A lot can be said for a district doormat breaking through and making its first postseason appearance in just its third year of varsity existence.

What the Guyer Wildcats did in 2008 was on a whole other level.

The Wildcats were the laughing stock of District 5-4A in their first two varsity seasons, compiling a 1-19 record. But Guyer was expected to contend for a playoff spot in 2008, and ended up making a run through the postseason that put it ahead of other big stories from 2008, including North Texas students passing an athletic fee to help build a new stadium.

The Wildcats, who finished the season 12-3 after bowing out to Longview in the Class 4A Division I state semifinal at Texas Stadium, faced adversity and had a bit of a roller-coaster ride through the season, but ended up cementing themselves firmly in the mix of championship contenders for years to come.

“It’s hard to get a program from scratch to have major expectations, and I think that’s what the ’08 season did,” said Guyer head coach John Walsh. “It’s allowed us to have the expectation year in and year out of being deep playoff contenders.”

Guyer’s season got off to a rousing start with a 31-14 win over Carrollton Newman Smith, just its second win ever. But it came at a price, as sophomore quarterback J.W. Walsh re-injured his throwing elbow and went on to miss six games.

Backup quarterback Marquis Smith filled in admirably, going 4-2 as a starter, including a marquee win at tradition-rich Stephenville in the second game of the season, helping Guyer to get off to a 4-0 start.

The Stephenville win was one of many peaks in a season that also had a few valleys. The Wildcats were blown off the field by Lake Dallas in a clash of 5-1 teams as they were beaten in every facet of the game in a 41-15 loss that could’ve been worse.

Instead of letting the crushing defeat ruin their season, the Wildcats used the disappointment to finish the regular season with a three-game winning streak, which included a 42-28 win over Ryan, the traditional king of area football.

“The biggest thing we did with the Lake Dallas game, and even the Saginaw game [a Week 3 win] was, we’d played as bad as we had all year offensively and still won the game,” John Walsh said. “What we learned from those low points was we got better. We didn’t sit around and pout about what went wrong, we fixed what went wrong and our kids responded.”

There were more low points in the playoffs, as Guyer played an atrocious first half offensively in its first playoff game against Saginaw Boswell, but held on to win 21-13 after trailing 10-7 at the half. Then there was the 21-0 first-quarter hole the Wildcats dug themselves in against previously unbeaten Wolfforth Frenship in the Region I final before an improbable comeback that ended with a game-winning field goal from Sam Alspach as time expired – the first lead Guyer had in the game.

“There’s gonna be something bad happen to us and to our opponents in every game,” Walsh said. “And the people that respond better to those things will win the game. I think we did that overall in our entire season.”

Though the miraculous comeback against Frenship in Lubbock was the Wildcats’ final win of the season, they played toe-to-toe with an extremely athletic Longview team and had a lead after three quarters in the state semifinal before being beaten in the fourth quarter. Walsh said he can look back now with great satisfaction and be excited about the years to come with a relatively young football team that will return several key skill position players.

“Getting removed from the season a little more, it’s completely satisfying for the entire program,” Walsh said of the turnaround season. “Just what everyone put into the season and to actually reap the award of possibly playing in a state title game is definitely rewarding.

“Just knowing at the end there against Longview we had a good fighting chance was nice. The second thing is -- it’s laid the foundation for a lot of good years in the future.”

2. North Texas students approve athletic fee

North Texas’ student body provided some hope and arguably the biggest highlight in a football season full of disappointment when it approved an athletic fee that will be used to build a new stadium. UNT is hoping to open the venue that will seat 30,000 in 2011. UNT has struggled to raise money through the years, which made students approving a fee of $10 per semester credit hour so important.

With a student body of nearly 35,000 students, the fee that will go into place when the stadium opens will provide millions each school year.

UNT currently plays in Fouts Field, a venue that opened in 1952. Athletic director Rick Villarreal and head coach Todd Dodge talked in the days leading up to the vote about how desperately UNT needs a new stadium to become competitive again on the Bowl Subdivision level.

The approval of the student athletic fee gave the UNT athletic department hope that it could complete the project in the next few years.

3. Scotty Young breaks out for Ryan

Scotty Young cemented his status as the latest in a long line of standout quarterbacks at Ryan with a standout 2008 season.

Young threw for 4,495 yards and 65 touchdowns while leading the Raiders to the third round of the playoffs. Young’s yardage total ranks third in the history of Texas high school football, while his touchdown total ranks second.

Young not only established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the state, he also developed into one of the hot college football prospects in the country. Texas Tech has already offered a scholarship to Young.

4. North Texas flounders in Year Two of the Dodge era

North Texas came into the 2008 season hoping to take a big step forward after a disappointing 2-10 finish in Todd Dodge’s debut season. The Mean Green took a step back instead, finishing 1-11 with its lone win coming over Western Kentucky, a team still in the process of making the jump to the NCAA’s Bowl Subdivision and the Sun Belt Conference.

UNT had reason to believe it would do better. Quarterback Giovanni Vizza was in his second season as the starter, standout wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald was back and the Mean Green had a year of experience in Dodge’s system.

None of those factors paid off the way UNT anticipated in a season filled with blowout losses. The Mean Green was hammered by Rice (77-20), Florida International (42-10) and Middle Tennessee (52-13). UNT’s average scoring differential of minus-27.6 was the program’s worst since at least 1950.

