Friday, November 20, 1998

District 4-5A teams fared well against non-district opponents

By Jeff Walker

With Abilene's two 5A schools ending their football seasons earlier than they hoped, consensus may say it was a down year in the Key City, maybe even in District 4-5A.

The numbers, however, indicate otherwise.

Every team in District 4-5A except Cooper, which made the playoffs, had a winning record in its non-district schedule.

"There's no question about it," Abilene High head coach Steve Warren said when asked if his district was one of the strongest in Texas. "When you look at who we play, and I'm not talking about just us, but Cooper and everyone else, it is one of the toughest districts in the state to play."

Cooper went 2-2 on the field but had to forfeit its victory over Killeen High for using an ineligible player, leaving the Cougars with a 1-3 non-district record.

Teams from District 4-5A compiled a 21-8 record during non-district games. A number of those victories came against quality opponents, schools that are still alive in the playoffs.

Abilene High's only loss in non-district action came from Euless Trinity. The Trojans are currently 11-0 and knocked off Killeen Ellison last week in the bi-district round.

Warren said traditionally, Eagle teams in the past scheduled non-district games against some 4A schools. He has been determined to stop that trend.

"When it comes to scheduling, we felt we needed more credibility than what Abilene High had done in the past," Warren said. "They played several 4A schools and we didn't feel we could get to the next level playing against 4A schools, we needed to schedule quality 5A opponents to get to that level."

Ellison, a team that held the top spot in the Class 5A poll during the season, handed Cooper one of its two losses in non-district action.

The Cougars' other non-district loss came to Waco High, which plays South Grand Prairie in the area round tonight at Texas Stadium.

Other teams from the district played future-playoff teams as well.

Odessa Permian knocked off Amarillo High earlier this season. The Sandies, of course, knocked Cooper from the playoffs last week.

The Panthers' cross-town rival, Odessa High, opened the season with contests against El Paso Socorro and El Paso Montwood. Both teams from El Paso are still alive in the playoffs, though both may get a quick exit this week when facing Amarillo High and Permian.

With the University Interscholastic League realigning every two years, each school must sign a two-year commitment for its non-district games. Therefore, the schools will play the same schedule next season, but the site will be opposite of what it was this season.

Coaches can't officially schedule non-district games until February, but Warren said the "unoffical" lobbying begins before that.

"You develop relationships with coaches over the years," he said. "You talk ahead of time and you might say something like 'Let's try to get matched up some time.' You sort of make an oral commitment and then make it official when the time is right."

There are two philosophies to making an out-of-district schedule. Some coaches prefer their teams to build confidence by winning as many games as possible before hitting the district schedule. Others, however, which includes Warren and Cooper head coach Randy Allen, prefer playing tougher opponents to prepare for the level of competition they expect in district.

"If you're lucky you get both," Warren said. "For our district, you need to play tough people because every ballgame is tough in district. It doesn't matter who you play, it's going to be tough so you better get your team ready for that."

Jeff Walker can be reached at 676-6711 or sports@abinews.com.