Brock, Eagle Mountain join Rams in new football district

By DAVID MAY

Special to Mineral Wells Area News

The Mineral Wells Rams will square off this fall against some familiar foes and a couple of new ones in their new football district.

The Rams and other high schools across Texas on Thursday learned the districts they will be competing in – barring any successful appeals – for the next two academic years after the University Interscholastic League released its realignments, a process that happens every other February.

In football, the Rams drop down to Class 4A-Division 2. That means rather than being a small school in Class 4A-Division 1, Mineral Wells will now be one of the largest schools in Division 2. Class 4A is for schools with enrollments of 545 to 1,314 students.

Joining the Rams in the new six-team District 3-4A in football are Bridgeport, Burkburnett and Graham. Added to the district mix are the Brock Eagles, which are moving up from Class 3A, and the Eagle Mountain Knights, a new 4A school set to open this August.

Bridgeport, Burk and Graham are no strangers to Mineral Wells. The Rams typically scrimmage or play Bridgeport in most years. The Bulls went 1-9 overall in 2023. Mineral Wells lost to Graham last year, 55-7, as the typically powerful Steers went 10-2 and 3-1, finishing with a top 15 state ranking in Class 4A-2.

Mineral Wells (4-6, 1-3) finished the season defeating Burkburnett, 36-28, for their lone district win. The margin of victory kept Mineral Wells out of the playoffs using a three-way tiebreaker.

Eagle Mountain will be playing its first season of football.

The Brock Eagles are making yet another classification jump. It is a program well-known by Rams second-year head coach Cody Worrell, who with his father helped build Brock into a football power. The Eagles, competing last season in District 4-3A-1, went undefeated in district and five rounds deep in the post-season, losing in the semi-finals to Malakoff to finish the year 11-4 and ranked third in Class 3A-1.

While Graham and Brock will be the teams likely to battle for the district crown and top two playoff spots, Mineral Wells will certainly be a team that can contend for third place and qualify for post-season.

Football is the only UIL sport with split divisions within the classes. Mineral Wells’ basketball and volleyball teams will compete in District 6-4A against Brock, Brownwood, Glen Rose, Graham and Stephenville.

AREA TEAMS

The Graford Jackrabbits will move up from Class 1A to Class 2A when the 2023-24 school year begins. Class 2A includes schools with student enrollments between 105-253.

The Jackrabbits will compete in District 9-2A against Alvord, Chico, Lindsay and Poolville in volleyball, and in District 11-2A in basketball against De Leon, Hamilton, Hico, Lipan, Poolville and Santo.

Speaking of Santo, the Wildcats in football remain in District 8-2A-2 once again competing against Collinsville, Muenster, Lindsay, Era and Chico. The only change to the district is moving Celeste to District 9. The Wildcats hope to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw them go from pre-season district favorites to 3-7 overall after the loss of their starting quarterback in the season’s third game.

After going undefeated in 2023 and losing just one game in the last two seasons, the defending Class 1A-Division 1 state champion Gordon Longhorns move to District 13 along with current district-mates Baird, Lingleville and Gorman. Joining them in the realigned five-man district is the Ranger Bulldogs, a team that went 5-5 last year while not playing in a district.

In basketball, Gordon will compete in District 13-1A against Baird, Clyde Eula, Moran, Ranger and Strawn.

The Strawn Greyhounds made strides on the gridiron last season, going 8-4 overall and winning their bi-district playoff game against Throckmorton before losing in the area round. Strawn competed in District 8-1A-Division 2 the last two football seasons. For the next two years, the ‘Hounds will shift to District 9, paired with Throckmorton, Moran and Woodson. The top two district teams make the playoffs in Class 1A football.

In volleyball, Strawn will compete in District 12-1A against Moran, Ranger and Woodson. In basketball, the ‘Hounds will play, as mentioned above, in District 13 with Gordon.

The Millsap Bulldogs remain in Class 3A-Division 2 in football, shifting to District 6 to face Henrietta, Holiday, Jacksboro, Valley View and Wichita Falls City View, which last season bounced the Bulldogs from the playoffs in the first round. Class 3A includes schools with reported student enrollments of 254-544.

Perrin-Whitt stays in Class 1A-Division 1 in football, but in a new district aligned with Bryson, Knox City, Newcastle and Vernon Northside. The Pirates went 2-8 last season, with both wins coming in their former district.