The UIL announced its 2018-2020 district realignment on Thursday morning, and we now know that all McCallum sports will be facing some new district opponents starting next fall.

McCallum football will now be in 5A Division 1, Region 3, District 12 and will still be competing against Crockett, LBJ, Lanier, Reagan and Travis. However, Austin High has made the jump back to 6A and will be replaced by both Dripping Springs and Seguin, who will now be in McCallum football’s district starting next fall.

“Honestly, they’re going to be tough competition,” said junior running back Deron Gage. “We’ve played Seguin before so we know how they play. Dripping Springs, that will be something new for us, but I think we’ll be ready to play.”

All other McCallum teams will continue to play in District 25. Like in football, Crockett, LBJ, Lanier, Reagan, and Travis will continue to be McCallum’s district foes while Austin High leaves for 6A. Replacing Austin High will be Dripping Springs and Lockhart in all sports but football.

“Dripping Springs will be a tough opponent,” said junior Maddy Stine, a power forward on the girls varsity basketball team. “They will be a challenge in every sport.”

Stein is right. Dripping Springs will be moving into the McCallum district coming off of some impressive seasons in almost every sport.

The 2017 Dripping Springs Tigers football team went 11-1 including a 10-0 record in the regular season.The Tigers played three of the same teams the Knights did last season. They beat Seguin 35-13, whom McCallum beat 63-31, beat Medina Valley 41-0, whom McCallum beat 37-14, and beat LBJ 59-29, whom the Knights defeated by a score of 38-33.

“I know I’m excited,” Gage said of playing Dripping Springs. “I’m ready for the football season to start.”

While the football team is in a Region 3 district with Dripping Springs and Seguin, the basketball and volleyball districts remains 25-5A in region 4 with Dripping Springs and Lockhart replacing the departing Austin High.

While Austin High proved to be a challenging opponent for the volleyball team in district play the last two seasons, Dripping Springs may prove to be even tougher. Common volleyball opponents between the Tigers and Knights in 2017 included Westlake, whom the Tigers beat 3-1 while the Knights lost by the same score; Wimberley, whom the Tigers beat 3-0 while the Knights lost 2-0; and Kerrville Tivy, whom the Tigers beat 3-0 while the Knights lost 3-0. The Tigers volleyball team made the regional semifinals last year and were ranked No. 50 in Texas.

“With these new teams we’re going to have to be on our toes on defense and speed up our offense to try to catch them off guard,” said junior Lindsey Wiley, a defensive specialist and returning team captain on the varsity volleyball team.

The Dripping Springs baseball team also made the regional semifinals last year and may make tough competition for the Knights starting in 2019. The Tigers beat Medina Valley, the team that knocked the Knights out of the playoffs last year, twice, by a combined score of 13-0.

Dripping Springs will probably be tough in both boys and girls soccer as well. The boys team is undefeated so far this season including a 3-2 victory against McCallum, and it was Dripping Springs who knocked the McCallum girls team out of the playoffs last year.

Although the new district alignment may mean not quite as many victories for McCallum sports next year, it will also grant the Knights a chance to play against some of the best competition in 5A.

“Harder competition is something new to us because of the teams in our district,” Gage said. “They didn’t really challenge us that much, but with this, it will get us ready for the playoffs, with the new teams in our district to give us a harder challenge.”

In the end, the Knights just want to compete.

“It is what it is, you just got to go out and play,” head football coach Charles Taylor said.  “We don’t get to pick, and you just got to go out and play who you got.”