2022-24 Realignment: 6A Region III & IV Breakdown

UIL Realignment included some notable changes in 6A Regions III and IV on Thursdays. These two regions include stacked districts from Katy, Austin, and San Antonio as a number of teams move up from 5A.

Here is a full look at each of the 16 districts in Regions III and IV.

Region III

Breakdown: Region III remains relatively intact from the last realignment as just five teams are added and four of the eight districts remain the exact same. The biggest storyline to watch will be how Fort Bend Hightower and Katy Paetow adjust to playing at a 6A level after both made deep playoff runs last year with the Panthers winning the 5A Division I State title.

Besides that, the road to state likely runs through District 19-6A with the Katy schools or District 21-6A on the northeast side of Houston with 2021 6A Division I state champ North Shore and the Humble schools making formidable opponents come playoff time.

District 17-6A

Notes: District 17-6A remains unchanged from the previous alignment. Jersey Village is coming off of its first district title since 2018, while Cy-Fair hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2010 and Memorial has made the playoffs each of the past three seasons.

District 18-6A

Notes: District 18-6A is another district that is identical from the previous alignment as the Houston ISD schools continue to square off against one another. Lamar has been dominant in recent times, winning the district title 11 out of the past 12 seasons. Heights won the district title back in 2020 and has made the playoffs every year since 2011.

District 19-6A

Notes: The Katy district expands from seven to nine teams as Katy Paetow moves up after winning the 5A Division I district title and Katy Jordan embarks on its first season in a UIL district after opening in 2020. Katy has won the district title 12 out of the last 13 years, but it is beginning to experience some pushback from the upstarts Katy Paetow and Katy Tompkins. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers adjust to playing 6A football and if they can hang with either of Katy or Katy Tompkins.

District 20-6A

Notes: District 20-6A adds Hightower for this cycle of realignment, an addition that could really shake up the district standings seeing as Hightower made a run to the 5A Division I Regional Final a year ago. Ridge Point has won the last two district titles, but with seven of these nine teams having made the playoffs in the past two years, the competition will be tough on the southwest side of Houston.

District 21-6A

Notes: District 21-6A adds Beaumont United, which moves back up to 6A following two years in 5A Division I. In the rest of the district, proceedings will remain competitive as defending state champion North Shore does battle with 6A regional finalists Atascocita and Summer Creek and C.E. King, which won two playoff games a year ago. And don’t overlook West Brook, which went to the 6A Division II Title Game back in 2018.

District 22-6A

Notes: District 22-6A returns all seven teams from the previous alignment. Deer Park will be looking to build off of its district title last season, while Sam Rayburn had its best regular season record since 2010. However, the elephant in the room is the tough bi-district matchup these teams will face against a loaded District 21-6A that won all four playoff matchups between the two districts last season.

District 23-6A

Notes: District 23-6A is yet another district that is the exact same from the previous alignment. Shadow Creek has made a splash in its first two years as a 6A program, winning 15 games and a district title, while Pearland Dawson hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2008 and Pearland hasn’t missed the playoffs since 1999. Pearland will look to keep that 22-year streak alive with a new head coach after Ricky Tullos departed to take over at Bryan.

District 24-6A

Notes: Following the pattern of much of Region III, District 24-6A also remains unchanged. The past three years, it has been Dickinson, Clear Creek, Clear Falls, and Clear Springs with the stranglehold on the playoff positions as the other three teams all sport multi-year playoff droughts.

Region IV

Breakdown: Region IV will likely continue to run through Westlake and Lake Travis. However, the realignment means Westlake won’t be able to go Division II in the playoffs anymore which could be a major shake-up.

District 26-6A is stacked with five playoff teams from a year ago, while District 29-6A will be a gauntlet with nine San Antonio-area schools doing battle.

The Valley saw a number of teams drop down to 5A Division I as District 31-6A and District 32-6A drop down to six teams from nine and eight respectively last season.

District 25-6A

Notes: District 25-6A makes a straight swap of playoff teams trading Hutto, which moves to Region II, for Manor, which comes up from 5A Division I and rejoins 6A for the first time since 2017.  Both Vandergrift and Cedar Ridge have made the playoffs since 2012 and will look to keep those streaks alive this year.

District 26-6A

Notes: There was plenty of movement in District 26-6A from the previous realignment to this one. San Marcos shifts over to District 27-6A and Buda Hays drops down to 5A Division I. Replacing them are Anderson, Buda Johnson, and Dripping Springs which all move up from 5A Division I.

And while Lake Travis and Westlake have a tight grip on top of the district, the biggest question will be what happens beneath them. Bowie will aim to be playoff bound again after a 10-win season, while Dripping Springs and Buda Johnson will look to make it back to the playoffs despite jumping up a classification. Former IMG Academy coach Bobby Acosta will look to continue to lead Del Valle back to playoff relevance.

District 27-6A

Notes: District 27-6A shrunk from eight teams down to six during this realignment cycle. Smithson Valley, Wagner, and South San Antonio all drop down to 5A, while San Marcos is the lone addition as it slides over from District 26-6A after making the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Converse Judson will look to bounce back after a disappointing 2021 as alumni and former San Antonio Johnson head coach Mark Soto comes over to take over the Rockets.

District 28-6A:

Notes: There’s one switch in District 28-6A as MacArthur drops down to 5A Division I and Marshall slides over from District 29-6A to replace them. That makes it five playoff teams from 2021 battling for four playoff spots next year. And that’s not counting a Roosevelt team that made the playoffs in 2019 and 2020.

Johnson won this district last year, but it will be led by internal hire T.P. Miller this year after Mark Soto left to take over at Converse Judson.

District 29-6A:

Notes: District 29-6A retains its nine-team structure for last year with one straight swap as Marshall moves to District 28-6A, making way for Sotomayor High School, which is set to open this fall. Brennan is looking to build off of its run to the regional finals last year, while Harlan has never missed the playoffs in its four years of playing varsity football. However, Harlan will face its former defensive coordinator Pete Padilla this year as he takes over as the head man at Holmes.

District 30-6A

Notes: There is only one change in this cycle in District 30-6A as Laredo Nixon drops down to 5A Division I. However, with Nixon finishing last in this district a year ago, it leaves the top four intact. Laredo Alexander will look to break into that upper echelon with a new man in charge as offensive coordinator Edwin Garcia was promoted to head coach in mid-December.

District 31-6A

Notes: A multi-year playoff drought is guaranteed to be shattered as District 31-6A shrinks from a nine team to a six-team district with the departures of Juarez-Lincoln, Edinburg Vela, and PSJA North to 5A Division I. Mission finished second last year, while Edinburg finished fourth, but expect this district to be pretty wide open as the other four teams seek to get back into the playoff picture.

District 32-6A

Notes: There’s some shake up in District 32-6A as well as defending district champion Harlingen South and Donna North both drop down to 5A Division I. With five of these six teams having tasted the playoffs in the past two years, look for District 32-6A to be a competitive one the next two seasons.

Look at the 6A Region I and II realignment breakdown HERE

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