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Updated Sunday, November 06, 2011 7:45 PM
Class 1A/Six-Man realignment: So long, Division II
The ranks of Class A football teams in the area will grow by one in Division I, and shrink to zero in Division II in the upcoming University Interscholastic League realignment, which will be unveiled to much fanfare on Feb. 2.
Just like in Class 2A, 1A football will be districted into Divisions I and II.
Trenton will join a Division I district in its first varsity football action since 1959, and will be a logical fit for neighbors Honey Grove, Blue Ridge, Wolfe City and Celeste. Meanwhile, Savoy, which has battled numbers problems throughout its 11-man football history, will opt to join the six-man ranks, leaving us without any local 1A Division II members.
It would appear that Collinsville, on the far western end of Grayson County, will remain with longtime rivals Lindsay and Valley View and recent addition Chico, but Muenster (141) and Petrolia (135) will drop to Division II. Alvord would fit if the 1A-2A cutoff goes above 204, and if it does, the UIL may leave this as a five-team district.
If not, then the district may stretch out to pull in Windthorst (160) and Archer City (155). I think this may be the way the UIL goes.
To the east, you have the aforementioned core of neighboring big 1As — Blue Ridge, Celeste, Honey Grove, Trenton and Wolfe City. It’s likely Quinlan Boles will remain and Trenton slides in to replace Clarksville, which will return to 2A. So that district looks like an easy fix.
District 5-A (I)
Archer City 155
Chico 158
Collinsville n/a
Lindsay 171
Valley View 184
Windthorst 160
District 6-A (I)
Blue Ridge 186
Celeste n/a
Honey Grove 165
Quinlan Boles n/a
Trenton n/a
Wolfe City n/a
Since we won’t have any local 1A small schools with Savoy going to six-man, I won’t worry about those here.
Six-man football is starting to become a player in Texomaland once again. Schools like Celina, Blue Ridge, Gunter, Prosper, Collinsville and Tom Bean were playing either six-man or eight-man football in the 1950s, and Gunter stayed with eight-man right up until the UIL abolished it in 1976 — and stuck with it for a couple of years afterward as an independent.
Long a staple of desolate West Texas, the six-man game is gaining increasing favor in the east. Fannindel found success in six-man after struggling with declining enrollment. Savoy, until now, had always been a “tweener” school, too big to be eligible for six-man, yet too small to be consistently competitive in 11-man.
Savoy will compete in Division I, which means the Cardinals won’t be placed with much-smaller Fannindel, but those two will play non-district games against each other.
Savoy will likely join Bloomburg, Irving Universal, Saint Jo and Bowie Gold-Burg in a far-flung Division I district. Bloomburg sits on the Arkansas state line, making six-man football a true border-to-border presence in the Lone Star State.
Next fall, Fannindel will be joined by Campbell in Division II. In 2014, they’ll be joined in turn by Tioga, which is building a new high school. Tioga, a K-8 district, presently sends its high-schoolers to Gunter.
But for now, Fannindel and Campbell will be travel partners in a league that might include Bryson and Forestburg one way, or current rivals Karnack and Trinidad another way. Milford, way on the other side of the Metroplex, should have district options in Central Texas that are more travel-friendly for all involved.
All right then, that takes care of all our local classifications. In the next few days, I’ll take a look at future enrollment projections and where all our local teams may be headed later this decade.
 Comments ... 2 found!
Fannindel : 1/4/2012
Fannindel has requested to be placed in Division I with Campbell, Savoy, Bloomburg, Saint Jo, Fruitvale, Irving Universal
Falcondaddy1
: 1/4/2012
Fannindel has requested to be placed in Division I. They would be placed in a district that could involve any scenario combining;
Fannindel, Campbell, Savoy, Bloomburg, Fruitvale, Irving Universal, SaintJo, Bryson
Falcondaddy1
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