Guyer vs. Ennis Preview

Well, two months isn't too late to start blogging again, right?

Friday's Denton ISD Game of the Week on KNTU features the Guyer Wildcats against the Ennis Lions. This one is going to be an excellent match-up because Guyer is ranked 13th in Class 6A after losing to #1 Allen last week, 48-16.

Ennis on the other hand jumped up to #2 in Class 5A after defeating previous #6 Mansfield Timberview 33-28 in the season opener.

The Lions trailed Timberview 21-0 in the first quarter -- then scored 27 straight points to take the lead. Timberview re-gained the edge early in the fourth quarter, but a 4-yard touchdown pass from QB Tre Elliot to runningback Treyvon Smith sealed the game with just more than three minutes to play.

Ennis -- like Guyer -- is a run-first team. Elliot only threw 12 passes in the week one win, while Ennis ran the ball 50 times for 367 yards, led by Smith with 108 yards.

Guyer runs many formations -- shotgun, pistol, under center, two fullbacks, two tight ends, three and four receiver sets. It's a lot for a defense to prepare for, and when Guyer is executing properly there isn't much a defense can do to stop their rushing assault.

The Wildcats are led by junior and TCU commit Shawn Robinson. He's a very talented quarterback who is truly a dual-threat. In his first season at Guyer last year -- his sophomore season -- Robinson scored 50 touchdowns by himself at the highest classification in Texas.

Guyer QB Shawn Robinson

Robinson has an amazing amount of zip on his passes, but also runs away from defenders in effortless fashion. Ennis coach Jack Alvarez compared him to Baylor's Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III by calling Robinson "RG4."

Last week against Timberview the Ennis defense allowed 182 rushing yards. It will be interesting to see how the Lions try to mitigate Robinson and runners Myron Mason, Christian Moore and freshman Noah Cain.

In 2014 these teams squared off in Ennis and Guyer held on for a thrilling 45-42 win with a last play, long field goal to end the game. I'm hoping for much of the same Friday night.

Also last year Ennis lost their first two games (Timberview and Guyer), then rattled off 14 straight victories to win the Class 5A Division II state championship.

The Wildcats were bounced disappointingly early from the post-season after running into Southlake Carroll's buzzsaw offense in the second round of the playoffs.

This could be KNTU's best game during the regular season, though the Ryan vs. Byron Nelson showdown appears promising and the Guyer vs. Ryan battle to the end the year should shape up nicely as well.

You can listen to the Denton ISD Game of the Week on FM 88.1 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and at KNTU.com which is accessible on desktops and mobile devices.

NT Men's Hoops to Travel to Northern Iowa, Creighton

On the last day of the North Texas men's basketball youth camp I stopped by to get some audio to make a couple of feel-good stories about the camp. About 120 total campers were there to learn some fundamentals and drills about basketball, but have fun, too.

I really enjoyed the stories I was able to make because the kids were great. I went over to the section of 1st-3rd graders and they were rowdy as ever. One of them named Bryant came right up to me and said "hello!" into the microphone.

Here are the two reports as they aired on KNTU on Tuesday, July 2.

Former North Texas player Roger Franklin

Also, ex-Mean Green forward Roger Franklin was one of the camp leaders and he was great to talk to -- as usual.

Roger graduated two years, but still comes out to all these summer basketball camps. His large smile and big voice were at both women's hoops camps I made highlight videos for last season.

• LINK TO NORTH TEXAS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CAMP HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS ONE, TWO, AND A NEWS PACKAGE.

Roger recently finished up his professional season in Luxembourg and told me he expects to sign a new contract later in July.

The other important thing that happened when I stopped by the camp was head coach Tony Benford confirmed the Mean Green will play at Northern Iowa and Creighton in the upcoming season.

Northern Iowa is coming off a very successful season -- finishing 31-4 with a loss to Louisville in the Round of 32. The Panthers also were undefeated at home last season -- a perfect 15-0.

Also, over the past ten years UNI has gone to the NCAA tournament five times and in that span has won 83% of its home games.

The Mean Green upset Creighton 62-58 this past season -- probably the year's marquee win.

In the past 10 years, North Texas has gone 46-80 on the road (37%).

