By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — Rio Grande Valley schools and coaches gathered Thursday at the Harlingen CISD Aquatic Center for the unveiling of the 2022-2024 UIL realignment.
Football programs scrambled to get opponents for their non-district schedules.
There were few surprises in the Brownsville area. One was Porter getting pushed out to Corpus Christi.
“We are excited about it. Getting out of the Valley is a new challenge for us,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “Any time we compete with anybody out of the Valley it is unfamiliar territory for us, but we are excited for the opportunity.”
Porter moves to District 15-5A Division II in football and will play Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, Edcouch-Elsa, Gregory-Portland, Mercedes and Valley View.
Porter will not have to move in basketball. The Cowboys will remain in 32-5A.
Unfortunately, the Southmost rivalry between Brownsville Lopez and Brownsville Porter will not happen this season in football. The Cowboys will play Grulla, PSJA Memorial, Donna North and PSJA Southwest in non-district.
District 32-6A drops two teams, Harlingen South and Donna North. The six-team district will be comprised of Brownsville Hanna, Brownsville Rivera, Los Fresnos, Harlingen High, San Benito and Weslaco High.
Los Fresnos will play Weslaco East, PSJA North, PSJA High, La Joya High and Mission High in non-district. The Falcons beat Mission High in the bi-district round of the playoffs last season.
Brownsville Hanna also has a challenging non-district schedule. The Eagles will play McAllen Memorial, Sharyland High, Harlingen South, PSJA High and Mission Veterans Memorial.
District 16-5A Division 1 is smaller than the current alignment, as the 10-team district will shrink to seven. Brownsville Lopez, Brownsville Pace and Brownsville Veterans Memorial will be joined by Harlingen South, Donna High, Donna North and Weslaco East.
“I like our schedule,” Chargers coach Kelley Lee said. “We got a lot of teams we played last year, so there is the familiarity and the rivalries. It is exciting.”
Brownsville Veterans was still sorting out details with its non-district schedule like some teams. The Chargers will face San Benito, Brownsville St. Joseph and Port Isabel.
Brownsville Lopez will kick off their season against Brownsville St. Joseph. The Lobos then play Edinburg Economedes, La Joya Palmview and Grulla during their non-district schedule.
“We are really excited,” new Lobos coach Shaun Tarantola said. “We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we feel like the teams that we are playing will be a good fit for us as far as trying to build a program.”
Port Isabel played in a Corpus Christi-heavy District 16-4A Division II the past two seasons. The district this alignment is considerably smaller. The Tarpons will compete against Bishop, Grulla and Raymondville.
“It is poetic justice,” Tarpons coach Tony Villarreal said. “Last year we traveled more than the Dallas Cowboys. It was challenging logistically.”
This coming year, their ticket to the playoffs is already booked. But because of the smaller district, it was challenging for the teams in that district to find opponents.
The Tarpons will play Brownsville St. Joseph and Brownsville Veterans Memorial for sure. They are looking to find a couple of opponents from up north as well.