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Photo by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
UIL Realignment Introduces New DFW School, Affects Rivalries & More
Thousands of Texas communities were affected by the 2020-2022 UIL Realignment, and Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex high schools were among them. Check out five things to know about Monday's football announcement.
No. 1 Out-of-Town Guests: San Angelo Central may not be on area teams' district schedules anymore, but that's not preventing other out-of-towners from matching up with local squads in late regular season games during the 2020 and 2021 football seasons. We start in 10-6A, with Tyler Lee charging from East Texas to play Dallas Skyline, Mesquite ISD (Mesquite, Mesquite Horn and North Mesquite) and Rockwall ISD (Rockwall and Rockwall-Heath). The neighboring 11-6A will feature Waco schools' (Waco and Waco Midway) trips to Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lake Ridge, Mansfield and Waxahachie in league play. Other notable out-of-market opponents are Abilene Cooper in 3-5A Division I, John Tyler and Longview in 7-5A Division I and Waco University in 5-5A Division II.
No. 2 Allen & Plano Part Ways: Allen and Plano are separated by 7.2 miles, so it's not a surprise that their high schools were longtime competitors in the same UIL football district. But, that will change for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Allen will team up with Aubrey Braswell, Denton Guyer, Little Elm, McKinney, McKinney Boyd and Prosper in 5-6A, while Plano ISD schools (Plano, Plano East and Plano West) have planned battles with Coppell, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Flower Mound Marcus and Hebron in 6-6A action. If you're wondering about the future of the Allen/Plano East rivalry, it's expected to be played as the teams' season opener the next two years.
No. 3 Private Power Faces New Tests: Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas is one of the two UIL private school members and has found vast success in the league since it joined in the early 2000s. The Rangers are coming off an impressive 2019 playoff run to the UIL 6A Division II Region II Final, but have new challenges for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. As a member of 9-6A the last two years, they played Allen, McKinney, McKinney Boyd, Plano, Plano East, Plano West and Prosper. Now, they will make the move to 7-6A and battle Irving ISD (Irving, Irving MacArthur, Irving Nimitz) and Richardson ISD (Lake Highlands, Richardson, Richardson Berkner and Richardson Pearce).
No. 4 New Kid On The Block: Collin County has grown enough to give another one of its communities a high school. The Rock Hill Blue Hawks will kickoff their varsity sports district competition against fellow 7-5A Division II members Denison, Frisco, Frisco Lebanon Trail, Frisco Liberty, Frisco Memorial, Lake Dallas, Lucas Lovejoy and Princeton.
No. 5 Get Your Maps Ready: Denton and Denton Ryan will move from Region I to Region II in 5A Division I and Duncanville saw a similar transition from 6A Region I to 6A Region II, so they will have different playoff paths for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEDFW) on Twitter.
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Photo by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
Austin/San Antonio UIL 5A/6A Football Realignment Highlights
Thousands of Texas communities were affected by the 2020-2022 UIL Realignment, and Austin/San Antonio/Hill Country high schools were among them. Check out VYPE's breakdown of the day's football announcement.
UIL 6A
No. 1 Austin Likes New Road: The former13-6A district, which adds former 5A Division I power Hutto and loses Leander and Pflugerville Hendrickson, will compete under the 25-6A brand in Region IV. Its playoff representatives will open the postseason against lone returning 26-6A member San Marcos or former 25-6A members Austin High, Austin Akins, Austin Bowie, Del Valle, Hays, Lake Travis and Westlake.
No. 2 San Antonio Shake-Up: Cibolo Steele, Converse Judson, New Braunfels, San Antonio East Central, San Antonio Wagner, Schertz Clemens and Smithson Valley will team up with returning 27-6A member South San Antonio. San Antonio Brandeis and San Antonio Clark remain in 28-6A to take on North East ISD (San Antonio Churchill, San Antonio Johnson, San Antonio LEE, San Antonio MacArthur, San Antonio Madison, San Antonio Reagan and San Antonio Roosevelt), while the rest of Northside ISD (Helotes O'Connor, San Antonio Brennan, San Antonio Harlan, San Antonio Holmes, San Antonio Jay, San Antonio Marshall, San Antonio Stevens, San Antonio Taft and San Antonio Warren) makes the move to 29-6A.
UIL 5A Division I
No. 1 New Lineup For Austin: 11-5A Division I returning members Cedar Park, Georgetown, Manor and Pflugerville will now battle Austin Anderson, Leander, Pflugerville Hendrickson and Pflugerville Weiss in district play.
No. 2 Edgewood ISD Replaces Judson ISD: San Antonio Wagner returns to the state's highest classification after a two-year stint in 13-5A Division I and fellow Judson ISD school San Antonio Veterans Memorial makes the move to 12-5A Division I to take on Buda Johnson, Dripping Springs, Harlandale, Kyle Lehman, New Braunfels Canyon, San Antonio McCollum and Seguin. That allowed Edgewood ISD schools San Antonio Kennedy and San Antonio Memorial to team up with seven San Antonio ISD schools (Brackenridge, San Antonio Burbank, San Antonio Edison, San Antonio Highlands, San Antonio Sam Houston, San Antonio Jefferson and San Antonio Lanier) in 13-5A Division I.
No. 3 Pack Your Bags: San Antonio Southside, San Antonio Southwest and Von Ormy Southwest Legacy opened their packets to an unexpected surprise on Monday. The UIL gave them lengthy 14-5A Division I road trips to Eagle Pass Winn, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Martin and Rio Grande City during the 2020 and 2021 football seasons.
UIL 5A Division II
No. 1 Austin Expands Classification Reach: The area landscape will look completely different the next two seasons because eight UIL 5A Division II schools are arriving from a different classification. Austin ISD (Austin Crockett Early College, Austin McCallum, Austin Navarro Early College, Austin Northeast Early College and Austin Travis Early College), Leander Rouse and Pflugerville Connally dropped from 5A Division I, while Liberty Hill moves up from 4A Division I. Bastrop ISD remains in 13-5A Division II with fellow returning members Brenham, Elgin, Georgetown East View and Leander Glenn, and will welcome Leander Rouse and Pflugerville Connally for the next two years. Next up is 14-5A Division II, which will feature the Austin schools, former 13-5A Division II member Marble Falls and former 4A power Liberty Hill.
No. 2 Powers Stay Together: Expect former 14-5A Division II members Alamo Heights, Boerne Champion, Kerrville Tivy, Lockhart and Medina Valley to make more noise. They now have to face returning 15-5A Division II member Floresville, instead of former district mates Edgewood ISD and Uvalde.
Interested in other UIL Realignment coverage? Check out our story about the moves of former 5A Division I members Hutto and Austin LBJ Early College, as well as our realignment discussion on this week's Locker Talk ATX/SATX episode (available to watch on Tuesday or Wednesday.)
For additional sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEATX/@VYPESATX) on Twitter.
Looking to get more involved? Check out ShopVYPE for fresh gear that supports local schools and the VYPE U Ambassador Program. To sign up for the VYPE U Program, apply at VYPEU.com.