In the past week, North Texas SC has played twice, scratching out a 2-2 draw on the road in Lansing, Mich., and beating Forward Madison FC at home for the second time this season. North Texas has now firmly built a reputation as the best team in USL League One through roughly 25% of the season.

Most notably, North Texas went without any players from the first team in both games. Between injuries, callups, and a lack of depth, they've had to lean in even more on kids from the academy. Despite fielding the youngest and least experienced squads in the league, North Texas came away with 4 points. There's quite a bit to unpack across the two matches, so settle in for a double-length special breakdown.

Players and Tactics

Eric Quill rolled out two very similar lineups in the consecutive games, both without any appearances from first team players, including identical back lines for the first time this season.

North Texas SC starting lineups (John Lenard / John Lenard)

Carlos Avilez got both starts in goal, with Alfusainey Jatta and Cesar Murillo as center backs, Imanol Almaguer at left back, and Kevin Bonilla at right back. Jatta's move from defensive midfield to the back line comes mainly due to a lack of depth on the North Texas roster and the unavailability of both Brecc Evans and Callum Montgomery. The former is injured, but is essentially day-to-day and should be back for the next game, the latter has been needed on the bench in MLS.

Gibran Rayo got his first professional start against Lansing, playing as a defensive midfielder, the role Jatta normally occupies. Tanner Tessman played both games as the primary 8, with David Rodriguez as the playmaking free 8. Arturo Rodriguez played both games, one on the right wing, one on the left. Oscar Romero played opposite Arturo against Lansing, while Ronaldo Damus played against Madison.

Johan Gomez started up top against Lansing, while Ricardo Pepi returned to the starting lineup against Madison.

As we've repeatedly seen this season, Eric Quill's implementation of the 4-3-3 is highly fluid, bending to suit the starters and opposition as needed.

Against Lansing, the 4-3-3 skewed to the right, with Arturo playing higher up and centrally, Romero dropping inside, and Gomez drifting up and to the right, making him the de facto right winger. At times, it resembled a 3-5-2, with both wing backs pushing forward, Rayo dropping back, and Arturo playing as a second forward to Gomez's left.

Ricardo Pepi subbed on for David at halftime, taking his position as a second forward, bending the shape into a 4-1-3-2, keeping Rayo at the pivot and giving Tessman, Romero, and Arturo plenty of space to move around. Bicou Bissainthe subbed on for Romero in the 59th minute, which saw a shift to a double-pivot and something resembling a 4-2-1-3 with Tessmann moving into the primary playmaker role.

The final substitution of Ronaldo Damus on for Cesar Murillo in the 74th minute saw a shift into a 3-4-3, with Gomez moving to the right wing, Pepi playing as the center forward, Damus dropping inside, and Arturo overlapping to the left wing. This tactical shift drilled Lansing late in the game, and led to both of North Texas's goals.

Lansing, meanwhile, played with a fairly static 3-4-3 that didn't change much until the second half, when the substitution of Rafael Mentzingen on for Kyle Carr turned it into an old school 3-3-4 for twenty minutes in which North Texas controlled possession. When Christian Silva subbed on for Steeven Saint-Duc in the 77th, Lansing reverted to their original 3-4-3 for the remainder of the match.

At home against Madison, Bissainthe started as the 6, with Tessmann and David in the same positions as before, while Ricardo Pepi started up top with Damus to his right and Arturo to his left. Bissainthe played deep, turning things into a 3-6-1, with both wing backs playing as wide midfielders, Tessmann dropping back and linking with David, both wingers playing inside and centrally, and Pepi playing deep.

In the 59th minute, Bissainthe subbed off for Hinojosa, who moved to left back, while Almaguer moved into the defensive midfield role. Almaguer looked fantastic in defensive midfield, and I honestly prefer him as a 6 over a wing back. David subbed off for Gibran Rayo in the 73rd, shifting the formation to a 4-2-3-1 with Tessmann playing centrally and Rayo as a second pivot. Johan Gomez came on for Arturo in the 81st, which functioned as a like-for-like swap on the left wing.

