Burnet to stay in virtually the same sports districts

The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District athletic department will face some familiar and not so familiar foes in the next two years in district play.

The University Interscholastic League released realignment for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years at 9 a.m. Feb. 2.

Burnet (985 students), Marble Falls (1,172) and Lampasas (1,137) remain together in the football, volleyball and basketball districts.

But the surprise in football may have been in who is joining them — China Spring (931), Jarrell (1,147) and Stephenville (1,076) — and that they’re all playing in District 12-4A Division I, which is in Region III.

“Not a surprise with Region III, not totally surprised by the district with the exception of Stephenville,” Burnet Consolidated Independent School District athletic director Grant Freeman said. “Stephenville was moved all the way to Region III – that was a shock.”

He noted that Stephenville, which won the 2025 Class 4A Division I state title as a member of District 4-4A Division I with Burnet, Marble Falls and Lampasas, will have to do more traveling if the Yellowjackets want to repeat. The four played in Region I the last two years.

“I look at how far Stephenville is going have to go in the playoffs,” Freeman said. “They have to drive past a couple of regions to go down to Houston, the Houston area, to play. That’s just tough when you take us and them. I’m not a shocked for us, because we’re in the middle. But taking Stephenville all the way to Houston for playoff games is pretty wild.”

While Stephenville won the state crown last year, China Spring won it in 2022. Jarrell, which operates the slot-T offense the last two seasons, finished third in District 13-4A Division II with a 4-2 record and beat Devine 66-28 for a bi-district crown.

China Spring finished fourth in District 12-4A Division II with a 2-3 record and defeated Bellville 28-21 for a bi-district title before losing to La Marque 27-21 in the area round. The Cougars were 4-8 overall.

“It’s not so much of a shock to be with those schools, it’s more of a shock to be in Region 3, going to Houston and being so close to Austin,” Freeman said. “So that’s the only shock to me.” 

The athletic director said he believes the four teams that can advance from this district into the postseason will definitely have earned it.

“I think sometimes whenever you are in a district, and I’m used to this from being a coach up with Aledo in that group, you’d rather have the big dog in your district,” he said. “Because that way you’re not going to play them immediately in the playoffs and if you can survive a tough district, you’re battle tested and ready to make a run in the playoffs, and that’s a big deal.”  

In all, 205 football teams are in Class 4A with 108 in Division I with enrollments of 896-1,304.

In the volleyball and basketball districts, Burnet, Marble Falls and Lampasas will continue to play Georgetown Gateway and Jarrell and will welcome Lago Vista (647), which was in the district with them from 2022-24. But all are part of the new District 25-4A, which is now in Region IV.

The volleyball and basketball teams will not play Salado and Taylor, which were in the same district with them the last two years.

“I think adding Lago is a natural fit for us,” Freeman said. “We play them in a lot of other things, and so I think being the first school in Region IV benefits us because now you’re going to play the Austin schools in the first round, so your district is pretty similar. It’s your region and your playoff run that’s a little bit different. I think we’re familiar with all these teams and I think it helps us playoff wise to be that top school in that Region IV.”

Salado has challenged or won the district title in volleyball and boys and girls basketball. So is this new district going to be as competitive as the current District 24-4A?

“That’s the question that you have to answer, and there’s a way to fix that,” Freeman said. “I don’t think it is as tough cause Salado’s not in there, (Taylor’s not) in there. But you can (play more challenging opponents) through non-district scheduling. That’s the challenge to our coaches is to really set up a non-district schedule to challenge them in different ways going forward, so that they can make a better run in the playoffs.”