They Seem To Make Adjustments Just Fine

[UNTLifer]

And this is a high school team with less returning starters than North Texas had. It is amazing how soon some of these new starters gel.

DRC.com

Chuck Cox: Raiders beginning to chew up opponents

08:26 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Chuck Cox

You’ve got to hand it to Ryan head coach Joey Florence and his coaching staff.

After a demoralizing 40-14 loss at the hands of Highland Park on Aug. 27, in which Ryan committed seven turnovers, the Raiders have bounced back in a big way by winning three straight games, including a 38-17 victory in the District 5-5A opener against Keller last Thursday.

Pretty impressive stuff.

But perhaps even more noteworthy is the manner in which the Raiders (3-1, 1-0) are winning football games these days.

Defensively, Ryan has given up its share of big plays. But in the last three games, the Raiders have always found a way to keep their opponents from piling on points. In fact, Denton, Dallas Lincoln and Keller combined to score just five more points combined (45) than the Scots did on Ryan in the season opener.

The Raiders, who returned just six starters from last year’s 12-2 team, have also won the turnover battle each of the last three games, going from a minus-7 after one game to a minus-2 after four. Ryan did not turn the ball over at all against Keller.

But it’s what Ryan has done on offense that is most intriguing.

Even though they have far from abandoned their trademark high-octane passing game, the Raiders have taken a fancy to putting points on the board via their rushing attack.

Ryan’s last nine touchdowns have come on the ground, a span of two straight games. For the season, the Raiders have scored 11 rushing touchdowns to just six through the air.

And it seems as though each week Ryan unveils a new wrinkle to the backfield.

After scoring both touchdowns against Highland Park through the air, Rowlett transfer Ricky Trujillo and returning starter Jaiston Sawyer had the team’s only two rushing touchdowns in a 50-14 win over Denton the following week.

Against Lincoln, senior defensive back Greg Garden got his first three career carries, scoring touchdowns on two of them. Sawyer and Trujillo also added touchdowns to help the Raiders to a 29-14 win over the defending Class 4A Division II state runner-up.

Then, Ryan threw something at Keller that is bound to leave scouts watching film on Ryan scrambling.

The Raiders alternated quarterbacks Austin Knight and Chris Timny throughout the game. Knight threw for 163 yards, while Timny ran the option effectively, rushing for 34 yards and making some nice pitches that led to big gains for the Raiders.

Timny, as he usually does, played receiver when he was not in at quarterback. But the Raiders also had Knight line up at receiver for some plays when Timny was in, at times seeming to send the Indian defense scrambling. On one short-yardage situation, Ryan even had three running backs in the backfield. Timny did not attempt a pass, but he did catch two balls for 17 yards.

The results are hard to argue with.

Sawyer torched the Keller defense for 146 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Trujillo had three more touchdowns and Knight added his first rushing touchdown of the season. Garden also had a solid game on offense, racking up 43 yards on six attempts

As a team, the Raiders had 245 rushing yards and 163 passing against the Indians. For the season, Ryan is averaging 362 yards per game (214 passing, 148 rushing).

Under Florence, the Raiders have always had a strong ground game with standout running backs like Earl Goldsmith and Sawyer, along with very mobile quarterbacks like James Battle and Justin Willis.

They’ve still got that when Timny is in. But the difference this season is the way in which Ryan is running the ball and the amount of players involved in the running game. Four different Raiders already have rushing touchdowns. And knowing Florence, that number will likely go up in the coming weeks.

One of Ryan’s biggest strengths is its versatility on offense. In addition to mixing it up when running the ball, the Raiders have eight different receivers with at least one catch.

Defenses are going to have an awfully hard time trying to figure out just what they need to focus on to try to stop Ryan.

These are definitely not your older brother’s Raiders. Except, of course, for the whole winning thing.