Madison's 4-3-3 continues to evolve, with J.C. Banks as the primary defensive midfielder, both outside backs overlapping with their respective wingers, Brandon Eaton serving as a second defensive midfielder, and Josiel Núñez playing as a deep-lying second striker. It ended up resembling a 4-4-1-1 for much of the first half. The sub of Eric Leonard on for Connor Tobin saw Madison shift to a 3-5-2, with Leonard as the primary linking midfielder. Brian Bement entered for Carl Schneider in the 65th minute, shifting Madison to a 3-man backline which ended up playing like a right-leaning 3-4-3. The final sub, Zaire Bartley on for Don Smart, was a like-for-like swap on the right wing.

Goals

North Texas vs Lansing

1-0 Lansing Ignite, 54th minute. Lansing's always dangerous Xavier Gomez sends in a corner kick right to the head of Mentzingen, who beats Jatta in the air and heads the ball past Avilez. North Texas has bodies in the box, but none of them can get to the ball, and Avilez reacts just a bit too slowly.

2-0 Lansing Ignite, 65th minute. A quick, long throw-in from Marshall Hollingsworth finds Alex Bruce right over the penalty spot, completely unmarked, who taps it in while Jatta, Murillo, and Bissainthe are all out to lunch.

2-1 North Texas, 83rd minute. Arturo wins a free kick just outside the box after getting tripped up by Nick Moon. Ricardo Pepi steps up and sends a perfect free kick into the top-right corner of the goal. There's nothing Stefan Cleveland can do.

2-2 North Texas, 87th minute. Bissainthe wins the ball back in midfield, passes left to Almaguer, who passes forward to Arturo along the left wing. Arturo cuts right aroung Alex Moon and slots the ball between Moon and Ivo Cerda, right into the goal.

North Texas vs Madison

1-0 North Texas, 3rd minute. Jatta sends a long pass forward from midfield that Ronaldo Damus sprints to catch. Damus beats two Madison defenders to the ball and slots it in. Clean, quick goal that shows off Jatta's ridiculous passing abilities.

2-0 North Texas, 7th minute. After a few false starts from the back line, Cesar Murillo finds Imanol Almaguer in space, who charges through Madison's defense before playing the ball laterally to Arturo. Arturo takes just a single quick touch, sending the ball right to his brother's feet who bangs in his first professional goal. Well done, young David.

2-1 Forward Madison, 15th minute. Connor Tobin's free kick finds Carl Schneider waiting on the left wing. Schneider plays it forward to Jiro Toyama, who storms through North Texas's defense before passing to Don Smart. Smart manages to get a shot off as he's sliding across the goal line, and it lands in the side netting.

3-1 North Texas, 70th minute. Carlos Avilez starts the string of passes from inside the box, passing to Almaguer who takes a few steps before sending a long pass to Damus on the left wing. Damus chases it down and plays it backwards to Julian Hinojosa. Hinojosa sends a pass to Arturo that Arturo lets pass through his legs to Almaguer. Almaguer takes a few steps before shooting from just outside the penalty arc. Brian Sylvestre dives and misses for Almaguer's first professional goal.

Six Stars

Ricardo Pepi gets my pick for Man of the Match against Lansing. Between the free kick that launched the comeback and coming off the bench despite playing in the Concacaf U17 Final just two days prior, the kid put in an incredible effort on the road. Pepi still leads all of USL League One with 5 goals in 4 appearances, and thus, hype train braketh for no man.

Arturo Rodriguez heat map against Lansing (USL-1)

Arturo Rodriguez gets the second star in Lansing for the game-tying goal with just minutes remaining on the clock and for reigniting North Texas's offense in the second half. Arturo covered a lot of ground despite ostensibly playing as a winger, and it's his versatility all over the field that makes him such an asset to this team. What he lacks in speed he more than makes up for in coverage and footwork.

Gibran Rayo passing chart against Madison (USL-1)

The third star from the road goes to Gibran Rayo, playing just his second professional game and making his first start. Rayo was one of the most accurate passers on the field for 90 minutes, completing 70% of his passes in Lansing's half. Even when the team was down 2-0, Rayo still did everything he could to launch attacks from midfield, and that's exactly what you want to see out of a young player.

