After weeks of speculation and preparation for different scenarios, it was the most unlikely of scenarios that came to fruition Thursday.

None were more surprised by the UIL’s realignment of school districts than Harlingen and San Benito.

Early Thursday, as the UIL released the new district alignments for the 2012-14 school years at the Region One offices, coaches scrambled to open the packets and learn where they’d be competing the next two years.

Most weren’t expecting what they saw.

For the past six years, the Harlingen Cardinals and Harlingen South Hawks have competed in District 31-5A.

The Harlingen schools will now compete in District 32-5A, where they’ll join Los Fresnos and six Brownsville schools, including varsity newcomer Brownsville Veterans Memorial.

“We’re going to do the best we can in a new environment,” Cardinals head football coach Manny Gomez said. “It doesn’t really mater to us. It’s going to be old-school Cardinal football versus the Brownsvilles.”

The San Benito Greyhounds, members of 32-5A the last six years, will move to District 31-5A, where they will compete against three McAllen high schools, three PSJA schools, Weslaco and Weslaco East.

Already heralded as the toughest district in the Rio Grande Valley, 31-5A consists of seven playoff teams and four district champions from the 2011 season.

“It’s going to be fun,” Greyhounds head football coach and athletic director Spencer Gantt said. “Any team that comes out of this district (and into the playoffs) is gonna be one baaad team.”

The Cardinals and Greyhounds will continue their long-running rivalry game, the Battle of the Arroyo. The 83rd installment of the rivalry will take place during Week One.

“There was never a question about playing that game,” Gomez said. “It’s tradition.”

Essentially Harlingen and San Benito, which many figured would end up in the same district again after years of being apart, just swapped leagues.

“In sitting down with our coaches, there were three or four scenarios that we figured might play out,” Harlingen CISD athletic director Randy Cretors said. “This was probably the third or fourth scenario. We never thought we wouldn’t be in the same district with San Benito.”

The Valley picked up four 5A schools in the new alignments in Brownsville Veterans, Edinburg Vela, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and Weslaco East.

Cretors said Mission High’s drop to Class 4A might have left the UIL with no choice but to go with three nine-team 5A districts.

Mission turned in an enrollment of 2,084. The Class 5A cutoff was 2,090.

“I think we all felt that Mission might stay in 5A,” Cretors said. “With them dropping down, it left us with 27 5A schools.”

The wrinkle in all plans came in planning non-district games.

With nine teams in the district, eight of the 10 regular season games will be league contests.

For the Cardinals, Gomez was left scrambling for games.

Gomez secured a Week Zero game against San Antonio Johnson, tentatively at Boggus Stadium.

San Benito will play Los Fresnos and PSJA in its non-district slate. The South Hawks will open the season against McAllen Rowe and PSJA Memorial before opening up 32-5A action.

Mercedes Tigers gets new foes in 32-4A

EDINBURG — Out with the old, in with the new.

Somewhat.

At the UIL biennial realignments announced on Thursday at the Region One ESC, District 32-4A took a new look with mainstays Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa welcoming some new and old friends back into the district.

While old foes Weslaco East and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln became 5As, Mercedes and 32-4A welcome Mission and varsity newcomer PSJA Southwest.

The Mercedes Tigers will also play a solid non-district schedule.

The Tigers will tangle with state powerhouse Calallen, followed by La Feria and Hidalgo.

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