LONGVIEW, Texas — The Pine Tree Pirates were moved down from 5A-D2 to 4A-D1 after UIL realignment.
They'll now face teams like Kilgore, Chapel Hill and Lindale for district implications.
This Friday they will host rivals, the Kilgore Bulldogs to open up their district stint. The Pirates are undefeated so far this season, securing wins over teams like Gilmer, Van, Carter and Hallsville.
They were 6-5 last season, but have started out 4-0 this year, haven't given up many points to opposing teams. However, Kilgore are the 2023 district champions, so head coach Jason Bachman knows Friday will be a tough game.
"I think we're getting better every week, there's still a whole lot to clean up and I don't believe that we've played our best ball, but, at the end of the day, it's about finding a way to win, and our kids have done that to this point," said Coach Bachman. "There's a lot of lessons that have been learned. There's still a lot of lessons that got to get fixed. So we'll get a strong test on Friday, that's for sure, with them."
Last season Kilgore won this match-up 18-0 after a weather delay that caused the game to continue on the following Saturday. Pine Tree will host this game, and kick-off is at 7:30.