When the Coyotes come down the hill tonight at Memorial Stadium, they
will do so with heavy hearts. They will be mourning a season of missed
opportunities. They will be lamenting the fact that for the third straight
season, there will be no playoff run for the Coytotes. And they will
certainly be mourning the loss of Coach Joe Bob Tyler, the man who was an
assistant on the 1961 state title team, and was the Coyotes head coach for
five seasons, beginning in 1980.
With Denton Ryan in town tonight, the Coyotes will get to see how they
stack up with the District 4-4A leaders. The Raiders are led by Nash Knight,
who enters tonight with 1,390 yards passing, 17 touchdowns and only 1
interception. Michael Cudd is their leading receiver with 27 catches for 480
yards and 8 touchdowns, while Kaylon Alexander anchors the Raider ground
attack with 673 yards on 100 carries and 8 touchdowns.
Pigskinprep.com, which ranks all Texas high school teams from top to
bottom, has Denton Ryan at number 9 in class 4A. The Raiders are 8-0
overall, and 4-0 in district play.
“I do bellieve we have an opportunity Friday night. Every Friday night,
there is a big upset. Why not us this Friday night?” Coyote head coach
Jayson Lavender said earlier this week. “Their offense has a good 50-50
balance, but their strength has been their defense. They have the best front
seven in the Metroplex,” Lavender said. “I look at this as ann opportunity
for us to go play the best players around.”
The Coyotes are led by junior quarterback Dylan Sheffield, who has
thrown for 2,112 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. His favorite target
has been Bubba Mathis, with 52 catches for 730 yards. But, last week’s
player of the game, Diondre Singleton, looks to build on the 175 yard, 1
touchdown night he had in Lake Dallas last week. He enters the game with 46
catches for 598 yards and 4 touchdowns.
If the Coyotes can come out and play fast and loose tonight,
unfortunately, I still don’t think it will matter. With all that has
happened this week, and with their big rivalr game next week, it’s almost
hard not to look ahead and put this week in the rearview mirror. But, the
one thing that Coach Lavender and his staff don’t know how to do is raise
the white flag. They’ll fight for 48 minutes on their home turf tonight, but
in the end, Denton Ryan will show why the are the class of District 4-4A.
I’ll take the Raiders tonight at Memorial Stadium. Rest in peace, Coach
Tyler. You will be missed.

North Texas Analyst – Patrick Lowe