Joey Florence has heard it 100 times already — the Ryan Raiders are down this season.

Joey Florence

A 1-3 start and no love from the polls has given way to the perception that Ryan isn’t as good as it used to be, leaving players and coaches miffed that no one’s noticed the strength of their schedule and their undefeated district record.

“I don’t know if they’re football savvy,” Florence said of Ryan’s critics. “They don’t look at who we’re playing. … I don’t know where that perception is. It’s just out there. It’s one of the reasons I’m really proud of the kids, because they didn’t listen to that. They believed in their coaches. They believe in each other. They’ve been able to adapt and overcome.”

While Ryan did start the season 1-3, which pretty much killed its standing in state polls, the quality of the opponents has been tougher than many Class 5A teams. The Raiders lost to two state-ranked 5A teams — Abilene and Arlington Bowie — and a potential 5A playoff team in Colleyville Heritage.

Despite the tough opponents, Ryan lost only one of those games by more than a touchdown. That was against Bowie, which is still undefeated and ranked No. 6 in the state 5A poll. Ryan went toe-to-toe in a shootout against Abilene on the road, losing 49-41 in the final minutes.

“With the slow start, people looked down on us thinking we weren’t going to be for real,” said defensive end Josh Williams. “We came out in the South Oak Cliff game at halftime and showed we’re for real. The losses we’ve had were all against 5A opponents. We haven’t lost to a 4A opponent yet.”

Ryan still hasn’t even earned the respect of locals. The Dallas Morning News rotated Ryan between No. 11 and No. 12 in their Class 4A area poll. The Raiders were demoted from No. 11 to No. 12 in that poll twice after wins.

“I really don’t pay attention to it,” said linebacker Tremaine Millender. “This is a family. I listen to what the coaches tell us and what the family says.”

The perception got so out of hand that players and coaches were even hearing noise from Guyer, which has one victory in the history of its program.

“I’ve heard them say they were going to beat us,” Williams said. “There wasn’t really any tension between us.”

Florence said dozens of people have asked him why the Raiders decided to play such a tough nondistrict schedule. They simply didn’t have a choice. Nobody wants to play Ryan.

When coaches were pairing off to find non-district opponents in 2006, Florence looked around and saw only the likes of Todd Dodge, then at Southlake Carroll. Outside of Abilene, Ryan’s choices were Carroll, Lufkin, Longview and other top-notch 5A programs.

Florence said he took the lesser of the evils by scheduling Abilene, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Ryan coaches called around to find any 4A teams that would play the Raiders and found little interest.

“We spent a month calling every 4A school in the Metroplex and every non-playoff qualifying 5A team,” Florence said. “We made them tell us no. Some of them laughed at us. Others cursed and said ‘Don’t call us again.’”

Outside of the tough schedule, Ryan has had to deal with a number of issues behind the scenes. The city’s growth has posed a problem for all of Denton ISD’s athletic programs. For Ryan, Guyer’s opening took about 100 kids from its program, and the new zones cut two of Ryan’s most important feeder junior highs. The Raiders no longer get any of Crownover’s students and only about 70 percent of Strickland’s.

“Growth presents a lot of problems,” Florence said. “Our freshman numbers have dropped significantly. I think they’ll come back eventually. It’s not necessarily the opening of Guyer, it was the new boundaries. We’ve lost our feeder systems. More than Guyer opening, that’s been the biggest problem facing our junior high system. We have to get those back in line. That’s just part of the growth. There’s no real easy answer. We’ve got a great administration.”

While these issues and the loss of numbers have dropped Ryan from where it was when it was going deep in the Class 5A playoffs a few years ago, the Raiders are still a relevant 4A program, and they have a chance to prove it at 7:30 p.m. tonight when they face state-ranked Wichita Falls Rider.

“To be honest with you, I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Florence said. “We’ve won state championships around here, but this team, these seniors and these coaches are what I hope Ryan Raiders stand for. They’ve just persevered. It didn’t matter that we had to open a new school. It didn’t matter if we had to go to Abilene on the road. They’ve answered the challenge. I’m just like a proud dad. I’m just so happy for the kids because I know how difficult it’s been on them. I want the people of Denton to be proud of them, too.”

JEFF ANDREWS can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jandrews@dentonrc.com. 

Game time: 7:30 p.m.

Stadium: Memorial Stadium

What’s at stake: Simply put, this game is for the District 5-4A title. Rider still has to play Wichita Falls and Ryan has Denton next week, but the winner tonight should take the title. Still, the game has little significance on playoff positioning as Ryan will go Division I and Rider will go Division II.

Ryan

Stopping Rider’s offense is a tall task. Ryan’s best bet to slow them down will be to keep them off the field. Establishing the run early with QB Jay Catlin would go a long way toward limiting Rider’s scoring, and it would wear out Rider’s defense.

Wichita Falls Rider

If Rider can’t get any pressure on QB Austin Axtell, Ryan will pick Rider apart in the passing game. Rider has no answer for WR D.J. Beshears and WR Taylor Lokey. No team has gotten to Axtell consistently this year, so pressure would disrupt Ryan’s offense.

District: 5-4A

Enrollment: 1,779

Head coach: Scott Ponder

2007 record: 7-1 overall, 4-0 district

Returning starters: Off — 7, Def — 8

Players to watch: QB Shavodrick Beaver, RB Damien Washington, RB Jurell Thompson, DB Markelle Martin, LB John Fisher

RYAN (5-3, 4-0)

*District 5-4A game

RIDER (7-1, 4-0)

*District 5-4A game