The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 9

mi.iiMiini.il NFL Denver running back Terrell Davis will play Sunday: 3B Sports SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1997 SECTION Sports Notes: 2B High School Sports: 4B NBA: 5B school Girls a KFL Cowboys Dome in J.J. gets his kind of game "vif-'' Senior's 43 leads North Big Offensive coach doesn't expect to return in '98 The Associated Press ORLANQO The spotlight is all over Jimmy Johnson again, and the glare is his. It is J.J.'s kind of, set-up. Final game of the regular season. Monday, night football with Al, Dan and Frank.

Division title and a'pjayoff berth at stake. He is regrouping the Miami Dolphins against the AFC's last Super Bowl rep a week after enduring the second-worst loss in club history. IRVING Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, expects to lose his job because of the team's poor performance the past two seasons. someone always is neid accountable when you lose," Zampese said Thursday. -Tm the offensive coordinator, and it's my responsibility to get guys to play and to score touchdowns.

Johnson lives for these moments. He is right wrrre he wants to be. It FOOTBALL A "We haven't done either one well this year." Owner Jerry Jones has remained quiet about the status of Zampese and the team's other coaches, including head coach Barry Switzer. 1 ZAMPESE 1 (' I ft By MICHAEL A. PULLEN The Monitor EDINBURG Edinburg High's Darlena Contreras had a sensational night Friday.

So good, she pratically outplayed Edinburg North all by self. More Basketball Page 4B The Lady Bobcats' 5-foot-9 junior post dominated underneath with a career-high 43 points, sending Edinburg to a 67-49 victory over the Lady Cougars during a District 3 1-5 A East Zone battle. Contreras also led her club with 10 rebounds, two blocks and scored four of her points off a pair of steals. Her dynamite performance came on the heels of a 30-point explosion on Tuesday when Edinburg defeated Rio Grande City 60-52. "Darlena is a very special person," said Edinburg coach Fernando Livas after the lopsided victory evened his team's record at 1-1 in the zone.

"AH the girls are special. But last year Darlena's father struggled with cancer and for her to have come through that is just awesome." Mary Conchola (eight points) and Claudia Moreno (seven) were the only other, Lady Bobcats to even' come close to double-figure scoring, But it didn't really matter. Contreras constantly had her way inside the paint, outhustling and out-jumping her cross-town rivals for nearly every loose ball. She tallied 19 The Cowboys (6-9), out of the playoffs for the first time since 1990, face the New York Giants Sunday in a meaningless season finale. Zampese realizes the.

Cowboys' dismal numbers on offense this season are very telling. The team is 19th in total offense and will finish in the bottom half of the NFL's offensive rankings for only the fourth time since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. That's despite an offense that includes 10 players with Pro Bowl experience. The Cowboys finished 24th in total offense last season and could finish 20th or worse again this year. The only other similar two-year slump in franchise history came in 1989-90 when they finished 27th and 28th under coordinator David Shula.

The team has scored one touchdown or less in nine of 15 games this season. "It's very frustrating because my expectations were so high," Zampese said. "I we'd do enough things offensively to win the Super Bowl." The Cowboys will have a new offensive philosophy in 1998, Switzer said. Tina Rossell The Monitor Edinburg Cat Fight: Edinburg High's Jamie Alvarado shoots over Edinburg North's Belinda Delgado in the first half Friday. The Lady Bobcats defeated their intracity rival Lady Cougars 67-49.

See NORTH page 4B BASEBALL Mexican League HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL can't get any better for Miami with a victory. And it can't get any worse with a loss that might derail another postseason. Miami-New England is the largest game in the second year of J.J.'s takeover of Florida. Jimmy arrived with trumpets blaring, tooting many himself, and 'with two Super Bowl rings sparkling from his Dallas days. Monday night is his night to show South Florida what the fuss over him was all about Why Shula had to be pushed to the curb the way TomiJandry Was pushed in Dallas.

It is what Johnson was brought in to' do. Win a game like this one. Win a game with a Dolphins team that, frankly, is above average, at best. Fans think J.J. himself can make up the difference.

So does J.J. or he wouldn't have left his fishing boat. They were admittedly flat in the 41-0 loss to Indianapolis last week. A strange reaction for players coached by a vaunted motivator. Critics intimated that Johnson's pregame psychology backfired.

They charged that he overlooked the Colts after telling the Dolphins how "easy" it was to get to the Super Bowl once you earn a first-round bye. Johnson's work in progress and his salvaging of Dan Marino's fading brilliance obviously needs a sign-post. The big game against New England can be just that. The Dolphins are looking to capture the AFC East title for the first time since 1994, when Shula's team; also finished 10-6. Jimmy had better-grab a hold of any glory he can.

He is playing beat-the-clock. He is trying to ride his creaking legend into the Super Bowl before Marino runs out of time, before J.J. must find his team another identity. As he did in Dallas, Johnson has rearranged the furniture, but the room looks pretty much the same. Miami was 8-8 last season, Jimmy's first.

Fans gave him the obligatory mulligan. But the crowing will grow louder should the Dolphins' season end with another loss against, New England (and a New York Jets' victory) after a hopeful 5-2 start. South Floridians are already grumpy after watching Dolphins' owner Wayne Huizenga dismantle his baseball team, the World Series champion Florida Marlins. They may suggest Reynosa names new skipper 12-5A dominates all-state squad Seven Valley players honored in APSE Class 5A all-state list By ROY HESS The Monitor By JAIME A RON The Associated Press 3 1 tT. REYNOSA Leo Clayton was named manager of the Reynosa Broncos Friday, marking the -first of what general manager Rogelio Treto Cisneros said will be numerous changes tois team before the 1998 Mexican League baseball season opens in March.

