The last time the Valley Patriots and Spur Bulldogs faced each other in a football game, they had each won their districts handily, defeated bidistrict opponents handily and packed Jackrabbit Stadium in Ralls handily for round two of the playoffs in November in pursuit of the state championship.
Now, these teams will compete in the same district.
As far as realignments go, however, 2022’s was relatively minor. According to Spur head coach Tate Clark, “Realignment stayed fairly close to the same for us.”
“We pulled Valley into our old district,” Clark said, “and lost Paducah and Crowell.”
But familiar doesn’t always mean easy. Clark added, “This district will be a tough one because three of the teams were playoff teams last year. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I don’t know that it will change how we do things much. We will still do what we have done in the past as far as how we approach teams and games.”
John Stanaland, head football coach of Valley, is no stranger to the Spur area. He grew up and graduated from high school in Jayton and coached in Rotan, before taking the position at Valley three years ago.
Stanaland is embracing the new change. “Realignment is always an exciting time. Redistricting with Spur, Knox City and Northside was kind of what I expected,” he said. “I know this will be a really competitive district. We played Spur last year in the Area Round of the playoffs, and Knox City always puts explosive offensive players on the field. Northside is young and will get better each week with experience. It will be a challenge each week and we’ll have to come ready to play.”
In Division 2, the smaller school division where Jayton-Girard ISD plays, the Jaybirds’ new district will include Aspermont.
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