Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2018 Page: 9 of 22
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Denton Record-Chronicle
SPORTS
SECTION B
Rangers, Dodgers
wrap short set / 3B
Thursday, August 30, 2018
DentonRC .com/ sports
Prescott, Elliott lead revamped Cowboys in playoff pursuit
By Schuyler Dixon
AP Pro Football Writer
ARLINGTON — Dak Prescott dealt
with the uncertainty of running back
Ezekiel Elliott’s looming six-game sus-
pension last year when the Cowboys
slid from an NFC-best 13 wins to out of
the playoffs.
Now the star quarterback faces the
unknown of a revamped and largely
unproven group of receivers after the
departures of Jason Witten and Dez
Bryant.
Elliott, Prescott’s fellow rookie
standout from two years ago, is the
supposed sure thing for a team looking
up in the NFC East at defending Super
Bowl champion Philadelphia.
Cole Beasley is the leader of the pass
catchers simply by having the longest
tenure with the team. The Cowboys
have high hopes for newcomer Allen
Cowboys
Romo last year spurred by the sudden
emergence of Prescott, and the team’s
three most important offensive players
for a decade have been replaced by El-
liott, the 2016 rushing champion, and
his backfield mate, that year’s NFL of-
fensive rookie of the year.
“It just shows how fast time goes
and how quick things can change, but
I think we’re both ready to embrace
this leadership role,” said Elliott, who
still led the NFL in yards rushing per
game last season and now is free of the
looming ban over domestic violence al-
legations. ‘We’re excited for this year to
come.”
Preseason: Dallas at Houston, 7 p.m., Ch. 11
Hums and rookie Michael Gallup, the
first receiver drafted by the club (third
round) after dumping franchise touch-
down catch leader Bryant in a cost-cut-
ting move.
“They’re very hungry guys,” Prescott
said. “They’re guys that you may not
necessarily know their names, but that’s
what they want. They want to get out
there and make those plays, let people
know that they can play and they can
play at a high level.”
Elliott ended up serving the suspen-
sion over domestic violence allegations
halfway through last season, triggering
a three-game losing streak that was too
much to overcome in the tight NFC
playoff race.
Throw in the retirement of Tony
r** sterns
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4
I
Some story lines with the Cowboys
seeking a third straight winning season
for the first time since the last of five
straight in 2009:
Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News
Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup prepares to catch a pass during
practice Tuesday in Frisco.
See COWBOYS on 4B
Serena,
Venus set
up Williams
vs. Williams
- - ^
By Howard Fendrich
AP Tennis Writer
NEW YORK - Get ready for the
latest Grand Slam installment of Wil-
liams vs. Williams. One big difference
this time: The superstar siblings will be
meeting in the third round at the U.S.
Open, their earliest showdown at a ma-
jor tournament in 20 years.
Pro tennis
U.S. Open
Serena Williams set up the high-
ly anticipated matchup at Flushing
Meadows by hitting 13 aces and over-
whelming lOlst-ranked Carina Wit-
thoeft of Germany 6-2, 6-2 in a little
more than an hour in Arthur Ashe Sta-
dium on Wednesday night. Hours ear-
lier, across the way at Louis Armstrong
Stadium, Venus Williams did her part
with another straight-set victory, elim-
inating 40th-ranked Camila Giorgi of
Italy 6-4,7-5.
“Unfortunately and fortunately,
we have to play each other. We make
each other better. We bring out the best
when we play each other. It’s what we
do,” Serena said. “I think we’re used to
it now.”
When they play Friday, it will be
their 30th tour-level encounter — plus,
of course, all those times when they
traded shots from across the net as kids
in California, then on practice courts all
around the world. It’s also soonest the
sisters have played each other at any
Grand Slam since their very first tour
match, all the way back at the 1998
Australian Open. Venus won that one.
But since then, it’s been the younger
Serena who’s grown dominant.
The reason this match comes so
early is that their rankings are not what
they’ve been in the past. Serena is No.
26, playing in only the seventh tourna-
ment since she was off the tour for more
than a year while having a baby. Even
though the U.S. Tennis Association
bumped her seeding up to reflect her
past success, it still placed her at No. 17.
Venus, meanwhile is No. 16.
“It’s so young in the tournament,”
Serena said. ‘We would have rather
met later.”
She leads the series 17-12, including
10-5 at majors.
Both have been ranked No. 1. They
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DRC file photo
North Texas announced plans Wednesday to erect a statue of school legend “Mean” Joe Greene at Apogee Stadium. The 8-foot statue will be un-
veiled this fall.
Apogee getting Greene statue
UNT announces plan to
unveil 12-foot display
North Texas football
Littrell, SMU’s Dykes put aside
friendship as teams face off
“Mean” Joe Greene
play 12 feet tall. The statue was sculpt-
ed by Brian Hanlon, whose previous
works include statues of Jackie Robin-
son, Jim Brown, Charles Barkley and
Shaquille O’Neal.
