REGIONAL OUTLOOK

Liberty Hill has had plenty of success in their first two seasons as a 5A program winning the region in back-to-back years and playing for a state title in 2021. The Panthers will have some new and potentially much tougher competition this year in Region IV however.

LHHS starts the year as the heavy favorite in 13-5A Division II, but keep an eye on San Antonio Veterans Memorial who could greatly benefit from the drop down from Division I. Things open up quite a bit after that and there’s even a scenario where first-year program San Antonio Pieper could challenge for a playoff spot with a couple of breaks and if they develop ahead of schedule.

14-5A Division II is a San Antonio-centric district self-contained within the loop in San Antonio. Alamo Heights will benefit from this move as the Mules should dominate this loop. The real battle will be for the last three playoff spots as this district a year ago produced a crazy Week 11 scenario that saw five teams go into the final week of the season with a 5-2 district record.

The big news in 15-5A Division II post-realignment is the decision by Gregory-Portland and Flour Bluff to not opt up to Division I, instead the Corpus area schools will travel south to the RGV this alignment and both are among the chief contenders to dethrone Liberty Hill in the region. Flour Bluff actually wonthe Region IV crown a year ago in Division I, but the Hornets had to fight off a rapidly improving Gregory-Portland squad in a classic regional semifinal. The Wildcats in their second year under head coach Brent Davis could be even better in 2022. Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa expect to be the chief contenders in this district out of the RGV.

After a tough 2020 season, Mission Vets bounced back in a big way in 2021 and David Gilpin’s squad enters 2022 as the team to beat in 16-5A Division II. The Patriots have good talent, depth and experience from an area round playoff team. Sharyland and Sharyland Pioneer expect to be the top challengers to Mission Vets, but neither of these teams are vintage squads we’ve seen from each of these programs in recent years. PSJA Southwest, Roma and PSJA Memorial are all equal contenders in this district for the fourth and final playoff spot.

DISTRICT PREDICTIONS

District 13-5A Division II

1. Liberty Hill
2. San Antonio Veterans Memorial
3. Bastrop
4. Lockhart
5. Kerrville Tivy
6. Bastrop Cedar Creek
7. San Antonio Pieper

District 14-5A Division II

1. Alamo Heights
2. San Antonio Highlands
3. San Antonio Harlandale
4. San Antonio Brackenridge
5. San Antonio Edison
6. San Antonio Burbank
7. San Antonio Lanier
8. San Antonio Sam Houston
9. San Antonio McCollum
10. San Antonio Jefferson

District 15-5A Division II

1. Gregory-Portland
2. Corpus Christi Flour Bluff
3. Mercedes
4. Edcouch-Elsa
5. Brownsville Porter
6. Pharr Valley View

District 16-5A Division II

1. Mission Veterans Memorial
2. Mission Sharyland
3. Mission Sharyland Pioneer
4. PSJA Southwest
5. Roma
6. PSJA Memorial

PROJECTED BI-DISTRICT MATCHUPS

W13 Liberty Hill vs F14 San Antonio Brackenridge

R16 Mission Sharyland vs T15 Mercedes

W14 Alamo Heights vs F13 Lockhart

R15 Corpus Christi Flour Bluff vs T16 Mission Sharyland Pioneer

W15 Gregory-Portland vs F16 PSJA Southwest

R14 San Antonio Highlands vs T13 Bastrop

W16 Mission Veterans Memorial vs F15 Edcouch-Elsa

R13 San Antonio Veterans Memorial vs T14 San Antonio Harlandale

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS

Gregory-Portland over Liberty Hill