Hermleigh, Ira join Borden County, Klondike, O’Donnell in District 5-1A
Scurry County’s three public school districts learned their 2016-17 and 2017-18 district opponents in football and basketball today.
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) realignment released the new distircts today for each of its six classifications.
In football, Snyder will remain District 3-4A Division I while Hermleigh and Ira will be in District 5-1A Division I with three new district opponents.
Snyder will play Big Spring, Brownwood, Stephenville and Wylie in football. Borden County, O’Donnell and Klondike will join Hermleigh and Ira in a new football district. Highland dropped to Division II while Westbrook moved to District 6-1A Division I.
Snyder head coach James Polk said the alignment did not catch him off guard.
“It’s never a shocker at realignment and we just need to keep working hard,” Polk said. “I know some people will say it’s not a good district for Snyder. We teach players to compete and not be scared of those teams, and they aren’t scared of them. They were powerhouses last year and we went 2-2 and made the playoffs.”
Polk said the football district will help his team.
“I don’t want the fans to get down and start saying ‘Poor me,’” he said. “It will get the players and coaching staff fired up. All four teams are good programs. We want to play against the best competition. I’m excited about the district.”
Realignment didn’t surprise Ira head coach Toby Goodwin.
“That’s why I always say it’s never good to guess what the UIL will do,” Goodwin said. “We’ve played the teams in the past. It’s time to put a schedule together and get to work. I didn’t expect five teams for sure.”
Hermleigh head coach Shane Mallory said he did not think his school would be the southernmost of the five teams.
“Our district will be very brutal,” Mallory said. “You play good teams in the playoffs and we will be playing good teams in the district. It’s time to line up and play.”
In basketball Snyder, Big Spring, Brownwood, Sweetwater and Wylie will play in District 5-4A.
Ira and Hermleigh will join Borden County, Highland, Loraine and Westbrook in District 12-1A.