Denton RC High School

According to the DR-C High School Blog's good friend Tom, making a predication, even when it's, like, your job, is to make an [expletive] of yourself.

Rather than dissect why that may be the most ridiculous statement ever uttered on this blog, I'll just succumb: I am an [expletive] for doing my job.

Here are my predictions for 2008 in 5-4A, 100 percent guaranteed more accurate than Boedeker's:

If it's OK with the DR-C High School Blog's own, Tom, I'd like to throw down the gauntlet and make my predictions for District 5-4A before the season kicks off tomorrow night with Guyer-Newman Smith and Ryan-Mesquite Poteet. Can it come quick enough? Seriously.

Anyway, after doing some research and talking to some knowledgeable folks, I'm ready to tell how it's gonna be come November.

Well, in case you haven't noticed yet, we released our preseason football preview section today with three different sections (UNT, 5-4A schools and area 3A and 2A schools).

The back page of the 5-4A section has our all-area preseason team. We pondered the selections for a while, especially at certain positions such as running back, in which the area is loaded with talent.

Does anyone on the team not deserve to be there? Did we leave anyone out? Let's hear your thoughts.

Former Argyle kicker/linebacker/overall beast has been named the starting kicker for the Baylor Bears when they take the turf at Floyd Casey Stadium on Thursday night to open the season against Wake Forest.

You will all be able to see Parks make his college debut as a true freshman at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Southwest. Check those listings, that might be Eastern time, but I'm pretty sure it's Central.

Good luck to Ben.

The last time Ryan won its season-opening game was 2004 when the Raiders beat the Highland Park Snots, 21-18.

That was also the last year Ryan made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Coincidence?

We'll find out. I say with a great deal of confidence that Ryan will win its opener this year - Thursday's bout with Mesquite Poteet at 7 p.m. We'll have to wait a bit to see about the first round.

The UIL doesn't have a blank playoff bracket with the new 4A Division I format. Assuming it will be like last year's Division II format, and based on Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine predictions, Ryan will play Saginaw in the first round.

I just spoke with a football coach who has a good knowledge of the old 5-4A teams and also Lake Dallas. I won't reveal his name here, but if you do just a little research you could easily figure out who it was.

Anyway, here's what I gathered from our conversation.

Wichita Falls is not good this year. Quarterback Ben Henderson is struggling and while he admitted it's still early, he's not impressed. On the flip side, he said Lake Dallas could be better than last season despite losing a ton of seniors. If he's right, I'll admit, I was wrong about the Falcons. They lost so much last season including perhaps the best playmaker in the area last year, Alvin Blackmon.

Guyer's Austin Otto suffered a concussion a couple of weeks ago in practice and apparently is still feeling some lingering effects.

Head coach John Walsh said the staff was plenty cautious with his receiving tight end, holding him out of practice for the entire week last week including Friday's scrimmage against Midlothian.

Otto was set to return to the practice field today, strapped on his helmet and got started with some warm-up drills when he started feeling really woozy. He immediately stopped practicing and went home for the day. Walsh said he'd probably be out another 10 days or so and then will be re-evaluated.

Looks like the Wildcats will have to resort to using "blocking tight end" Cole Underwood full time. The 6-3, 245-pound junior is a monster blocker and apparently is becoming a better receiver as well.

The Associated Press Texas state football polls came out today, and your Ryan Raiders received a total of zero votes. My guess is that's the first time in a long time Ryan hasn't even gotten a vote.

Last year, Ryan got a couple, and Denton got a few. My guess is that whoever voted for Denton was trying to vote for Ryan. That should tell you something about the validity of these polls.

I will say I think this poll nails it with its top three -- Austin Lake Travis, Wichita Falls Rider and Everman. Pilot Point comes in at No. 4 on the Class 2A poll. No other area teams received a single vote.

Guyer volleyball coach Jennifer Bramlett got her 100th career victory on Friday at the Allen Tournament with a win over 5A Sachse. The Lady Wildcats apparently played much better than they did on Tuesday when they lost to McKinney Boyd. They even got a little revenge, as Boyd was one of their victims on Friday. They got second in their pool and are playing this morning, as I type this actually.

Bramlett's built quite the program at Guyer after entering her fourth season after a couple of futile seasons to start things off. Before coming to Guyer, she coached at Jacksboro.

Well, I didn't have the luxury of being able to hook up like Jeff did. The press box was full of riff-raff, like opposing coaches. But I did come with my laptop, just so you don't think I wasn't prepared.

Anyway, here's my thoughts on what I saw tonight as Guyer defeated Midlothian 13-0 in a three-quarter game.

