If the Lago Vista Viking football team wants to repeat its 2009 performance—winning a District 25-2A championship—the Vikings will have to face a tougher schedule and travel a long way to do so.
The University Interscholastic League recently made its 2010 realignment announcement for football and basketball, and the Vikings find themselves in Division 1, District 13-2A along with Blanco, Luling, Comfort, Marion and Ingram Moore, all five of which are San Antonio area schools.
The realignment is a biennial process that takes into account school enrollment and geographical location. For the first time in its history, UIL split Class 2A schools into Division 1 (large schools) and Division 2 (small schools). This process led to some oddly grouped districts and some long road trips for several schools including Lago Vista.
“We’ll definitely have to get used to spending a lot of time on the school bus,” Viking head coach Alan Haire said. “It’ll be important for our kids to stay focused on those long trips.”
There will be three such trips in 2010 as Lago will travel to Luling, Comfort and Marion for district road games. The total distance traveled during those will be more than 650 miles. For comparison, the Vikings have driven an average of about 375 miles per season for their district games over the last two years.
The distances, however, might be the least of Haire’s worries. This new grouping is shaping up to be at least as competitive, and probably more so, than their previous district. Three of Lago’s new district foes—Marion, Ingram Moore and Luling—have dropped down from the larger 3A classification. Luling was a playoff representative for District 27-3A last season.
“There are a lot of high-caliber programs in this district, and it’s going to be competitive,” Haire said, “and I’m glad we ended up in a six-team district versus one that has seven or eight.”
The Vikings’ stiffest competition in the district might come from a familiar foe. Blanco and Lago Vista competed in the same district in 2004, and the Panthers have been a regular preseason scrimmage opponent for the Vikings over the last several years. Blanco has also been a regular in the late rounds of the 2A playoffs for the past two seasons, reaching the quarterfinals in 2009 and the semifinals in 2008.
“We know the coaching staff (at Blanco) pretty well and have a good relationship with them,” Haire said. “They’ve always been a good measuring stick for where we are as a program.”
The Vikings will open their 2010 non-district schedule Aug. 26 with a trip to San Antonio to face the La Pryor Bulldogs.

—Jay Howard, correspondent

2010 varsity Viking football schedule

Date                     Opponent                 Location          Time

Aug. 14                 Brady (Scrim.)        Here                 7:00 p.m.
Aug. 19                 Troy (Scrim.)          There                7:00 p.m.
Aug. 26                 La Pryor                  San Antonio    7:00 p.m.
Sept. 3                  Eastside Memorial Here                7:30 p.m.
Sept. 10                Waco Robinson      Here                7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17                Austin Reagan        There               7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24               San Saba                  Here                7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1                    OPEN
Oct. 8                   *Luling                     There              7:30 p.m.
Oct. 15                 *Ingram Moore       Here              7:30 p.m.
Oct. 22                *Marion                    There             7:30 p.m.
Oct. 29                *Blanco                     Here               7:30 p.m.
Nov. 5                  *Comfort                  There             7:30 p.m.

*Denotes District Games