And when you break down the recent North Texas road games against non-conference mid-major opponents they shape out as this:

• 2014 - @ Stephen F. Austin - L 59-48
• 2013 - @ BYU - L 97-67
• 2012 - @ #16 Creighton - L 71-51
• 2012 - @ St. Louis - L 67-63
• 2011 - @ Loyola Marymount - W 76-63
• 2009 - @ Boise State - L 79-73
• 2008 - @ Indiana State - W 80-69
• 2007 - @ New Mexico State - W 75-72
• 2006 - @ Stephen F. Austin - W 76-70

So, out of that list -- not too much success in this decade. That doesn't mean the games against Northern Iowa and Creighton have no hopes of a Mean Green victory, but just showing the past. 

NT Football to Play Texas A&M

Texas A&M vs. North Texas (NTSU at the time) in 1986

The North Texas football team is wrapping up a deal to play at Texas A&M sometime in the 2020 season.

When I first read this on Vito's blog I thought it was a pretty big deal. To face A&M -- who has been a surging team since Kevin Sumlin stepped onto campus -- and a school that a lot of the North Texas students have friends that attend is pretty cool.

Remember the Mean Green played at Texas this past season for the first time since 2006. That was a game that had a whole lot of hope with the Longhorns on a slide, a new head coach in Charlie Strong, and North Texas coming off its best season in a decade.

Of course -- during that game we learned the offensive line couldn't give Josh Greer two seconds to find a receiver, and Texas is still Texas.

The Mean Green has played A&M seven times -- five of which were when both teams played in Division I-A. North Texas has lost every time, with the closest game being the latest one -- a 28-9 loss at Kyle Field.

A&M vs. NTSU in 1986

The squads first went toe-to-toe in the 1946 opener -- A&M 47, NT 0.

This game won't be played until 2020, so for the current students and me it's really not that exciting. I mean, who knows where the heck I'll be in five years? Sure, it would be great to go to Kyle Field for this one, but it is difficult to get hyped for a game five years away.

The college kids who will be playing in this game just passed the eighth grade STAAR test.

So, with that in mind, let's look at some of the future North Texas schedules.

2016 

vs. SMU, @ Florida, @ Army, vs. Liberty

Once again the tradition of playing a cupcake continues with Liberty (has anyone even heard of this school?). Apparently, Liberty is a school in Virginia. Former Kansas coach Turner Gill is the head coach, their nickname is the Flames, and they have a pretty bad ass stadium, too. They've been dominating the Big South over the past seven or eight years and are trying to reach Division I football status. (And, to be fair, Liberty will play at Baylor in 2017).

Liberty's Williams Field holds more than 19,000

The North Texas-SMU "rivalry" series continues with year three, and it'll be the first time for new Pony coach Chad Morris to come up to Denton.

But, follow up that game up with a trip to Florida the next week. It's another homecoming for Coach Dan McCarney of sorts (after playing at Iowa in 2015). Mac helped the Gators win a national championship by coaching the defensive line. Almost everywhere I have seen him, he is wearing his title ring from Florida. It's also one of the last places Mac could see with both eyes. Florida primes up for the Mean Green with a home date against UMass.

A six-year set against Army also kicks off in 2016 -- and this game will be in mid-October at West Point.

2017

@ SMU, @ Iowa, vs. Army, vs. Lamar

Iowa's Kinnick Stadium

Much of the same formula in 2017 -- with the two long-term series against SMU and Army continuing, a hopeful powderpuff opponent in Lamar and another homecoming trip to Iowa for McCarney -- seriously, is this the Coach Mac farewell tour? -- that's assuming he's still in Denton in two seasons. Iowa will be at rival Iowa State the week prior to taking on the Mean Green. Also, for the second year in-a-row Army is scheduled to play an FCS school the week before facing North Texas.

2018

vs. SMU, @ Army, vs. Incarnate Word, @ Arkansas

Army's Michie Stadium

Are you beginning to notice a pattern, yet? This could be a milestone year in the way that this will be the fifth year of the SMU series, a good gauge of how one class of players has gone through four games. The Mustangs are set to the Mean Green's opener for the second straight year -- and SMU will have a busy September with games at Michigan and vs. TCU also in the month. Speaking of Michigan, Arkansas will open the season in Wolverine country.

2019

@ SMU, vs. Army, vs. Abilene Christian

This is the closest opening North Texas has to its non-conference schedule (as long as another program doesn't bail out of C-USA), but you better believe it will be filled with a road game to a Power 5 conference opponent. 

