The first Monday in February in a UIL realignment year is like Christmas for Texas high school coaches, and when they gather at their Region Education Center and it’s time to open their envelope most of them take a deep breath before breaking the seal. That’s because they’re really never quite sure what’s waiting for them in that envelope. Is it a wonderful gift, or a lump of coal?
This realignment is definitely a “where are we going” realignment for Vernon ISD when it comes to football. For all other sports, the feeling is the current District 7-3A will remain the same, with the exception of Iowa Park which is moving up to Class 4A.
District 7-3A is currently a seven-team district, and it makes sense to leave Vernon, City View, Holliday, Bowie, Jacksboro, and Henrietta in the same district. There’s also really no team close to move in to the district to replace Iowa Park.
However, when it comes to football, only Vernon and Bowie are in Class 3A, Division 1, while the other four teams are in Class 3A, Division 2. If you look at the map, Vernon is alone on an island, with the closest 3A, D1 school being about an hour and half away in Bowie. (Only 3A, D1 schools expected to be in Region 1 are marked on the map.)
For the last two years 101 schools were in 3A, D1 and were divided into four regions, with each region comprised of four districts. There were 21 schools in four districts in 3A, D1 Region 1. Four of those 21 schools will not be in 3A, D1 after this realignment. Iowa Park is moving up to Class 4A, while Amarillo River Road, Breckenridge and Comanche are dropping to Class 3A, D2.
Three schools – Wall, Early and Odessa Compass – will be jumping up to 3A, D1 and all should be in Region 1.
So, where does that leave Vernon?
Most prognosticators have Vernon staying with current district mates Bowie, Paradise and Boyd, with two schools – Pilot Point and Whitesboro – being pulled into the district. Those two schools were in Region 2 in the last realignment. They would replace Iowa Park and Ponder. The outlier here is current district foe Peaster.
Some are keeping Peaster in the district, which would keep seven teams in the district. Others have Peaster heading South, where they’re closest district opponent would be 2 hours away. Does that really make sense when Peaster is an hour away from four 3A, D1 schools?
Doing that to Peaster and pushing Vernon to the metroplex is penalizing two schools when it comes to travel. Unfortunately for Vernon, the Lions are going to be penalized when it comes to travel wherever they land.
The 2024 realignment put four teams in Districts 1 and 2, six teams in District 3, and seven teams in District 4. For several years UIL officials have stated their desire to get away from having four-team districts. If they’re really serious, they have the opportunity to do that with this realignment.
Let’s take a look at some scenarios.
Scenario 1:
District 1 – Dalhart, Amarillo Bushland, Shallowater, Brownfield, Denver City
District 2 – Lamesa, Kermit, Odessa Compass, Wall, San Angelo Leadership
District 3 – Sweetwater, Tuscola Jim Ned, Clyde, Early, Peaster
District 4 – Vernon, Bowie, Paradise, Boyd, Pilot Point, Whitesboro
-- This is the most popular scenario floating around among prognosticators. At least when it comes to District 3 and District 4.
Scenario 2:
District 1 – Dalhart, Amarillo Bushland, Shallowater, Brownfield, Vernon
District 2 – Denver City, Lamesa, Kermit, Odessa Compass, Sweetwater
District 3 – Clyde, Tuscola Jim Ned, Wall, San Angelo Leadership, Early
District 4 – Bowie, Boyd, Paradise, Peaster, Pilot Point, Whitesboro
-- In this scenario, all districts have 5 teams except District 4, which would have 4 teams. The only real travel hardships are in District 1, but regardless of the scenarios, travel is an issue in District 1.
Scenario 3:
District 1 – Dalhart, Amarillo Bushland, Shallowater, Brownfield, Denver City
District 2 – Lamesa, Kermit, Odessa Compass, Wall, San Angelo Leadership
District 3 – Tuscola Jim Ned, Sweetwater, Clyde, Vernon, Bowie
District 4 – Boyd, Paradise, Peaster, Pilot Point, Whitesboro
-- In this scenario, all the districts have 5 teams. This scenario would not have Early in Region 1.
Scenario 4:
District 1 – Dalhart, Amarillo Bushland, Shallowater, Vernon
District 2 – Denver City, Brownfield, Lamesa, Kermit, Odessa Compass
District 3 – Sweetwater, Clyde, Tuscola Jim Ned, Wall, San Angelo Leadership, Early
District 4 – Bowie, Boyd, Paradise, Peaster, Pilot Point, Whitesboro
-- In this scenario there is one four-team district and that would be District 1. And, Early is include in Region 1. There are really no travel issues in this scenario – except for District 1.
Scenario 5:
District 1 – Dalhart, Amarillo Bushland, Shallowater, Brownfield, Vernon
District 2 – Denver City, Lamesa, Sweetwater, Tuscola Jim Ned, Clyde
District 3 – Kermit, Odessa Compass, Wall, San Angelo Leadership, Early
District 4 – Bowie, Paradise, Boyd, Peaster, Pilot Point, Whitesboro
-- In this scenario, all districts have at least five teams, with District 4 having six. Districts 2 and 3 use I-20 as somewhat of a dividing line, with four teams in District 2 being north of I-20 and four teams in District 3 being south of I-20.
Vernon ISD Interim Supt. Dr. Blaise Boswell said he thinks Vernon will be heading either to the Panhandle or South to district around Abilene. He questions why the UIL would send Peaster South when there are so many 3A, D1 schools nearby.
Trying to ensure realignments are as equal for all schools as possible is no easy task. Especially when the UIL is dealing with a state as big as Texas. Regardless of what the realignment looks like when it is released Monday morning, some school districts are not going to be happy. And, regardless of what district they land in, the Lions are going to be road warriors when the 2026 season gets here.