5. Liberty football coach Mark Bowles retires

His career might not have had the fairy tale ending (another state championship) some had hoped for, but Mark Bowles’ impression on Liberty Christian football will likely never be forgotten.

The Warriors’ head coach of 26 years – the only the school has known – retired from coaching following the season to spend more time with his family.

Bowles finished his lengthy career with a record of 221-77 and won three TAPPS state championships in six tries, including the 2007 state title with a 28-7 win over Dallas Christian in Temple.

Bowles’ replacement has yet to be named, but whoever it is will without a doubt have some big shoes to fill and will be playing in the stadium that bears Bowles’ name as Warrior Stadium was renamed Mark Bowles Stadium in the middle of the 2007 season.

“It's very humbling and it's not something I ever like to talk about because this program has always been about the kids,” Bowles said back in October. “It's always been about the other coaches, and we've always coached here for the kids.”

Bowles recalled the early days of the Liberty football program when the Warriors didn’t have a stadium and had to play on recreation fields in Lewisville, and while looking back at the last quarter-century fondly, said he’s ready for a change.

“I always felt like the kids deserved better than that, and they need someone who's willing to work with them on a year-around basis with 7-on-7 and all the things involved in building a successful program,” Bowles said. “The fans see Friday nights, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's everything else that builds a program.”

6. Ponder wins boys basketball title

The Ponder boys put together one of the more impressive performances of the year while cruising to the Class 2A state title.

The Lions not only finished 39-2, they hammered Tuscola Jim Ned in the state finals 72-51. Nathan McPherson scored a game-high 24 points for Ponder in the championship game and was named the state tournament MVP.

"That's about as fundamental a basketball team as you'll see," Jim Ned head coach Hunter Cooley said. "Those guys played unbelievable."

Ponder closed out the season winning its last 26 games by an average margin of victory of 23.2 points.

7. Ryan’s Curtis Petersen drafted

Curtis Petersen had a tough choice to make at the end of the baseball season. The standout Ryan pitcher had a scholarship offer from Nebraska in hand and was prepared to play for the Cornhuskers when the Florida Marlins selected him with the sixth pick in the fourth round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Players Draft.

“My heart just dropped,” Petersen said. “I was talking to another team on the phone, and then I saw myself pitching on the screen and it said I was picked. I started getting in tears. My mom was in tears. And it was just a rush.”

Petersen finished 12-2 with a 1.03 ERA and 127 strikeouts as a senior for Ryan.

The Marlins ended up signing Peterson to a contract with a $350,000 signing bonus.

8. UNT hires Shanice Stephens to take over women’s basketball program

UNT decided after the 2007-08 season that it needed to inject some new life into its women’s basketball program and replaced longtime head coach Tina Slinker with Shanice Stephens.

Slinker took UNT to the WNIT twice and had several standout seasons before struggling late in her tenure with the Mean Green. UNT didn’t renew her contract and turned to former Clemson and Rice assistant Shanice Stephens to take over the program.

The Oklahoma native and former Oklahoma State guard took over a veteran team and immediately began the rebuilding process by signing a series of impressive recruits and transfers, including Texas transfer Niqky Hughes.

Stephens got off to a solid start in her first season at UNT, but struggled at times to get her veteran players to buy into her up-tempo system. Stephens indefinitely suspended four players at one point or another after taking over the program.

While the transition has not always been smooth, there have been signs that UNT will thrive under Stephens. The Mean Green beat Valparaiso in nonconference play.

9. UNT players fail drug tests

In one of the more surprising events in Year 2 of the Todd Dodge era, a total of 15 players failed a test for recreational drugs mandated by UNT’s head coach.

Dodge said he asked for all of his major contributors – 86 in all -- to be tested because he thought his team had a problem. News of the positive tests became a national story picked up by several national outlets. The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote about UNT’s issues.

The players who tested positive for drugs entered into the first step of the university’s treatment program, but did not miss any playing time. The players were subject to additional tests and had to attend drug counseling.

Dodge said that all of the players who tested positive, elected to adhere to the university’s stipulations in order to continue their careers.

The names of which players tested positive were kept secret.

The story became a distraction for a short time for UNT, which had enough problems to deal with while struggling on the field.

10. Liberty Christian girls basketball team wins state title

There might have been some preconceived notions from some early opponents before they played the 2007-2008 edition of the Lady Warriors basketball team, perhaps even a lack of respect for being a private school.

Any of those doubts were quickly erased when the Lady Warriors stepped on the floor against some top-notch UIL 5A and 4A teams in tournament play before the district season started.

Liberty, which went on to win its second straight state title with a 53-18 demolition of Tomball Concordia Lutheran, was talked about in the same breath as some of the top programs at any classification in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after beating state-ranked programs such as Mansfield Timberview, Cedar Hill, Fort Worth Dunbar, Mansfield Summit and Canyon. They also became the first private school to win the esteemed Mansfield Rotary Invitational. They also won the Cowtown Classic and the Arlington Classic.

“I guess people are starting to know," said then-senior guard Madison Middle. “At the beginning of the season, people were caught off guard by us because no one knew who we were. I think [the Mansfield Rotary Invitational] has kind of helped us a bit.”

When the Lady Warriors defeated Timberview in the championship game of the tournament, they were led by all-everything forward Whitney Hand, who scored 33 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the game. She’s now at Oklahoma and was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year.

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com.