2020

vs. SMU, @ Army, @ Texas A&M

The projected look of Kyle Field after renovations

Keep in mind the match versus the Aggies isn't set in stone, and something could happen that blows it all up. But for now, we're looking at the next available home non-con game in 2020. That is -- as long as North Texas doesn't play five home games like they will this season. 

Is Something Wrong in Denton?

Both quarterback Dajon Williams and outfielder Taylor Schoblocher, arguably the two best athletes at North Texas, have left their respective teams a few days apart. 

Summer is usually quiet around the Mean Green sports front. Once the softball season is over, there really isn't much going on until fall football practice starts up. But after the bombshell dropped of Taylor Schoblocher leaving, another, somewhat smaller explosive, unloaded on campus when it was revealed Dajon Williams is exiting North Texas.

I went in-depth on Scho's departure, but I figured instead of doing the same with Dajon I would look at both of their exits together.

Here's the thing. There is nothing wrong in Denton. There is nothing that is just repelling great athletes away from North Texas. These are just two cases -- unrelated and separate -- that hinge on things that aren't mutually exclusive to North Texas.

Scho left because of differences with the coaching staff -- mainly with hitting coach Natalie Kozlowski. Trust me, head-butting between players and coaches is not something that only happens at North Texas.

Head softball coach Tracey Kee has a no-nonsense approach. And if a player isn't giving maximum effort at all times, then her talent level doesn't really matter. Kee is an equal opportunity bencher. She benched Scho against Oklahoma State, and she's done it to fringe players, too.

With Dajon -- the situation is a bit muddier. A lot of people are trying to throw out theories about why Dajon is gone now. And did he get dismissed from the team or did he leave?

QB Dajon Williams

I'm not going to share what I've heard, but I think it's safe to say Dajon was always going to be a story of 'What If'?

What if he didn't have to be concerned with taking care and raising his young daughter? What if he could have spent more time committed to Quarterback 101? What if he and the coaches got along a bit better? What if he didn't have four turnovers against UAB?

During spring practice Dajon lost the starting job (Did he ever have it coming out of the regular season?) to senior Andrew McNulty, and even dropped behind Josh Greer.

Senior QB Andrew McNulty

And with DaMarcus Smith becoming eligible for summer workouts it only means more competition on a team that has about 17 quarterbacks on the roster.

Yes -- Dajon had a great game against a terribly equipped Nicholls defense that had three different head coaches in the span of six days leading up to gameday. But, he also had a so-so game against Indiana and a really poor one at UAB that led to him getting the hook.

Dajon leaving North Texas isn't really all that surprising. I remember towards the end of the last season, people around the football team were talking about how they expected either Dajon or Greer -- or maybe both -- to not be around during spring practice.

Well, both were around, but one didn't last long after.

There's nothing wrong in Denton. The sky isn't falling just because two great athletes won't be suiting up in the green and white anymore. Will the teams suffer? Yeah, probably, but in the long-run this will be just another speed bump on the way to something better. Hopefully.

Making Sense of Schoblocher's Exit

On Wednesday night, it was tweeted out that North Texas outfielder and super slugger Taylor Schoblocher is leaving the Mean Green softball team. This is really surprising news, and has a whole lot of consequences.

The biggest question -- Why? In Brett Vito's article, Scho says a "hostile environment" was created, specifically between her and coach Koz -- the new hitting coach.

That's all fine. It's not uncommon for players and coaches to butt heads. About 90% of the time players commit to a college because of the coaching staff. When those coaches leave, the players usually want to leave the school, as well. 

But what makes this situation really fascinating is that Scho is staying at UNT -- just giving up softball. Let's take a look at everything she's leaving behind:

• All-Region player after 2015 season
• Named season's first C-USA Player of the Week
• Then a day later, named National Player of the Week
• Breaking several North Texas single-season records

Head coach Tracey Kee has probably been the coolest coach I've ever had to deal with at North Texas, and we have a good working relationship. With that said, it's hard to image a situation so foul that your best hitter would feel it's better to leave the sport altogether. 

Coach Kee and coach Koz have worked together for a long time -- starting at East Carolina. They put together a successful program, but a couple of bad years and then complaints of verbal abuse, among other things, forced them out. 

Kee landed at North Texas a year later; Koz joined her the year after. Could this just same song, different verse in Denton? I don't know.  

