Class 2A and 1A football teams will pick on opponents their own size this season.

For the first time, the UIL decided to split these lower classifications into divisions before the season.

In years past, the districts were selected geographically, and teams were placed in the Division I and Division II brackets at the end of the regular season based on enrollments figures.

That system still holds in 3A and up, but area coaches at smaller schools are singing a happy tune about the preseason split.

“I definitely like it,” Chilton coach Robert Little said. “Just from the simple fact of playing Mart, they’re sitting there with anywhere from 180-190 (students) and we’ve got 124-127. It just evens it out across the board, and you can still go out in the preseason and get those games (against bigger teams). Good teams aren’t going to shy away.”

On realignment day in February, there was some push-back when the UIL also announced that only two teams from each district would advanced to the playoffs.

That was a dramatic drop from the previous system, in which three from each league were postseason-bound.

But in July, the coaches were appeased with a third playoff team being added from each league.

“That makes it better,” Crawford coach Delbert Kelm said. “I think a lot of people didn’t read the fine print when they voted on that. The assumption was that we were going to have three teams in the playoffs. ... When it came out that we were only getting two, we said, ‘Whoa, that isn’t going to work.’ When it went to three, everybody was more satisfied.”

In fact, Kelm’s only issue now is that he believes the UIL didn’t take it far enough, saying it should be done at every level.

The biggest problem, he said, is in 3A, where the spread difference in enrollment ranges from 430-989.

“5A is a big spread, too, but if you’ve got 4,000 kids and I’ve got 2,500, I still think I can find 11 that can play,” Kelm said. “... The spread from the top of 3A to the bottom is too big, and it does make a difference. That’s not only because I’m a football coach, but with the physical nature of the game, there are more injuries and depth becomes a big issue.”

Nothing easy for Mart

There were also some rumblings about travel in February, but that has fizzled over time.

While the coaches seem to be satisfied with how it all worked out, some could be forgiven if they’re less than pleased about their district placement.

Take, for example, District 8-1A Division I. Perennial power Mart will battle for district supremacy with Cayuga, the defending 1A Division I champion that knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs last year, 2A drop-down Kerens, which has 18 starters back from a 6-4 season, and a Riesel squad that went three rounds deep in the playoffs.

Mart coach Rusty Nail even went so far as to say on realignment day that he believes the best four teams in the region are in his district.

Most of the power appears to lie in Division I. That’s no comfort to Dawson and Chilton, a pair of highly thought-of area squads that will have to deal with each other in 10-1A Division II.

District 12-2A Division I will be no cakewalk, as a tough Cameron squad drops from 3A to join a McGregor team that was undefeated until the Division II regional final, and always tough Troy.

“Just because we went down from 3A to 2A, it doesn’t mean 2A is going to part like the Red Sea,” Cameron coach Rick Rhoades said. “... There are some good football teams in our district and our region with Tatum and Newton. I feel like we have a good chance to be a good team in 2A, but we still have to be ready.”

But while some districts are stacked, some schools must be grinning from ear-to-ear.

One of those is Teague, which finished 1-9 last season.

But the Lions landed in an 11-1A Division II league in which five of the six teams finished with two wins or less. Only Malakoff, which was 8-3, had more.

Moody is also excited about its drop to 1A and placement in 12-1A Division I. The Bearcats have been unable to compete as a small 2A school, but only Somerville had a winning record among their new district foes.

The divisions make “so much of a difference,” Moody coach Sam Gillispie said. “The classifications, I know the UIL is hamstrung in what it can do. But when I’ve got, for instance 2A, I’ve got 200, you’re playing schools that are double the enrollment. So when they split, the most they’re going to have more than you is about a hundred. So I think that’s going to be nice.”

jorts@wacotrib.com

757-5717

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