From Wednesday's game against Madison, Ronaldo Damus gets my nod as Man of the Match in what was his best performance to date. Between the very early opening goal, chasing down long passes, and consistently finding space behind Madison's defenders, he was electric. His short passing is incredibly accurate despite playing in high-pressure areas, and he looked utterly unfazed by Madison's defending.

The second star goes to Imanol Almaguer, who started in the back line before setting up shop in central midfield in the second half. As a wing back, Almaguer is good, but he's having an absolute breakout year as a 6. He was among the team leaders in completed passes in Madison's half with a staggering 85.7% passing accuracy, and got his first professional goal to cap off a great week.

The third star goes to David Rodriguez for his fantastic goal off a pass from his brother in the 7th minute and for slicing through Madison's defense. Asking a 16 year old kid to play as a primary playmaker in a professional league is ambitious, but David has consistently stepped up and emerged as a very promising young talent. He and Arturo work so well together, and having them both on the field makes North Texas all the more dangerous.

Professional Debuts

We only had one player make their debut across the two games: Julian Hinojosa, who came on for Bicou Bissainthe in the 59th minute against Madison. Hinojosa might just be the best natural left back to play for North Texas yet. For the final half hour, Hinojosa dominated the left touch line and shut down Don Smart and Brandon Eaton. Given the lack of depth in both backlines at the moment, I definitely see Hinojosa getting his first professional start in the near future.

Honorable Mentions

Alfusainey Jatta continues to amaze me. Whether it's his veteran-like presence in training, his work as captain in the absence of Brecc Evans, or his spectacular passing ability, he's always doing something that steals attention. He played two games out of his natural position, stepping right up and doing what needed to be done as a center back. I still don't think that's where he belongs long-term, but it's definitely another strong aspect of his game. General Manager Matt Denny confirmed that there's an option to buy on his loan contract, and reading between the lines, it's not a crazy price. I'd like to see him stay and continue to grow here.

Tanner Tessmann is the midfielder Walker Zimmerman. He's the most natural athlete I've seen in years, who never gets winded, and is learning how to use his intense stature to boost his game on the field. Playing 180 minutes in 5 days as a linking midfielder is tough work for anyone, and Tessmann made it look easy. In the pressbox on Wednesday, we spent a good 10 minutes talking about him. He might be the backup for Paxton before too long.

Through the Numbers

Ricardo Pepi still leads USL League One with 5 goals through 4 games, with both Damus and Arturo sitting at 2 goals. Thomas Roberts, David Rodriguez, Johan Gomez, Tanner Tessmann, and Imanol Almaguer all have a goal each.

In assists, Arturo leads the way with 3, followed by Oscar Romero with 2, and Hinojosa, Pepi, and Almaguer with one each.

Imanol Almaguer currently leads the academy players in minutes played, with 5 starts and one appearance off the bench, for a total of 483 minutes of action, followed closely by Tanner Tessman with 450. Through just 7 games, five academy players have passed 150 minutes of professional play, all without a loss.

Around the League

Last Friday, Orlando City B got its first win of the season, a solid 2-0 takedown of Toronto FC II. Saturday saw Greenville manage a tough 1-0 win at home against Richmond, followed by a hard-fought 1-0 win for Tormenta on the road in Madison. Week 8 concluded with Tucson thrashing Chattanooga 4-0 at home in a game where the Red Wolves looked completely lost.

Week 9 began on Wednesday, with Orlando getting a second win at home, with an 85th minute penalty goal giving them a 3-2 win over Richmond.

With all that, here's how the points-per-game table looks going into the weekend.

USL League One standings by points-per-game (John Lenard / John Lenard)

Week 9 continues with Toronto FC II hosting Tucson on Friday afternoon, followed by Chattanooga vs Greenville and Tormenta vs Lansing on Saturday night. North Texas SC returns to action next Wednesday, May 29, for their first of two trips to Canada to take on Toronto FC II.