I've never brought up the ECU incident with anyone in the softball department. The only conversation I've had was with an NT media relations worker -- who downplayed the situation to me, saying every college coach has to be a hardass to be successful.

Sure, Scho didn't always give the most amount of effort on the defensive side -- but she was basically the biggest thing coming back for the team. The Green Guys discussed what the softball team had coming back (16:30 mark). 

What could have happened to make a player quit the sport she's most likely been playing since six or seven years old? Maybe Scho really was through the game. Maybe she's burned out after years of putting an amazing out of time and effort into something. Maybe she just wants to start over. 

But with a player as talented as Scho is -- she could have transferred to a whole lot of other teams and been a huge part in a championship run (softball is a sport where transfers don't have to sit out a season). 

Instead, Scho will spend her senior year doing what everyone else her age does -- freak out about what to do after graduation. 

Call to the Bullpen

A while back I mentioned I got an unexpected opportunity to work on a North Texas softball T.V broadcast.

I became the timeout coordinator for the Fox Sports broadcast of NT vs. UTEP on Saturday, May 2. Here's the story behind that.

Just chillin' in the background

I worked as a sideline reporter with the up-start American Sports Network for three Mean Green football games this past season. It was a pretty awesome experience.

Anyways the producer who ran those games mainly works for Fox Sports doing New Orleans Pelicans games and other sports between the end of their season and college football starting

I was hanging around the NT athletic center and I heard that this same guy would be producing the softball game vs UTEP.

So, I reached out to him and asked if I could just hang out in the production truck during the game. I've never been in a control room or truck during a live broadcast and I thought it would be a pretty cool thing to see. Plus -- if anything I could just keep the relationship going and say hi to Dave Barnett -- who was the play-by-play, and also named the new voice of North Texas athletics.

Well, around 30 minutes before first pitch someone alerted the producer and director that the stats guy hasn't shown up. So, the timeout coordinator -- Dave Barnett's son -- was called up to do stats and I became the T.O.C (aka "redhat"). 

It's a super easy job where you basically stand on the field, and listen to the producer for the go-ahead to make sure the teams don't start playing until the TV crew is ready.

 It provided a great view of the game, and a nice line on the résumé. I saw the replay of the game around midnight the same day and was on the look out for some pictures I was in.

The pic at the top of the page is one, and here are a two more:

I'm in gray, UNT's Coach Koz in green

And caught taking a picture on my phone...

Hopefully I'll get to have another opportunity to work with Fox Sports.

Covering the Denton Storms

A tree fell through a backyard and onto a parked car, blocking Oakwood Drive in Denton

It was only the second time I had heard the Denton tornado sirens firing off for real. I was calling my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day when she, coincidentally, asked me if I could hear the sirens from my apartment. 

I told her yeah, in fact, they're blaring right now. I feel like I've kind of gotten used to a chance for heavy storms in the D-FW area. Severe thunderstorm watches can become the norm, and it's not really something that causes concern -- especially when it happens three or four days in a row like the current stretch. 

Studio 6 sign on Ft. Worth Dr. in Denton

Well, the batch of storms on Sunday was pretty gnarly. I was watching Pete Delkus, and remember barely being able to see anything outside because the rain was so heavy. The window became foggy -- the same thing that happened the first time I heard the sirens go off.

After it looked like everything was clear I decided the best thing would be to try to interview people who were in the storms.

It was pretty cool driving around after the storm, trying to find damage and talking to people about their experiences.

The first stop was on Fort Worth Drive in Denton where a couple of buildings had some damage, and trees in the median had been cut in half.

Roof damage to Layalina's Mediterranean Grill on Ft. Worth Dr.

I got some good audio from the owner of the Layalina restaurant, but the best was yet to come.

When I pulled up there were already three or four other people taking pictures, one TV cameraman, and some HAM radio operators.

I heard a Denton Record-Chronicle photographer mention that Denia Park was the hardest hit area so I decided to head that way.


There were a whole lot of knocked over trees and a leaning telephone pole or two.

Here are two pictures of the damage south of McCormick and I-35E:

I don't know if storm chasing would be in my future, but it was a rush to cover the aftermath and see the damage first-hand. Also, some of the people I talked to were very interesting and had colorful comments -- which made for great radio on KNTU news the next day.