ATHENS — It’s not often that favorable things are written about the University Interscholastic League at realignment time.

Somebody always gets the shaft (like, say, Corsicana getting thrown in a district with John Tyler and Nacogdoches this year). Frankly, when you’re dealing with hundreds of schools, making everybody happy is an utter impossibility.

I’ve dinged the old UIL myself over the years, but not today. Today, only praise.

This time, when it comes to realignment and its effect on the Henderson County area, the UIL got it right.

Kemp (a Kaufman County school that has always been considered an area school) dropped down to Class 2A for the first time and landed in a district with Malakoff and Eustace.

Athens and Brownsboro stayed together, and even got included in a district with Mabank. Brownsboro got reunited with Van, which many Brownsboro folks consider to be their main rival.

Yes, there were a few grumbles coming out of the offices of area coaches Thursday. Coaches typically work months in advance to set up non-district schedules and then seal the deal on realignment day.

Mabank head football coach and athletic director Jimmy Cantrell was among those, but when he got his realignment news at 9 a.m., he was suddenly left trying to scramble to schedule three non-district games.

Eustace head coach/AD Brian Herman, who led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 record last season in his first year at the school, was left looking for two when games against Malakoff and Kemp became district contests.

But a look at recent history shows just how fortunate the Henderson County area was to get such a draw from the UIL.

In 2010, Eustace dropped to Class 2A and seemed a lock to be put in a district with Malakoff — which is only about 10 miles away to the north.

Instead, Malakoff got pulled south in a district that included Crockett, Elkhart and Trinity, the latter of which is roughly a four-hour round trip. That might not sound so bad on a Friday night, but consider that kind of trip for a middle school kid on a weeknight.

If Kemp, Malakoff and Eustace are all in Class 2A, they should always be together. Bottom line.

An unintended consequence of this latest realignment will be a series of non-district games that should pack stadiums and draw huge interest.

Malakoff and Mabank will face each other to open the football season, marking the first time they’ve played since 1989 (this, according to former Review sports editor and human library Benny Rogers). The schools have met 47 times previously, with Malakoff holding a 24-22-1 edge in the series.

Athens — which at one point had Malakoff on its non-district schedule — picked up Gladewater. While it may not sound like an exciting matchup, Hornets who played through the 1970s and early ’80s might be interested. Athens and Gladewater played seven times from 1971 to 1981, with the Hornets winning four of those meetings. They last played in ’81.

Another game of interest is Trinidad — considered a powerhouse among Texas Six-Man teams — squaring off with Athens Christian Prep. ACP is only beginning, but this past season set a school record for victories (12) on the way to winning a postseason tournament among independent teams.

So I guess it’s fair to say that maybe it isn’t so much that the UIL did something right (or in past years, wrong).

It’s just that we got something out of this one that we wanted.

Jayson Larson is sports editor of the Athens Review.

2012 non-district

football schedules

NOTE: Non-district schedules will not become official until later this month. The games listed above should be considered tentative.



Athens

Kaufman

Spring Hill

Gladewater

Rusk

Palestine

Scrimmages: Wills Point; Chapel Hill



Brownsboro

Crandall

UNDETERMINED

Westwood

Wills Point

Rusk

Scrimmages: n/a



Cross Roads

Dawson

Hawkins

Rice

Wortham

Groveton

Scrimmages: Tyler All Saints; Hubbard



Eustace

Canton

Rice

Rusk

Rains

Scrimmages: Scurry-Rosser; Ferris



Kemp

Palmer

Ferris

Tyler Grace

Mabank

Scrimmages: n/a



Mabank

Malakoff

Wills Point

Quinlan Ford

Kemp

Kaufman

Scrimmages: Jacksonville; Mansfield Lake Ridge



Malakoff

Mabank

Italy

Kerens

Westwood

Scrimmages: Bullard Brook Hill; Frankston



Trinidad

Bynum

Greenville Christian

Coolidge

Oakwood

Abbott

Penelope

Athens Christian

Scrimmages: n/a