Ryan at crossroads in 2008
11:38 AM Fri, Jul 18, 2008 | Permalink
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July 2008
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It's hard to say where the Ryan football program is these days. Are the Raiders still a state-powerhouse who got a bad playoff draw in the last realignment or has the opening of Guyer caused Ryan to level off a bit? One thing I do know is Ryan will have more than six wins like it did in 2007. The Raiders non-district schedule (Mesquite Poteet, McKinney, JJ Pearce) is considerably easier than the last two years (Colleyville Heritage, Arlington Bowie, South Oak Cliff, Abilene), and District 5-4A is lighter with out Sherman and Denison. That said, I think Ryan could have a better record this year but not be as good a team as it was last year. The Raiders should have no problems moving the ball with a solid offensive line led by Blake Holland. The slippery Jay Catlin returns in the backfield along with dynamic receiver D.J. Beshears. A lot of hype surrounds new quarterback Scotty Young. At 6-3 and with a rocket launcher for an arm, he should give the Raiders offense more of a vertical presence. After seeing what he did for the Ryan baseball team in the playoffs, the hype about his arm and calm demeanor seems legit. The Raiders defense may be the key to the season. They should be strong in the secondary with Yahshua Williams, Sedrick Purnell and Peyton Whitlock. The rest of the is something of an unknown, although Logan Sadowski assures me he will be a beast on the defensive line. What does the public think? Are you guys on board for a Ryan resurgence? Where is this team in the grand scheme of things? What does J-Flo need to do to get the back to the state title game? |
Comments
Posted by James @ 8:29 PM Fri, Jul 18, 2008
Ryan finishes fourth in the district as the #2 seed in DI. Wins first round playoff game, but, loses to Mansfield Timberwolves in the second round. Has no chance at state championship because of lack of athletes. Young will be good but not great qb - not close to Battle or Willis and no supporting cast. JFlo still a good coach but lacks players with which to work his magic.
Posted by I<3GYM @ 8:49 PM Fri, Jul 18, 2008
I know this. I was Scotty Young's elementary PE teacher and he was an awesome athletic even then. Won our Punt, Pass, & Kick then won the next level and placed 2nd or 3rd at the regional competition.
I also taught Blake Holland and Logan Sadowski. If Blake is like he used to be, he's the quiet lead-by-example leader. And Logan, well he hasn't changed a bit: still spunky and determined.
Posted by Mike @ 6:33 PM Sat, Jul 19, 2008
DR will be the team highlighted and circled on every other 5-4A team's schedule this season. A playoff caliber team? Depends on the player's coming together,working hard, improving each week and every game. DR has needs at running back, defensive line and linebacker. They will also have to play smarter this season. Too many mental mistakes resulted in costly penalties last season. With a pass rush, effective run game to complement the pass they will be a factor. Go Raiders!!
Posted by Ian @ 10:41 AM Mon, Jul 21, 2008
I'm as big a Ryan Hommer as you can find. This team reminds me alot of the team that went to state after a 1-9 season. Not alot of super athletes but alot of good athletes. If they can come together as a team they can go very far in the playoffs. If they don't your looking at a first round loss again. They will need to find a speedy running back to compliment Catlin. Catlin will punish defenders with his size but lacks the speed of a smaller back. Go Raiders.
Posted by Cat Dad @ 5:12 PM Mon, Jul 21, 2008
Guyer is huge up front on both sides, with the skill and speed to stay with Ryan. This years game should finally be a contest, and Ryan best not write that win down just yet.
Posted by RaiderMom @ 8:56 AM Wed, Jul 23, 2008
Not sure what this year's varsity team will look like, but I can tell you that the JV Blue team was awesome last year and even beat WF Rider. We lost 1 game last year to Arlington. Hopefully the fans will come together and support all these young players and stop comparing them to past years and give them a chance to shine. My prayers go out to all the players and their families for a good season! Don't think that because you don't know who's playing the team won't be good!
Posted by Josh @ 12:07 PM Wed, Jul 23, 2008
It is sometimes hard to judge teams by their JV records. For some schools who have lots of seniors, their good sophomores are on the jv team. For other schools who have hardly any seniors, their good sophomores are on the varsity. A better representation of how good a class is, is to look at the freshman records. Guyer has won the "district" championship (I use that term loosely) the last two years as freshman. Their good sophomores the past two years have not played on JV because they have been needed on varsity. That is not to say that they are better than Ryan. I'm just saying that JV teams usually are not equal. Thus you can have a great JV team and when those kids get on varsity they are not as good.