Here’s how some high school football districts have adapted with chance of shutdown
Playoff berths and district championships are secured in the final week of the regular season. The hype around those games and the atmosphere and electricity in the stadium are unmatched.
It happens every year in every sport.
But because of the coronavirus and the uncertainty on whether teams will get through a full high school football season this fall, some area coaches have had to adapt.
Coaches from Duncanville, Aledo and Kennedale have gone to zones.
In zones, an eight-team district turns into two four-team zones. A team like Aledo will play the three teams from Zone A to begin district play. If the Bearcats finish with the best record, they will play the best team from Zone B for the district title and No. 1 playoff seed mid-season. The loser will be the No. 2 seed.
Aledo coach Tim Buchanan said Mansfield Timberview coach James Brown came up with the idea. Brown has some experience with zones while coaching in the Houston area during hurricane season.
“We were talking about what we would do if we couldn’t play all seven opponents,” Buchanan said. “One reason to do zones is it prevents us from picking district seeding by flipping a coin if things go bad. Our goal is to make sure that games on the field determine playoff seeding.”
During the same week of the district championship, the other three playoff spots will be determined. The second and third teams from each zone will play each other for the third and fourth playoff seeds. The last place teams in each zone will also play, but would have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
Following that week, Aledo will play the other three teams from Zone B to finish the regular season with those dates, times and venues still to be determined.
“We believe this is the smartest and best thing to do,” Buchanan said.
In July, the UIL announced that schools in Class 4A and below could start on time, but when Tarrant County officials originally pushed back the season, Kennedale coach Richard Barrett immediately thought of other options.
The district discussed playing every five days, but that was quickly taken off the table. It started off with zones, but went back to the normal district schedule after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s announcement allowing school leaders to decide when to start classes.
Kennedale’s district finally decided that going back to zones was best.
“We want to play as many games and staying optimistic and realistic that there could still be a shutdown, zones is the best way to go,” Barrett said. “If we don’t play another game on or after Nov. 13, at least we’ll have our four playoff teams set and that’s what seemed to make the most sense. Everyone was very comfortable with where we are.”
District 11-6A
Zone A
Duncanville
Mansfield
Waco
Waco University
Zone B
Mansfield Lake Ridge
DeSoto
Cedar Hill
Waxahachie
Zone seeding game: November 13
District 5-5A Division 2
Zone A
Aledo
Arlington Seguin
Everrman
Waco University
Zone B
Mansfield Timberview
Burleson
Cleburne
Joshua
Zone seeding game: November 6
District 6-4A Division 1
Zone A
Kennedale
FW Carter-Riverside
FW Eastern Hills
FW Dunbar
Zone B
FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis
FW Western Hills
Castleberry
Benbrook
Zone seeding game: October 9
