| Realignment Observations & Notes: Class 4A |
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By Christopher Lyke
Texas HS Football Chief Editor
The UIL Realignment as always has its high anticipation of grins, gripes, cheers and jeers. This year's realignment was no exception to the rule. With that said, let's take a class by class and region by region look at what went right and what went wrong. Plus, let's see who came out a winner and who came out a loser in each of the classes and regions. This article covers what we observe in Class 4A.
The Class 4A Realignment can be found here.
CLASS 4A
Region I
Move Downs: Abilene Cooper, Granbury, Masnfield Legacy, Mansfield Timberview
Move Ups: Canyon
What went right: Just as it was in Class 5A, El Paso was virtually left untouched when it came to realignment. Canyon steps into the Panhandle district while Hereford moves to the new South Plains district which brings in long time LSWC member Abilene Cooper. Other areas left untouched was Fort Worth ISD. Overall there are many positives that stretches throughout the region.
What went wrong: The positives of this region far outweighs the negatives and the UIL practically got the region set as it should be. If there is a true item on the agenda that went wrong for Region I just may lie in Hereford's placement in 4-4A as Canyon and Canyn Randall in 3-4A are just 20 miles away.
Winners: Abilene Cooper, Granbury, Timberview, Aledo
Losers: Hereford, Arlington Seguin
Region II
Move Ups: Frisco Liberty, Frisco Wakeland, Royse City, Mabank
Move Downs: Carr. Smith, Carr. Turner, Rockwall, Dallas Carter, Dallas Adams, Longview
What went right: Just as it is with Region I, Region II is very nicely done with its geographic alignment. The two Dallas ISD districts just got a lot more competitive with the addition of Carter and Adams dropping to 4A. The balance of power in the region just may shift from the Golden Circle/Waco district to an expanded geographic reach in Rockwall, Longview and Carter. Anyway you put, 4A Region II just got a lot tougher and a lot more competitive.
What went wrong: The only true realignment question for the region could lie with Cleburne's placement in with District 16-4A as they are just practically next door to Joshua, who sits in 8-4A. For the three Waco are schools in Waco High, Waco University and Hewitt-Waco Midway, travel miles will be logged as they trek onto I-35 and I-45 consistently.
Winners: Longview, Rockwall, Dallas Carter, Forney, All in 14-4A that avoids Longview in the first round of the playoffs.
Losers: Royse City, Mabank, 13-4A when playing Longview, Dallas Carter district opponents
Region III
Move Ups: Pearland Dawson, Kingwood Park
Move Downs: Houston Westbury, Houston Stratford, Magnolia
New Schools: Goose Creek Memorial
Elevated: Forest Brook, Furr, Jones, Kashmere, Scarborough, Washington, Worthing
What went right: In terms of things that went right for Region III, about the only positives out of the map and in geographic terms are 17-4A, 18-4A, 23-4A and 24-4A. But that is where the true positives lie. All four of these districts look to have a very competitive feel to the air , which could lead to some interesting first round contests in the playoffs.
What went wrong: Where to start with all the negatives of how Region III shaped out. Livingston's placement within the Golden Triangle district is the most popular eye-opener of them all. Yet, Barber's Hill is much closer to all of the teams in 20-4A than that of Livingston. Speaking of Barber's Hill, they are placed in a strange nine team arrangement as Forest Brook was elevated by request and Goose Creek Memorial and Kingwood Park begin varsity play. Another head scratcher could lie within Houston ISD's decision to allow six of its eight 22-4A members to play at the 4A level despite having enough schools to occupy their own 3A district with zero travel issues.The extra HISD district may be the result of a log jammed trio of districts 18, 19 and 20.
Winners: Houstton Stratford, Dayton, Magnolia, Hays Consolidated
Losers: Livingston, Elevated HISD Schools, Forest Brook
Region IV
Move Ups: Hutto, Medina Valley, Pleasanton
Move Downs: San Marcos, Seguin, CC Ray, Cigarroa, Lar. Johnson, Lar. Nixon
New Schools: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln
Elevated: Austin Johnston, Austin Reagan
What went right: As it was with Region I and II, Geographically speaking, Region IV appears to have a solid geographic logic applied to it. District 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 32 all have a good natural fit with great geographic rivalries. But if you are looking for a mega-district feel out of this region it would be District 27-4A. Steele, Tivy, Alamo Heights, San Marcos, Clemens and Seguin with rich playoff tradition sit with at least one or two good teams potentially being left out of the playoff hunt.
What went wrong: In terms of interesting errors and senarios, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Johnson and Laredo Nixon, which have been solid 5A teams over the years, drop to 4A and are currently making an appeal to be brought back into 5A. If the three get their wish granted, a ripple effect among teams in 4A Region IV face major scheduling problems.
Winners: District 25-4A, District 27-4A
Losers: Laredo Schools, District 27-4A, Hutto |
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