SAUNDERS: District showdowns, realignment shakeups loom in six-man football

Each week, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football six-man insider Leman Saunders offers his thoughts on the six-man weekend that was. -Happy handled White Deer to the tune of 70-26, though the score is a bit deceiving — this was a battle throughout. Happy led 24-14 at the half and just 32-20 midway through the third quarter before hitting the gas to hand White Deer its first loss of the year. Now, White Deer must recover to take on unbeaten McLean for the likely runner-up spot in District 1-1A DI. -Coolidge bounced back in the second half to down Aquilla 38-28. The Yellowjackets trailed 22-18 at the half, but their defense held up the rest of the way, allowing just a single touchdown to the Cougars in the second half. Jordan Brown was the hero of the night for Coolidge, scoring five of their six touchdowns, including two kickoff return scores. Coolidge now sits alone at the top of the District 14-1A DI standings. -Spur pulled off a big district win against Paducah in a barnburner, 52-50. The Bulldogs now are tied with Knox City, who defeated Rotan 52-6 in their district contest last week, for the top spot in District 4-1A Division I, and will face off this week for the district title. -District 9-1A DI gave us two great games last week, as Nueces Canyon fought back to beat Eden 60-59 and Medina hung on to defeat a scrappy Lometa bunch, 47-38. Keep an eye on this district; we could see some crazy playoff scenarios. -Motley County had a statement win as it defeated Petersburg 66-20. The Matadors are the clear favorite in District 4-1A DII and can now be considered a Region I threat along with Valley and Follett. -In realignment news, almost all of the Class 1A school snapshot numbers are accounted for, and the division split should settle somewhere around 57, much lower than many expected. Keep an eye on Campbell and Fort Hancock, two schools too large to play Class 1A football that instead have opted for six-man outlaw schedules in the past. Campbell’s snapshot was 113 — larger than the projected 1A cutoff of 104.9 — and while there has been talk about moving to 11-man, nothing is official yet. Fort Hancock turned in a snapshot number of 110, which likely means they will remain an outlaw program, but there is an outside shot that they appeal their enrollment due to a group of students in an early college program in Fabens. Stay tuned.