Texas has been stirring up the dust for football practices and many are ready to get their season underway. This realignment year has connected old foes and renewed bitter rivalries. Some teams have something to prove from the previous season and we are not even out of a two-county range.
The Fairfield Eagles and Teague Lions continue their rivalry and remain in District 8-3A Division I, joined again by the Groesbeck Goats, Eustace Bulldogs, and Kemp Yellowjackets. The next two years reunites teams that would spend many years together.
The Mexia Blackcats drop down from Class 4A and get back together with Freestone County rivals along with a renewal of the “Battle of the River” when the Mexia Blackcats and Groesbeck Goat take the field.
This reunion has been a bit longer coming than many may have thought. Teague and Groesbeck were the first to drop a few realignments ago, the Goats actually remaining a higher class for one more sequence.
Two years ago, Fairfield joined the Lions and Goats, while the Blackcat were just above the cutoff line and were one of the smallest in Class 4A. It was a relative given that the Blackcats would have the numbers wash over them and join the others in Class 3A.
Now remember the schools are not decreasing in population, it is the urban areas growing and throwing the communities that remain constant have the numbers pass over them.
There are some interesting matchups for the schools in District 8-3A Division I.
Fairfield normally plays larger schools and 2022 is no different. They take on Rusk, Brownsboro, Madisonville and Robinson in non-district and will prove some tough tests for the Eagles.
Mexia has two state champions on their non-district ledger, with games against Franklin and China Spring in back-to-back weeks.
Teague will make the Leon County circuit with games against Centerville and Buffalo just prior to starting district play.
Groesbeck will have some interesting matchups with games at home against state-semifinalist Marlin and a road trip to Crockett.
The Wortham Bulldogs advanced three rounds deep in the postseason and battled number one Mart twice in the same month, losing in the regional quarterfinal when all four District 10-2A Division II teams were still playing as the Region III final four.
Wortham returns several starters from the 2021 team and look to have high hopes for this season. They will return to non-district games with some old foes from several years ago with games against the Kerens Bobcats, Leon Cougars and Blooming Grove Lions.
The upcoming football season is just around the corner so look for an in-depth preview in a few weeks. When the teams take to the field, the Freestone County Times takes to online and newspaper reporting.
(FHS Practice photos by Payton Botelho)