If you were wondering why my blogging came to an abrupt halt, here's your answer -- I wasn't kidding when I said it was cold in that press box. I lost all feeling in my hands as the A/C was right behind me. The circulation in my fingers didn't return until I left that freezer.

Anyway, Ryan pulled out a 30-28 win. I wouldn't get to hung up on the final score, but it's safe to say Ryan's first-teamers were more than competitive with those of Lewisville's.

I'm not breaking news with this, but Scotty Young is going to be an absolute stud. The weapons around him are also quality as D.J. Beashers, Antonio Anderson, James Johnson and Ryan Salter all looked good.

Scotty Young just threw a 20-yard touchdown to Antonio Anderson on a slant route. Young completed passes of 28 and nine before that as the Raiders scored in seven plays to tie it at 7 a piece.

Ryan gave up a big run by Lewisville running back Ben Monjaras, and Monjaras took a 3-yard screen in the end zone on the Farmers' second to last play of their first segment.

But the Raiders have to feel good about that drive. Lewisville had first and goal twice and didn't score until the sixth play.

Now Ryan's driving ...

Outside it's a ba-zillion degrees. Inside the press box at Billy Ryan Field, it's about 50-something.

Nevertheless, it's good to be up in the press box for the first time here. When I started work at the Denton Record-Chronicle in 2006, C.H. Collins Athletic Complex was already up and running.

When Ryan played here at the high school, DR-C Hall of Famer Chuck Cox was still manning the press for the Ryan Raiders, so I'm getting my first look from up here.

We're about 40 minutes from getting underway here. Looks like these teams are going to trade running 15 plays twice and then play a quarter.

If you're not going to make it out to Ryan for the Raiders' scrimmage against Lewisville tonight, check this little ole blog for live updates. I'll be out there armed with nothing more than my laptop, a recorder and a notepad.

This will be an interesting scrimmage for the Raiders after their 54-0 dismantling of Grapevine last week. The win certainly got Ryan's fandom buzzing, but this one against Lewisville will probably give us some perspective on it.

Is Ryan really that dominant or is this an off year for Grapevine? Maybe a little of both.

After a competition through the first couple of weeks of practice, Argyle head coach Todd Rodgers has proclaimed sophomore Chad Hedlund as the No. 1 quarterback.

The son of the North Texas women's soccer coach, and quite the soccer star himself, will take over for JJ Harp, who's moved on to Eastern New Mexico. Hedlund had a great scrimmage last weekend in a dominating performance for the Eagles as they beat Frisco Centennial 30-6 in a half of game action after a controlled scrimmage.

"Hedlund is the No. 1 guy," Rodgers said. "But we're still sharing reps. We want to be prepared for whatever comes. [Backup QB] Patrick Vickery has done a fabulous job and it's important he gets those reps."

The Eagles got touchdown receptions from Brady Brown and Tyler Sweatt and the rest came on the ground.

Former Ryan quarterback Justin Willis went from being the primary beneficiary of June Jones' arrival to University Park to a No. 3 quarterback without even playing a game.

Jones announced that true freshman Bo Levi Mitchell and Braden Smith will start atop SMU's depth chart, leaving Willis, SMU's single-season touchdowns record-holder, out of the mix.

Here's Chuck Carlton's take, but how did this happen with Willis? Indications are he just didn't fit in Jones' offense, but there may be more to it as Willis was suspended for spring practice.

Argyle wide receiver Brady Brown just called me to say he has committed to Vanderbilt, turning down offers from Kansas and Nebraska, just to name a few. Brown is a 6-5 receiver with great hands who could make the transition to tight end at the next level.

Look for more in tomorrow's DR-C.

Staff Writer Adam Boedeker and I just sat down and hammered out an All 5-4A Team. The offense was pretty straight forward. We feel pretty good about our picks on that side of the ball.

Defensively we had to make some tougher choices. There are some very deserving players that didn't make the list. Feel free to comment. Let us know who we got right and who we left off that deserves to be on. Enjoy!

Pilot Point had a rough opening to the Ryan Kickoff Classic on Thursday, dropping two matches and landing in the Emerald Bracket, but the team has to feel good about where it ended up.

Pilot Point ran off wins over 4A Corsicana, Carrollton Ranchview and 5A DeSoto to win the Emerald Bracket, which had exclusively 4A and 5A teams.

That's got to be a relief for James Ramsey. He took over head coaching duties at Pilot Point just a few weeks before two-a-days were set to begin. I'm sure he was more than a little stressed heading into the year.