The announcement marks the sec-
ond time in the last few months that
UNT has honored the player widely
considered the greatest athlete in the
history of its athletic program. The
school unveiled plans in May to name
a new residence hall after Greene, who
has remained involved in the UNT
community throughout the years.
He became the first black appointee
to the UNT Board of Regents in 1983.
“For over 50 years, Joe Greene has
made a tremendous impact on our uni-
versity and the athletic program,” UNT
athletic director Wren Baker said in a
statement. ‘As a football player, as an
alumnus and as a regent, he has made
By Brett Vito
Staff Writer
bvito@dentonrc.com
North Texas unveiled plans Wednes-
day to erect a statue of “Mean” Joe
Greene, a football icon whose journey
to the Pro Football Hall of Fame took
off during his time at the school.
Greene played for UNT from 1966-
68 and earned consensus All-America
honors following his senior season. He
went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steel-
ers and was twice named the NFL’s de-
fensive player of the year.
The statue will be located at the
main gate at Apogee Stadium. It will be
revealed in a ceremony at 4 p.m. Sept.
29 prior to the Mean Green’s game
against Louisiana Tech. UNT will hold
a groundbreaking ceremony for its new
indoor practice facility the same day.
The 8-foot statue will stand on a
4-foot pedestal, making the entire dis-
North Texas football
By Brett Vito
Staff Writer
bvito@dentonrc.com
If this was any other week of the
year, North Texas coach Seth Littrell
could count on hearing from Sonny
Dykes.
The two have been friends ever
since their days as assistant coaches
at Texas Tech and usually chat about
everything from their teams to their
wives and kids.
This isn’t any week, though.
Littrell and the Mean Green will
take on Dykes and SMU on Satur-
day at Apogee Stadium. The game
will mark their first showdown as
head coaches.
That has made for an uncomfort-
SMU at UNT, 6:30 p.m. Saturday
able few weeks for two offshoots of
the Mike Leach coaching tree.
They haven’t spoken in weeks.
“Sonny is like family to me,”
Littrell said. “We have been around
each other a long time. Our families
are extremely tight. I wish him all
the best and know he will do a great
job at SMU, but for the past month
we haven’t spoken. That’s how it is
in coaching. At some point you are
going to compete against guys you
have a close relationship with.”
Littrell and Dykes fit that profile.
See LITTRELL on 4B
See GREENE on 4B
See U.S. OPEN on 3B
TWU set to open soccer season, then new stadium Monday
a 6-9-4 season that saw the team fin-
ish below .500 for the first time since
2013. Abouzar said added depth and
competition throughout the lineup will
make a big difference for the team this
season, as will the return of sophomore
Jazmine Navarro, who was an honor-
able mention all-conference selection
last year.
Sophomore Haley Ward and fresh-
man Riley Sutton are among the play-
ers expected to help the offense im-
prove alongside Navarro.
“Jazmine’s definitely going to have
a target on her back because she im-
pressed a lot of people this past sea-
son as a freshman,” Abouzar said. “She
came in ready to play this preseason,
and it’s shown in the way she’s played
and gone about things. We’re definitely
expecting big things out of her and the
added depth means people won’t just
be able to focus on her, but they will
have to know where she is on the field.”
The Pioneers struggled away from
home last year, going 1-7-1 on the road
while posting a 5-2-3 record at home.
TWU hopes to get off to a better start
this season by knocking off East Cen-
tral on Friday before returning home
for the celebratory opening of the new
facility against Westminster.
TWU
“That would just give us so much
momentum heading into that Monday
game,” Abouzar said. “It would definite-
ly get us started on the right foot.”
Volleyball starts season 3-1
The TWU volleyball team had a lot
of new pieces enter the mix this sea-
son, but the Pioneers meshed together
quickly in August and got off to a strong
start to the year by going 3-1 at the
Springhill Suites Pioneer Invitational
over the weekend.
TWU fell to Southwestern
By Brady Keane
Staff Writer
bkeane@dentonrc.com
After holding practices at Guyer and
Braswell while construction contin-
ued on the new Pioneer Soccer Park,
the TWU soccer team will finally ex-
perience the grand opening of its new
facility Monday morning in the home
opener against Westminster.
The Pioneers open the season in
Oklahoma on Friday at East Central
before returning to Denton for the cel-
ebratory opening of the new facility,
which sits on part of the former TWU
Golf Course.
Notebook
‘We’re excited to have a new facility,”
TWU coach Babak Abouzar said. “They
built it so fast, and it’s pretty amazing to
see. We’re definitely excited about the
home opener with new facilities, new
grass and a new stadium.
We were very fortunate to have
Guyer and Braswell allow us to use
their facility during the preseason in
conjunction with football, and we were
able to get a lot of stuff done there. I
think the team handled it well.”
TWU is looking to rebound from
See TWU on 3B
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McCrory, Sean. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2018, newspaper, August 30, 2018; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1138446/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .