This year, every classification is moving up one…Six Man is now 1A, 1A is now 2A, 2A is now 3A, 3A is now 4A, 4A is now 5A, and 6a is now 5A!!!
Yesterday morning, the UIL made the changes official. Immediately afterwards, my Twitter feed exploded as everybody chimed in with their thoughts and now it is finally my turn…YAY!!!!
To see the complete list of all the schools, please click here.
If you want to see only the San Antonio area, please click here.
I feel obliged to discuss the Judson Rockets and there District and the Northside Independent School District.
The Converse Judson Rockers were previously in District 25-5A along with the Wagner Thunderbirds (they are the other High School in the Judson ISD), the San Marcos Rattlers, the New Braunfels Unicorns, the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars, and the Smithson Valley Rangers.
The Judson Rockets new District will be 25-6A. Joining them will be the Wagner Thunderbirds, the Steele Knights, the Clemens Buffaloes, the Smithson Valley Rangers, the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars, and the New Braunfels Unicorns. Tough tough District…the top teams are going to be Steele, Judson, Smithson Valley, and Clemens. And I know both New Braunfels will try and prove me wrong!! I think this will be the best and most competitive District in the state of Texas where week after week every game can be considered the “game of the week.”
The Rockets 2014 schedule includes 3 teams who had undefeated regular seasons…the Smithson Valley Rangers, the Brennan Bears, and Pflugerville Hendrickson (thanks to @TSRNKoos for that info). They will also play Johnson and Brandeis (thanks to Stephen Dimando IV from Facebook).
Will the Rockets get to 38 consecutive winning seasons? To be honest, I don’t know. Ask me again when the season begins.
Intriguing match-ups
Steele VS Clemens — Both schools are in the Schertz Cibolo Universal City ISD plus for the past few years, Clemens has been in a different classification. Last year, Clemens was 8 and 3 (after going winless in 2012) but lost in the first round of the playoffs and Steele went 12 and 2 losing in the state quarterfinals. Man, this game will be a packed house at Lehnoff stadium.
Wagner VS Judson (The Hammer Bowl) — These are the only schools in the Judson ISD and this game is for bragging rights and a Hammer!!! Records never matter as last year, Wagner lost the game and went winless for the year, but the fans showed up for both teams. I worked this game and got some great pictures of the fans during halftime.
Smithson Valley VS Steele — OMG, finally we get to see these two powerhouse teams play one and other!! WOW!!! My dream has come true…thanks UIL. J J J I really hope I get the opportunity to work this game.
Judson VS Steele — Dude, these teams have played each other for the past few years and the games have been super exciting. In 2010, Tommy Armstrong, the Steele QB and current Nebraska Cornhusker QB, scored on a two-point conversion to win the game (I still think he was short). In 2012, Steele won 42 to 35 but had the Rockets not had the turnover bug (they had 5), they would’ve won the game. Last year, the teams combined to score 85 points and they ran 145 total plays for 1,075 yards…unfortunately, Judson lost again but the Head Coach for the Steele Knights, Scott Lehnoff got his first win of his coaching career.
Judson VS Smithson Valley — Man, both of these teams are on the list of the most storied High School Football programs in the state of Texas. And, folks, when they collide, whether it is at Ranger stadium or D W Rutledge stadium, one can definitely expect a battle between two really smart coaches and all the players involved!! These teams also don’t like each other and that just adds more MOJO to this heated rivalry and I am in the middle of it…Judson is my home team as last year, I worked all the Rockets game and I currently live less than 10 minutes from Smithson Valley.
The Northside ISD previously contained 9 High Schools in District 27-5A and they were the Clark Cougars (my alma mater…class of 1995), the Jay Mustangs, the O’Connor Panthers, the Marshall Rams, the Warren Warriors, the Taft Raiders, the Brandeis Broncos, the Holmes Huskies, and the Stevens Falcons.
Left out were the Brennan Bears because when they opened, they didn’t have the enrollment numbers that there counterparts had so they were thrown into District 28-4A. In 2010, the Bears were winless. Last year, they went 15 and 1 and that loss came in the state championship game!!!
The Northside ISD is now District 27-6A and they got all 10 Northside High Schools, but the good thing is, the UIL divided em up into two zones.
According to the SA Express News High School beat writers; this division format gives teams 4 scheduled District games. The first place teams in both zones will clinch a playoff berth and they will play each other in Week 11 for the District championship. Then the second place team in one Zone will play the third place team in the other Zone…the winners will clinch the final two playoff berths.
On paper, this looks easy to understand but I know something will come up and will make this impossible for me to comprehend and that is when I will enlist the one and only Mark Kusenberger to sort everything out for me and also for you.
Zone 1
Brennan Bears
Jay Mustangs
Stevens Falcons
Taft Raiders
Warren Warriors
Zone 2
Brandeis Broncos
Clark Cougars
Holmes Huskies
O’Connor Panthers
Marshall Rams
I just gotta say that it would be so unfair if Brennan, Warren, O’Connor, and Brandeis were in the same zone cause those 4 teams have been and are the cream of the crop.
So, how awkward would it have been for all the other teams if the newcomer on the block, the Brennan Bears had won the state championship last season?
Intriguing match-ups
Brennan VS any team — I am very interested to see how Brennan fairs with more competitive teams as the past few years, Brennan was in a different classification and the teams they played just couldn’t compete with the athleticism of the Brennan Bears.
The Brennan Bears 2014 non-District schedule includes the Judson Rockets and the Smithson Valley Rangers (WHOA NELLY)!!!! Thanks to @mysahighschools for that tidbit.
HOLY CRAP, the 2014 High School Football season is almost around the corner!!!
