Denton RC High School

After reading some of the comments about the Denton Broncos, I think we need to take one thing into account: the enrollment number is not the bottom line when comes to the strength of a school's athletics, and certainly doesn't tell the whole story when it comes to Denton.

When Guyer opened, there was that year of open enrollment where Denton kids could transfer to Guyer. Given Guyer's brand-new athletic facilities and Denton's worn out ones, many of them chose to. So the ratio of student to student athlete is very low at DHS.

There simply are not many athletes at the school. That is the number that's low, not necessarily the enrollment number (although that number dropped by as much as 500 at one point, as did Ryan's).

So the argument that the coaches aren't attracting the kids to play doesn't hold much water with me. Randy Patzkowski can go round up as many kids in the hallway that he wants, but you can't just take some kid who's spent most his life playing Magic: The Gathering all day and turn him into a football player.

And I am not criticizing Denton ISD administrators for their decisions or the kids who went to Guyer.

Administrators have more than a full plate when opening another school. The issues involved are very complicated, and ensuring the previous school has a good softball team is probably pretty low on their list of priorities -- as well it should be.

Also, saying Denton has a higher enrollment than Stephenville or Everman isn't fair. Those are one-horse towns. They get every athlete in the town -- period. Denton, Ryan and Guyer are subject to how administration cuts their respective pies.

One of the most interesting area teams to watch over the past few years has been Argyle. Its exciting offense and ample success has made the Eagles must-see football on Friday nights.

But in the new District 9-3A, the Eagles have a tougher road ahead of them with defending 3A champion Celina joining the frey, not to mention up-and-coming Prosper.

Argyle has its own issues internally as the team looks to replace MVP quarterback JJ Harp. Sophomore Chad Hedlund appears to be the heir-apparent, and nothing will help him more in his first year than receiver Brady Brown, who is going to attract all kinds of attention from Division I schools.

The team also returns a 1,000-yard rusher in Kyle Frizzell, a solid offensive line and a monster defensive lineman in David Johnson.

How do you guys see the year shaping out for Argyle? Are Celina and Prosper too much to overcome? Can the Eagle offense fly without Harp?