Here Are The New Toughest Football Districts in Deep East Texas

Now that UIL Texas has released the district realignments for the 2026-2028 school years, coaches, players, and fans are doing their best to digest what this means for their teams. In some cases, no changes were made. In others, the landscape has changed quite a bit. I decided to take a look at the new district layouts for Deep East Texas teams to find out which football districts in the Pineywoods are the toughest, at least, based on last year's performances.

Methodology For Determining The Toughest Districts

• Number of playoff teams from last season
• Number of teams in the new district
• Number of district champions from last season
• Number of playoff wins from last season

READ MORE: UIL Realignments for Deep East Texas Teams

And, The Toughest Districts in the Pineywoods Are...

The NUMBER 1 DISTRICT OF DOOM is District 8-4A, Division II. This 6-team district includes the two teams that were ranked #1 and #2 in the state at the end of last year's regular season (Carthage & Texarkana Pleasant Grove). Pleasant Grove won two playoff games last year before being knocked off by the eventual state champs, Carthage. Pittsburg, Center, and 4-time state champion, Gilmer, all were playoff teams last year.

One of the toughest 2A districts in the state last season featured San Augustine, Joaquin, Garrison, Shelbyville, Timpson, and Hemphill. Those same 6 teams will go at it again for the next two years in District 12-2A, Division I. San Augustine was last season's district champ and won 3 playoff games. Joaquin won 5 playoff games and made it to the state championship. The Garrison Bulldogs were bi-district champs, while Shelbyville was the other playoff team. Timpson just missed out on the playoffs, but one of their victories was over San Augustine.

Other Tough Districts in Deep East Texas

District 12-3A, Division II: This 6-team conference features 3 teams that made it beyond the first round of the playoffs (Hardin, Woodville, and Newton). Both Hardin and Newton were district champs last season, and Newton made it to the state championship before falling to Wall by one point.

District 8-4A, Division I: This 8-team district features 3 bi-district champs from last season (Kilgore, Lindale, and Pine Tree). Pine Tree would go on to win its second-round game, while Kilgore lost to Stephenville at the state championship.

District 6-5A, Division II: This 8-team district features 5 playoff teams from a year ago (Terrell, Mt. Pleasant, Nacogdoches, Texas High, and Marshall). Texas High and Terrell were both district champions last season.

District 9-5A, Division I: This 9-team district only features 4 playoff teams from a year ago (Beaumont United, La Porte, Lufkin, and Port Arthur Memorial); however, La Porte and Memorial were both district champs and spent much of the year in the top ten of the state rankings.