Heading into last Friday’s Denton-Guyer football game, Denton head coach Randy Patzkowski nailed it when, before the game, he said, “I think it will come down to who executes the best.”

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately for Denton, that team was Guyer.

The Broncos (0-3, 1-6) lost to their cross-town rival, 31-14, bringing the all-time series record between the two teams to 1-1.

It was the first-ever victory for Guyer’s varsity football team in almost two years of play.

The Broncos were down 17-7 at the half, despite not turning the ball over. In the second half, they fumbled twice and committed too many penalties. The first fumble came near Guyer’s goal line, when the Broncos were only down by 10 points and about to score. The next thing Denton knew, it was down 24-7 and in a deep hole, Patzkowski said.

New quarterback Adrian Irvin showed some promise for the Broncos, as he completed 16 of 22 passes with a rushing and passing touchdown and no interceptions.

“Adrian played well,” Patzkowski said. “Adrian played really well.”

Irvin also ran for 48 yards.

This week the Broncos will travel to Denison to take on a young and inexperienced Yellow Jacket team.

Denison (1-1, 2-4) lost its two-time District MVP quarterback in Stanley Morris, as well as a number of other key starters over the summer, which gives the Broncos hope.

Like Denton, the Yellow Jackets start a lot of underclassmen. They have five sophomores and four juniors starting on their offense, and three sophomores and four juniors on their defense.

Denison likes to run a shotgun spread offense with an open set. Their starting running back D.J. Jones returned last week from an ankle injury and should be ready to go this week. That’s not good news for Broncos fans, as their team has not fared well against good running backs this season. Two weeks ago they gave up 227 yards on the ground to Sherman running back Waymon James in just over two quarters of play.

If the Broncos play well though, the Denison defense can definitely be exploited. The Yellow Jackets are giving up 320 yards a game so far this season.

Denison runs a 4-3 defense with two deep corners and they don’t blitz much, which is good because blitzing teams have caused problems for the Broncos all year.

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Munson Stadium in Denison. 

Football

Former quarterback Stewart contributes in multiple ways

Senior Spencer Stewart began the year as the starting quarterback but never seemed to become comfortable in that role.

Two weeks ago, the coaches made a change and put the backup Adrian Irvin in as the starter to bring a more athletic dimension to the team. Stewart has refused to go quietly into that good night, despite the switch. He is now contributing in a number of ways on offense, defense and special teams.

Against Guyer on Friday, Stewart started at cornerback and wide receiver.

In that game he had eight tackles and broke up two passes on defense. As a receiver, Stewart had two receptions for 30 yards.

“Here’s a kid who is extremely, extremely competitive,” Patzkowski said. “He goes out and he plays really hard. He’s just so coachable.”

As for Stewart himself, he said there’s a reason he works so hard all the time.

“I’m just not a good enough athlete to just go out there and do it,” he said. “I have to work harder.”

Former Bronco clearing lanes in college

Former Denton guard Jace Powell, now a member of the Austin College Kangaroos, helped lead his new team to a 16 point comeback in the fourth quarter against Colorado College on Sept. 29. Powell and his cohorts on the offensive line opened up lanes for their running backs to gain 422 yards on 69 rushing attempts. The team scored four rushing touchdowns in a 15-minute span to bring the Kangaroos back from a 23-7 deficit to a 35-30 victory.

For their efforts the Austin College Kangaroos were named the D3football.com Team of the Week in the first week of October.

Volleyball

Lady Broncos need one win

The Lady Broncos need to win one of two games this week against Rider and Denison to assure themselves of a second-place finish in District 5-4A.

They lost their chance to win the district title on Friday, after a heartbreaking loss to cross town rival Guyer, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22.

Even if they lose both of this week’s games, the Broncos will finish in third place in the district and most likely make the playoffs anyway.

But the Broncos don’t expect to lose these games, head coach Heather Stewart said.

“That’s definitely my mindset,” she said. “We have to play consistent and not let any errors get us down.”

Guyer has now swept Denton twice this year, but despite Friday’s sweep, the Lady Broncos (23-11, 7-3) felt good about the way they played compared to the first time they played Guyer.

“It wasn’t as emotionally upsetting this time,” Stewart said. “The girls truly gave all that they had. There aren’t any regrets.”

She said her team had opportunities to win all three games but just couldn’t get over that final hump when it came down to it.

“We stayed with them the entire night,” Stewart said. “The main thing is we didn’t take advantage of the momentum when it was on our side. We just didn’t recognize that.”

Guyer (30-5, 10-0) has yet to lose a district match this season.

The Lady Broncos aren’t dwelling on the loss though, said Stewart, they still have a job to do.

Denton begins its final week of district play before the playoffs begin, today when they play at Rider in Wichita Falls.

A revenge match for the Lady Broncos

Other than the two district losses to Guyer this year, the only district match Denton lost came at the hands of Rider on Sept. 21 in Denton. The Lady Broncos got off to a quick start in that match and won the first two games in what looked like it would be an easy win.

However, the Lady Broncos didn’t finish strong and let up on their opponents, losing three games in a row in what Stewart called a mental lapse.

“That’s my thing right now, getting them mentally prepared,” she said. “I think we are beginning to peak at the right time.”

After the loss, the Broncos were on a mission. Instead of sulking or making excuses, the team went to work, Stewart said. They played well in their next five games, sweeping every match in a three-week period. During that streak, the Lady Broncos defeated district rivals Denison, Wichita Fallas, Sherman and Ryan.  

Tennis

Still looking for first win

The Denton tennis team is 0-5, but head coach Carlos Blanco said he sees a lot of improvement in the way his team is playing recently. Even though the Broncos are inexperienced, they are playing very good players on a weekly basis and learning more and more everyday.

The team has three games left in the season. Denton will take on cross-town rival Ryan in a 4:15 p.m. home match today. 

Basketball

Lady Broncos to open practice

Denton, the defending District 5-4A Champions, will begin practicing for the upcoming season on Wednesday. The team will have a lot of new faces this season, as the 2006-2007 District 5-4A Most Valuable Player Anny Tseng, and Tra Thomas, the 2006-2007 Offensive Player of the Year, have both graduated.

The team will still have DaLissa Gaines, who was named Sixth Man of the Year last year, and head coach Dennis Krishka, the Coach of the Year.

All together, the team is returning four girls from last year’s team.

“We’ve got pretty big shoes to fill this year,” Krishka said. “It will have to be a combined effort.”

They will look to players like Gaines, who averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds a game and Brittany Brock, who started at guard as a junior last year, to be the leaders of this year’s team, Krishka said.

“Those are the hubs we need to start building around,” Krishka said.

The first regular season game for the Lady Broncos will be Nov. 6 against Decatur.

Player of the Week

The Denton Broncos lost to Guyer on Friday, but there was one player who did everything he possible could to assure a different outcome.

Ratapol Waitayangkoon is akin to a utility player in baseball. He is a starting safety on defense, a starting receiver and a kick returner and holder on special teams. He made plays all over the field on Friday.

He led the team in tackles with six unassisted and five assisted tackles and broke up one pass. On offense, Waitayangkoon caught two passes for 31 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter. For his outstanding play on offense, defense and special teams, Waitayangkoon has earned the distinction of being the Denton Record Chronicle’s Denton Player of the Week.