Daingerfield took home the regional title last year as the Tigers navigated a tough East Texas region and the Tigers will once again be a formidable foe along with Newton, Woodville and a veteran New Diana squad.
Harmony, the regional champion in 2022 and a regional semifinalist a year ago will be in a transition year with a new coach and a young team. Edgewood brings back key pieces from a playoff team in 2023, Lone Oak and Grand Saline expect to be in a real battle for the three seed, while Quitman is likely on the outside looking in.
Daingerfield and their fourteen starters returning from a regional champion enters the season as the regional favorite, but nearby Hooks, who Daingerfield rolled past in the area playoffs expects to be a tough foe as they are led by nine starters returning on defense. DeKalb and New Boston return plenty of experience as well from teams that made the playoffs a year ago, while Queen City is on the outside looking in despite being good enough to be a playoff team in most districts.
One of the most balanced districts in all of the state in 3A-Division II is 11-3A Division II which features a New Diana squad primed to make some major noise with seventeen starters back from a playoff team a year ago. Arp with sixteen returning starters from an area round playoff squad will be a force, while West Rusk who posted a 10-3 mark a year ago expects to be in contention despite losing a strong senior class. Troup also suffered some key graduation losses, but expect the Tigers to hold off Buffalo and Elkhart for the final spot in the playoffs.
Newton enters the season as the favorite in 12-3A Division II but the Eagles know they will have their hands full inside of district play with a very tough Woodville squad who drops down from Division I with a point to prove after several years of near misses in the post-season. New Waverly and Anderson-Shiro on paper look to be evenly matched for the three seed.
DISTRICT PREDICTIONS
District 9-3A Division II
- Gilmer Harmony
- Edgewood
- Lone Oak
- Grand Saline
- Quitman
- Prairiland
- Paris Chisum
District 10-3A Division II
- Daingerfield
- Hooks
- DeKalb
- New Boston
- Queen City
- Redwater
- Hughes Springs
District 11-3A Division II
- New Diana
- Arp
- West Rusk
- Troup
- Elkhart
- Buffalo
- Winona
District 12-3A Division II
- Newton
- Woodville
- New Waverly
- Anderson-Shiro
- Warren
- Trinity
- Kountze
PROJECTED BI-DISTRICT MATCHUPS
W9 Gilmer Harmony vs F10 New Boston
R12 Woodville vs T11 West Rusk
W10 Daingerfield vs F9 Grand Saline
R11 Arp vs T12 New Waverly
W11 New Diana vs F12 Anderson-Shiro
R10 Hooks vs T9 Lone Oak
W12 Newton vs F11 Troup
R9 Edgewood vs T10 DeKalb
REGIONAL CHAMPION
Daingerfield over Newton
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