the season. The last time these two old rivals met was in 1997, when they were both in District 4-4A along with Lake View, Andrews, Big Spring and Fort Stockton. Sweet-water's 41-18 win that year was its 15th straight over Pecos dating back to its only defeat in 1981.
Tomorrow's 7:30 p.m. game will mark only the second time the teams haven't met in a district contest. In 1983, Sweetwater and Pecos played twice, with the first game not counting as a district matchup.
A lot has happened since the last meeting in '97, of course. Both teams have since dropped to Class 3A. But Sweetwater is in District 4-3A, while Pecos is a member of 3-3A. That district also includes Midland Greenwood, a team Sweetwater faced a couple of weeks ago on its last road trip and defeated 52-25.
Sweetwater (3-1) and Pecos (1-3) have opposite records this season, and the Mustangs come in with a three-game winning streak. Sweetwater has defeated Lake View (14-7) Greenwood and Andrews (28-21) since losing to Lubbock Cooper, 17-14, in its season opener.
Sweetwater is Pecos' first opponent above the 2A level this season, although the Eagles have faced both Denver City and Kermit, who were in Class 3A until dropping down this year. The Eagles defeated Denver City, 31-13, for their only win but lost to Kermit, 23-8, two weeks ago and fell to Crane, 34-28, this past Friday.
The Eagles have a couple of outstanding skill position play-ers in sophomore running back Luis Ortega and senior Rashad Terry, who plays both wide receiver and cornerback. Ortega, the lone back in Pecos' spread offense, ran for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Crane and had a season-high 227 yards in the win over Denver City.
Terry -- who Sweetwater coach Kent Jackson described as "the fastest kid in the region" -- has two touchdowns of over 80 yards to his credit, one on a pass reception and the other on a 93-yard fumble return against Crane.
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