The Denton Broncos’ crosstown grudge match against Ryan this week will be especially significant for 21 seniors on the team.

The Broncos (1-8, 0-5) have played the entire year with an undersized roster, physically and numerically, averaging about 35 available players a week. Most of the teams they’ve played have had a roster of 50 or more.

The Broncos don’t whine about their predicament or the fact that they are forced to play two-way football just to be able to field a team, said head coach Randy Patzkowski. The team just has to play better, he said.

“It still boils down to, we have to play with that energy,” Patzkowski said. “We have to play with that intensity and we have to tackle. So that’s going to be really interesting to see if we can sustain that.”

Ryan (5-4, 4-1) is coming off a blowout loss to Wichita Falls Rider in what was supposed to be a shootout for the District 5-4A title.

It wasn’t.

Rider (8-1, 5-0) jumped out to an early lead en route to a 45-7 shellacking of Ryan. That is not good news for Denton, as the Raiders will be hungry to bounce back from last week’s loss and take it out on Denton.

“Ryan’s really a good football team,” Patzkowski said. “I think last Friday night’s football game against Rider was an aberration. I don’t think you can draw too many conclusions out of that game, with the exception that they just ran into a really talented football team who was clicking on all cylinders.”

The Broncos are coming off a bye week, where they spent their time preparing for this game against Ryan, working out in the weight room and working with players individually, Patzkowski said.

Friday’s game means very little to the Raiders, other than it being against a crosstown rival, game because their playoff fate is already set in stone. They will play Keller Fossil Ridge in the bi-district round at a time yet to be determined.

So Denton could catch Ryan off-guard this week, looking ahead to next week’s game -- or so the Broncos hope.

The Broncos would love to go into the offseason on the heels of a huge victory against playoff-bound Ryan.

Broncos looking to end year on positive note

Denton has a lot of young players on its team, and a win in the last game of the year against a district powerhouse like Ryan could provide a springboard into next season.

“We’re in a situation where we really don’t have a lot to lose,” Patzkowski said. “We can really gain a tremendous amount going into the offseason by playing well -- for these younger kids and at the same time to send our seniors out on a high note. I’m really looking forward to it.”

But saying that you are going to beat Ryan is a lot easier than actually doing it, Patzkowski said, especially after last week.

“I’m sure Ryan will be anxious to get that taste of last week’s loss to Rider out of their mouth,” Patzkowski said. “They’re still playing for an awful lot even though they know what their playoff fate is. But I know Coach Florence, and after last week’s loss, they will want to play well because no one wants to limp into the playoffs.”

Girls basketball

Season begins today

The Lady Broncos have spent the last few weeks gearing up for tonight’s game with Decatur and trying to get into a rhythm, despite having a lot of new faces on the court.

“We’ve got a ways to go,” said head coach Dennis Krishka. “This district is going to be wide open.”

Although the Lady Broncos lost some talent from last year, Krishka said, the team still has set high goals.

Denton will return four players who received a lot of playing time last year, including senior guard Brittani Brock, junior wing Marlee Ross, senior post DaLissa Gaines and junior post Maya Dergha. They will all start this season, along with senior guard Ilke Begec.

The Lady Broncos lost one of two games to Decatur last season.

Boys basketball

Getting ready for the season

The Denton boys basketball team will have to deal with plenty of inexperience this season.

“We don’t have a single player who’s ever played at the varsity level at Denton High School,” head coach Harold Jackson said.

Last season didn’t end the way Jackson would have liked. The Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention after losing three of their last five games.

The biggest loss for the Broncos was Lance Johnson, who was a team captain, team MVP, Denton Record-Chronicle area player of the year and a first team all-district selecton.

Their team will now be led by players like big man Fred Hunter, a transfer from Ryan who sat out all of last year due to eligibility issues, and returning point guard Desmond Taylor, who also plays wide receiver on the football team.

It’s all about execution and work ethic from here on out, Jackson said.

“Execution is going to be the key,” he said. “They just have to play as hard as they can for as long as they can.”

The Broncos have a scrimmage against Crowley at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Volleyball

Lady Broncos looking to the future

The Lady Broncos volleyball team will not take any time off, as they will continue to work on their game this offseason in hopes of making a run in 2008, said head coach Heather Stewart.

Their season ended last week when, for the second year in a row, they were bumped from the playoffs by Aledo.

This week, Denton’s returning players will begin working on strength, vertical training and speed, Stewart said, to get their bodies back in shape for next season. It will be weeks before they even touch a volleyball again, she said.

Despite the loss to Aledo in the playoffs, Stewart said, she was extremely proud of her team this year.

“I thought this was a great year,” she said. “This is probably one of the strongest teams mentally that I’ve had. This was one of those years that really surprised me. We exceeded my expectations from the beginning.”

The Lady Broncos will lose some important players to graduation, but should have enough left to make a run again next year.

For example, they will lose four-year varsity setter Paige Flowers, who was incredibly important to this year’s success, Stewart said. Flowers will be replaced by Mandy Muncy, who played right side hitter for most of this season.

The team will also lose two-year varsity libero Maria Melendres, outside hitter Jaime Riser and right-side hitter and defensive specialist Brenda Valadez to graduation.

Player of the Week

Libero Maria Melendres has been a defensive mainstay for the Lady Broncos all year long, including in the playoffs. Melendres jumped, dove, stretched and did everything else possible to keep the ball off the ground for the Lady Broncos.

In the playoffs, her seemingly reckless play made it look as if she was always a play away from serious injury.

In her final match for the Broncos, against Aledo, Melendres accumulated 15 digs.

For her efforts, she is the Denton Record-Chronicle Denton Player of the Week.

MONTY MILLER can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is mwmiller@dentonrc.com.