Ty Robinson was just looking for a place to begin his career as a head football coach when he arrived in Agua Dulce this summer.
With a history that includes 28 playoff appearances, which ties Albany for the most in the state for Class A, Robinson figured Agua Dulce would be a good place to start.
Realignment could spoil Robinson's debut, however.
Among the changes the University Interscholastic League made in February for the 2002 season was moving Pettus and Woodsboro down from 2A. As a result the teams were placed in District 32-A with Agua Dulce, Ben Bolt, Benavides and Bruni.
There isn't much Robinson can do but get the Longhorns comfortable with his way of doing things.
"I just have to come in and be myself," Robinson said. "We have to make sure the kids are familiar with the system. We have to get the kids to buy into it and get lucky, and I'd rather be lucky than good.
"I guess the strongest thing down here is the tradition. The kids expect to win."
So do the players at Pettus and Woodsboro.
The former 2A whipping posts combined to win five games last season, but are now considered the favorites to challenge for the 32-A title. Both teams would be happy just to end their current playoff droughts, which for Pettus is 15 years and Woodsboro 14.
That all could change this season.
"We're in there on a level playing field now with everybody else, and the kids are fired up about it," said Max McGeary, in his fourth year as Woodboro's head coach. "This is my seventh year here and we had the kids come back in the best shape they've been in a long time."
McGeary said the move down was something he had been anticipating for several years.
Four years ago, Woodsboro missed the Class A qualifying enrollment cutoff by six. Two years ago it was by two.
The most glaring reason to drop teams was most evident on Friday nights.
"When you have 22 kids and that's all you got and then look across the field and they have 50, what can you do?" McGeary said. "They were putting fresh kids in every time the ball changed hands. We had nine guys go every play, and I mean on offense, defense and special teams. That starts to weigh heavy in four quarters."
Pettus had the same problem competing in 30-2A last season, though head coach Jimmy Thomas remained optimistic about his team's chances in 2A with eight returning players on offense and nine on defense.
"I feel like we could've been competitive if we had stayed because we had that much coming back," Thomas said. "Last year we had trouble competing because of numbers. When we played Poth they had 11 new guys coming on and off the field. Our players just stayed out there."
Now that Pettus and Woodsboro have opponents with similar enrollments, the next challenge is preparing for teams they've never played before.
Woodsboro has played Ben Bolt in non-district each of the last two seasons, which gives McGeary somewhat of an idea of what to expect.
"In the past we've either played or scrimmaged several schools in this district," McGeary said. "They always play tough against us, and I think the kids have a sense of what they can do. We're not going to have any game that's going to be a cakewalk."
Thomas agreed.
"We have to play good no matter if we're in 2A or A," Thomas said. "Woodsboro always has good athletes and BB is almost in 2A numbers."
What does it all mean for Agua Dulce?
"We have to find out how important this is to them," Robinson said. "There's not many of them, but they understand that they have to work that much harder. I think they've responded well to that."
