These Two Teams Are Going to Despise Each Other

If your new district game isn't listed here, check out Matt Stepp's 10 Best New District Rivalries.

District 6-6A: Prosper v Prosper Walnut Grove

This will be the first season Prosper Walnut Grove plays in the same district as crosstown schools like Prosper and Prosper Rock Hill. While Rock Hill will be a rivalry, the baddest blood is reserved for the city’s flagship school. Students at Walnut Grove, which opened in the 2023-24 school year, grew up going to Prosper games. Their older siblings might have even attended Prosper. Some of the Prosper Walnut Grove coaches, like defensive coordinator Tyrel Lenard, previously coached at Prosper. These teams know each other too well not to get on each other’s nerves.

District 18-6A: Dickinson v Barbers Hill

Dickinson is coming off its second 13-win season since 1977. Barbers Hill is coming off its first Regional Final Appearance since 1976. Now, these two proud programs, at the height of their powers, will meet in District 18-6A for the next couple of years. 

These two teams could be great rivals for a couple of reasons. First, Barbers Hill needs a new rival after elevating from 5A DI to 6A. And, as evidenced by the opening stat, these teams are perennially “one game away.” Maybe they need each other to get over the hump.

District 9-5A DI: Port Arthur Memorial v La Porte

Just when this rivalry was getting good, they ripped it away from us. La Porte beat Port Arthur Memorial four straight times between 2006-11. But that 2011 season, Port Arthur Memorial got revenge in the Regional Final with a cathartic 34-6 win. Instead of a grudge match in 2012, this game went on an 11-year hiatus. Port Arthur has won intermittent meetings in 2021 and 2023. 

But these two are district opponents again at the perfect moment. Port Arthur Memorial is coming off a 14-1 season, the best in program history. La Porte, meanwhile, returns two of the state’s most dynamic offensive playmakers in the Class of 2028: District Offensive MVP Sean Simon and First Team All-District WR Peyton Smith.

District 13-5A DII: Liberty Hill v Alamo Heights

Liberty Hill ripped Alamo Heights’s heart out in the 2021 and 2022 playoffs. When the current senior class was in their formative middle school years, they watched the Panthers’ Slot-T offense lead Liberty Hill to a 43-40 win in the 2021 Class 5A DII Region IV Final, then again in 2022 with a 37-32 win in the third round. 

Alamo Heights is now in a district with two teams (Liberty Hill and Boerne) with whom they played two instant classics in recent memory, but lost both. Last year, Boerne beat Alamo Heights 37-35 in the regular season, then again 56-49 in the Class 5A DII Region IV Final. Is a revenge tour incoming for the Mules?

District 5-3A DI: Gunter v Pottsboro

Gunter has won the Regional Final every year since 2016. Pottsboro, normally a 3A DI compared to Gunter’s 3A DII, was a non-district rival that allowed Gunter to test itself with early-season adversity. The two programs played every season from 2012 to 2021, with Gunter winning six of the ten contests. 

With Gunter’s elevation to DI in realignment, these two programs, located 28 minutes apart from each other, are in the same district at an intriguing time. Pottsboro is coming off a 12-2 run, the best season since a state championship appearance in 2019. Gunter went 13-2 in the first year under head coach Jordan Gill and will return District Offensive Newcomer of the Year Cole Bolt and First Team All-District QB Knox Gage.

District 15-3A DII: Blanco v Poth

These two programs come from rural towns that revolve around football: Blanco, south of Austin in the Hill Country, and Poth, south of San Antonio. 

Poth has won at least ten games in seven of the last eight years under head coach Jeff Luna. The Pirates’ last district loss was in 2016, but that streak will be put tested by Blanco. The Panthers went 10-3 in their first season under head coach Kent Walker. Walker might not have the pedigree at this specific program like Luna does, but he is a proven winner. He led Liberty Hill to a 45-13 record from 2021-24.

District 5-2A DI: De Leon v Cisco

Since 2018, De Leon has an overall record of 40-52. In the 2020 and 2021 seasons, De Leon went a combined 1-19. Every other year, the Bearcats have been a playoff team. 
Coincidentally, the only two years these two teams played each other were during De Leon’s two-year rebuild. Now they both have positive momentum entering the same district, and their proximity (under 38 miles apart) could create a budding rivalry. 

De Leon went 9-4, the highest win total since 2018, in the first year under head coach Brennan Whitaker. Cisco is coming off a 12-2 season, the fourth Regional Final appearance in six years under head coach Kevin Stennett.

Cisco’s offense against De Leon’s defense will be the marquee matchup over the next two seasons. Stennett’s squad returns QB Colby McIlroy (District Offensive MVP), and three First Team All-District targets in Carter Toof, Corbin Harrison, and tight end Cannon Harison. But De Leon brings back District Defensive Lineman of the Year Gage Heinz, Utility Player of the Year Bryce Burkeen, and Defensive Newcomer of the Year AJ Stewart.

District 1-2A DII: Stinnett West Texas v Gruver

These two programs, 32 minutes away from each other, were the pride of the Panhandle last season, each making the state semifinals. Now, with West Texas dropping to 2A DII, they’ll play each other in a district game. 

But these two teams have some history. In 2025, Stinnett West Texas ended Gruver’s 17-game regular-season winning streak en route to a 14-1 record, the best season since 1995. The teams met five times since 2018, with Stinnett West Texas leading the series 3-2.