By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
Even with the UIL pushing back the start date for Class 5A football programs, the teams in District 16-5A Division I were left in a tight spot.
The 10-team district that houses four BISD squads features six Hidalgo County schools that won’t begin practice until Sept. 28 — the same week the UIL has scheduled as Week 1 — due to county orders. Brownsville ISD plans to do the first four weeks of school online, which won’t allow coaches to hold practice with athletes.
That timeline made playing a full district slate before the Dec. 5 certification very difficult, so the district decided to split into zones for the 2020 season. Brownsville Lopez, Brownsville Pace, Brownsville Porter and Brownsville Veterans Memorial will be joined by Weslaco East in the East Zone. Donna High, McAllen High, McAllen Memorial, McAllen Rowe and La Joya-Palmview will face off in the West Zone.
“It was the only choice we had with everything going on right now,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “I think both zones are equally strong. I have nothing but respect for the coaches in what I believe to be the toughest district in the Valley. I look forward to getting back at it, as I’m sure our kids do as well.”
With realignment dropping Weslaco East, McHi, McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe to the 5A level, there are five 2019 playoff teams competing for the top four spots, with two in the East Zone and three in the West.
Play-in games will be held Week 10 (Dec. 3-5) to determine district representatives and seeding. The top teams in the East and West zones will earn guaranteed playoff berths and face off with the district championship and No.1 seed going to the winner. The No. 2 seeds will play the No. 3 seeds from each zone, and the winners of those games will advance to the playoffs.
If the winners were the second- and third-place teams in their respective zone, the second-place team will be the No. 3 seed. If both teams were second or third in their zones, they’ll do a coin flip to decide playoff seeding.
The district schedule is set to kick off in Week 5 (Oct. 29-31), and each team will have a bye week. Uresti said Porter has a scrimmage planned against Brownsville Rivera to prepare for the district season, and Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu has plans for at least one warmup before his Chargers take on a reduced, but still competitive, schedule.
“We have actually come up with three different kind of schedules depending on what happens, but we do, in each of those options, have at least a scrimmage,” Cantu said. “Honestly, I think our particular conference or zone is very equal to theirs. I don’t think it’s going to make a whole lot of difference as far as at the end of the whole process. I think the top four teams will end up going to the postseason.”
Cantu acknowledged that this won’t be a traditional season, but he’s still looking forward to returning to work with his athletes. He said the summer strength and conditioning camps gave his team, and others across the Valley, a good taste of the way things will work this fall, and he believes having a football season at all will be enough.
“This is a perfect example of, in life, adjustments are necessary. In athletics you learn that lesson greater than in some other places, and especially in this situation,” Cantu said. “Practices are going to be different, locker room activity is going to be different, the way we strength train, all those things will be different. I feel like, although it’s going to be different and adjustments are going to be needed, I think it can still be a really fantastic football season.”