Clayton, 42, succeeds former major leaguer Aurelio Rodriguez, who has managed the team since pro baseball returned to Reynosa in 1995. "We're taking a new direction," Treto Cisneros said. "This is. a move to improve our balltfub. "Experience has prepared our new man-' ager for this job," he added.

"We want to field a team that will battle every game. We'll put players on the field who are proud to wear the Broncos uniform." Clayton is a native of Hermosillo, Sonora, who played first- base and the outfield for 16 years in the Mexican League prior to retirin- J) Roy HessThe Monitor Hiring From Within: Assistant coach Leo Clayton was named the new manager of the Reynosa Broncos, the team the state, based on players' regular-season performance. Nominees were selected during the season and balloting was conducted during the playoffs. Katy, which beat Longview 24-3 in last weekend's championship, did not have any first-teamers; Neither did Alief Hastings, which plays Flower Mound Marcus on Saturday for the Division II title. Marcus had two first-teamers in quarterback Spencer Stack and linebacker David Ellen.

Humble was the only other team to land two players on the first team. They were rusher Leo Mills and defensive back Sammy Davis. Lineman; Sean Phillips of Sugar Land Dulles was the defensive player of the year and running back Ben Gay of Spring, who ran for 2,217 yards and 21 touchdowns, was the offensive player of the year. Punter Jimmy White of Odessa Permian was the only member of last year's first team to make it back this season. The ends were Clint Cameron of Allen, who caught 72 passes for 972 yards, and Matt Schultze of San Antonio' East Central, who turned 68 receptions into 1,120 yards.

The other running back was Victor Ike of Austin Bowie. John Eccles of Killeen Ellison, Joey Heath of Abilene Cooper and Chris Redding of Galena Park North Shore round out the first-team offensive linemen. Other defensive picks were linemen Demond Benford of Killeen, Brandon Grunewald of Victoria and Jared Meno of San Antonio MacArthur; defensive backs Robert Ferguson of Houston Spring Woods and Carlos Gonzalez of Laredo Nixon; and linebacker Jeff White of Austin Westlake DALLAS District 12-5 which produced the top-ranked team from the preseason to the playoffs and once had three teams in the top 10, placed five players on the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors' Class 5 A all-state team released Friday. Complete List Page 43 Longview, which took over No. 1 from Tyler John Tyler after week eight and advanced to the Division I finals, led the way with a class-best three players: offensive lineman Darnerius Watson, linebacker Leon Bell and defensive back Lee Jackson.

John Tyler landed offensive lineman Chris Cicero on the first-team and Tyler Lee's Shane Hudnall was the place" kicker. John Tyler was ranked No. 1 from the preseason until sliding to sixth the week Longview took over. Lufkin was 10th that same week, but both it and JT fell out of the last two polls. Only one player from the Rio Grande Valley was selected.

Harlingen senior defensive lineman Rollie Gonzalez was a second team choice. The Valley did produce six honorable mentions, however. Edinburg North offensive lineman Carlo Gonzalez and end Omar Guerra were given honorable mention recognition along with running backs Marc Evans (Donna) and Tony Persies (McAllcn High). The Cardinals also placed end Lupe Gonzalez and quarterback Abel Alaniz in the honorable mention list. The eighth annual.

APSE team was chosen by sportswriters around announced Friday. Clayton replaces Aurelio Rodriguez whose See BRONCOS page 2B contract was not renewed at the end of last year. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL State Championships Nightmares on 31st Street La Marque hopes to join its neighbor as a state champion he sell off some football players. The Dolphins can wobble into the playoffs with a loss, provided the Jets lose to Detroit on Sunday. But that is hardly the way Johnson wants his team dressed for the party, having dropped three of their past five games.

The Pats come to Miami looking to recover from a traumatic loss to Pittsburgh. They couldn't hold an eight-point lead With 2:10 to play. Drew Bledsoe threw a dumb pass that was intercepted. The heartbreaker is being compared in the New England area to the ground ball that trickled through Bill Buckner's legs. The matchup may depend on which coach best has repaired and readied his team.

Carroll, trying to distance himself memories of his predecessor. Bill parcells, needs a defining game. And in Miami, so does Johnson, who is trying to catch up on old times with the coach who glowed under the spotlight. By JAIME ARON The Associated Press Weddell may be getting ahead just a bit. Beating Denison is no sure thing, even if La Marque has done it the last two years.

The La Marque-Denison game will kick off around 4 p.m. Saturday in the Houston Astrodome, shortly after Alief Hastings (14-1) plays Flower Mound Marcus (13-2) for the 5A Division II crown. Stanton (15-0) and Rogers (14-1) meet at 6 p.m. in Texas Stadium for the 2A championship. Denison is 15-0 and ended the year ranked No.

I in The Associated Press poll. The Yellowjackets, who have shut out their Usi two playoff foes, placed three players on the first team of the Texas AP Sports Editors' all-state sqiukt, while La Marque had none. So, will the third time finally be the charm for Denison? See FINALS page 48 Texas City has done its part. Now, it is up to La Marque to make Galveston County's 31st Street home to two state football champions. Folks on the east side of 3 1st laid claim to a title last weekend when Texas City defeated Corsicana for the Class 4A Division I crown.

The west-sidcrs can match them if La Marque beats Denison in the Division II finals on Saturday. Then, maybe next weekend there could be a winner-take-all game between the division winners. "How about a friendly touch game on 31st?" La Marque coach Alan Weddcll suggested with a laugh, hoping for a rematch of the Oct. 10 game won by Texas City. 28-12.

Brian Schmidtz is a sports reporter for the Orlando Sentinel.