HENDERSON, Texas — District 9-4A Division I, also known as “The District of Doom”, has been recently dominated by Kilgore, Chapel Hill and Lindale, with the latter two playing in state championship games since 2020.
Those three teams are still in the district with Kilgore and Chapel Hill both at 2-1 in the district race and Lindale at 1-1.
Pine Tree, which joined the district this season after dropping from Class 5A, is 5-1 overall and 1-1 in district play. Mabank and Palestine are both winless in the district and are a combined 1-12 overall.
And then there is Henderson. The Lions are off to a 6-1 start, their first time reaching six wins since 2019, which is also their last time to reach the postseason, and they are 3-0 in district play with a win over rival Kilgore and currently sitting all alone in first place.
Henderson’s five-game winning streak has vaulted it to No. 8 in the latest edition of the #bEASTTexas Fabulous 15 with a road game against No. 4 Pine Tree on the horizon. Kilgore (No. 3) and Chapel Hill (No. 11) gives the district four of the top 11 teams in the Class 6A/5A/4A rankings.
Texas High remained at No. 1, but received just nine first-place votes this week after getting 14 first-place votes a week ago. No. 2 Carthage received five first-place votes, and No. 5 Longview received the final first-place vote.
Athens (5-1) joined the rankings at No. 14, winning its fifth straight game after opening the season with a loss to Henderson.
Malakoff kept its spot atop the Class 3A/2A/TAPPS rankings with all 15 first-place votes. Rounding out the top five are New Diana, Westwood, Jefferson and Winnsboro.
New to the rankings are Waskom (No. 11), Shelbyville (No. 12) and Honey Grove (No. 15). Waskom took a 31-17 win over previous No. 2 Beckville. Shelbyville defeated previous No. 6 Garrison 43-42. Honey Grove rolled to a 42-7 win over previously unbeaten Rivercrest.
Notable games this week are No. 8 Henderson at No. 4 Pine Tree, No. 9 Van at No. 6 Gilmer, Tyler Legacy at No. 5 Longview, No. 2 Carthage at No. 14 Athens, Lindale at No. 3 Kilgore, No. 2 New Diana at Troup, No. 9 Lovelady at Alto and Atlanta at No. 7 Liberty-Eylau.
Voters in the poll were Phil Hicks and Brandon Ogden of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Jack Stallard and Thomas Bingham of the Longview News-Journal, Ryan Silapan of the Panola Watchman, Lauren Rosenberg of the Marshall News Messenger, Nathan Hague and John Krueger of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, Edwin Quarles of the Lufkin Daily News, Jay Neal of the Jacksonville Progress, Serenity Douglas and Reagan Roy of CBS 19, Harlen the Sports Guy of the Friday Night Scoreboard Show, Bret Swinney of the Northeast Texas Sports Network/NETSN and Conrad Bahr of 99.9 KMOO FM.
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#bEASTTexas Fabulous 15
6A/5A/4A
Team Pts. Rec. LW
1. Texas High (9) 219 7-0 1
2. Carthage (5) 213 5-1 2
3. Kilgore 171 5-2 6
4. Pine Tree 164 5-1 4
5. Longview (1) 158 4-2 7
6. Gilmer 130 4-2 8
7. Lufkin 128 5-1 9
8. Henderson 120 6-1 10
9. Van 110 5-1 11
10. Canton 88 6-0 13
11. Chapel Hill 83 5-2 3
12. Center 75 5-1 5
13. Pleasant Grove 48 4-2 14
14. Athens 25 5-1 NR
15. Sulphur Springs 18 5-1 12
Others receiving votes: Marshall 15; Tyler High 13; Quinlan Ford 11; Tyler Legacy 11.
Dropped out: No. 15 Marshall.
3A/2A/TAPPS
Team Pts. Rec. LW
1. Malakoff (15) 225 6-0 1
2. New Diana 205 6-0 3
3. Westwood 194 6-0 4
4. Jefferson 185 7-0 5
5. Winnsboro 152 6-1 7
6. Grand Saline 140 6-0 8
7. Liberty-Eylau 116 5-1 9
8. Beckville 107 6-1 2
9. Lovelady 81 4-2 12
10. Tatum 62 4-2 10
11. Waskom 53 5-2 NR
12. Shelbyville 49 5-1 NR
13. Lone Oak 47 6-0 15
14. Garrison 36 4-2 6
15. Honey Grove 28 6-1 NR
Others receiving votes: Atlanta 21; Timpson 21; Alto 16; DeKalb 14; Troup 12; Mount Enterprise 10; Grapeland 8; Elysian Fields 5; Big Sandy 4; Hawkins 4; Rivercrest 3; Mildred 2.
Dropped out: No. 11 Mount Enterprise; No. 13 Elysian Fields; No. 14 Timpson.