The new district will also consist of Seguin, Red Oak, Lancaster, Ennis and Waxahachie.

“I feel pretty good about it,” Principal Jimmy Neal said. “I felt confident either way. It’s a good fit for us.”

The UIL realigns schools every two years based on enrollment taken on “Snapshot Day”. It takes those enrollments and divides the schools evenly across the five classifications. From there, they create districts for the school.

This year, the cutoff line for 5A was 2,090. Principal Neal said they fell just short of that mark with an enrollment of 2,067.

“I didn’t know how it would go,” Neal said. “I knew we were right on the edge, but it went up from two years ago.”

Summit has spent the past two years in 4A, separated with the other Mansfield schools who were 5A. Principal Neal said he likes being put back with Legacy and Lake Ridge.

“It will build some rivalries between the Mansfield ISD schools,” Neal said. “It’ll be good to go against them.”

Head Boys Basketball Coach Jason Mutterer said he’s happy with the way things turned out and expects competing in the new district to be a new learning experience.

“We don’t know how good these teams are,” Mutterer said. “It will be a learning curve. It will be nice to have three close games.”

The realignment affects more than athletics. Band, choir, ACADEC and UIL Academics are also classified by the UIL using the same rankings. Band director Brad Bonebrake said that staying in for 4A will favor the individuals looking to make it to All-State.

“It gives the students a competitive edge over some of the others,” Bonebrake said. “They have more options. They can go either the 5A or 4A track.”

Bonebrake, however, said it doesn’t necessarily help the band when it comes to marching season.

“I don’t know if it matters any more,” Bonebrake said. “4A is just as competitive when it comes to making the UIL state marching contest. There’s not much of a difference.”

The three Mansfield schools will be placed with Red Oak, Waxahachie, Lancaster, and Ennis, all of which are competitive in athletics. Principal Neal said that this will be a “good little district.”

“I think we’ve found our niche,” Neal said. “Waxahachie has a good tradition in academics and athletics, and Red Oak and Ennis are also very strong. This is a good district for us.”

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win,” senior Ashley Eli said. “You can’t be nothing but happy and we’ll take it.”

The Lady Jags got off to a sluggish start offensively, managing only eight points in the first quarter against a stiff Seguin defense.

“[Seguin] came out fired up like they always do,” junior Maya Hawkins said. “We had to snap out of it really fast.”

The second quarter featured much of the same, as the Lady Jags fell behind 18-15 heading into halftime. Eli attributed some of the lag to the past five games against Burleson, Crowley, Cleburne, Joshua and Eveman–all blowout victories.

“When you have two weeks off from no intensity and no pressure and no press, you kind of get relaxed,” Eli said. “It was kind of like a slap in the face.”

The third quarter, however, was a completely different story from the first half.

The Lady Jags came out firing, outscoring the Lady Cougars 13-4 in the third including a 9-0 run to finish out the quarter.

“It was huge,” head coach Tammy Lusinger said. “I thought we had some great defensive stops. I was glad we kept battling and battling because we weren’t knocking down shots.”

The run continued on into the fourth quarter as the Lady Jags stretched the lead to ten at one point, but Seguin would not go away.

A combination of missed free throws and turnovers allowed Seguin to close back in as the quarter wore down. But the Lady Jags held off the late charge for the win.

Eli also attributed the late fourth quarter run to the lack of close games they have played.

“When you’re not used to pressure situations, you can’t really simulate that in practice, you have to get through it,” Eli said.

The Lady Jags complete a sweep of the district rival. They won at Seguin 43-34 on Dec. 13 to open district play. Coach Lusinger said this is a big win for the squad.

“Everybody knows our last five games haven’t been very challenging,” Lusinger said. “You try to get them up for practice and it’s easier said than done.”

The Lady Jags travel to Granbury Friday night. They beat the Lady Pirates at home earlier in the season. The Lady Pirates are only a game behind the Lady Jags in the standings.

Box Score

Summit 39, Seguin 34

Seguin – Katrina Thompkins 9, Dwanisha Tate 7, Alarie Mayze 6, Tiauna Jefferson 4, Laurynn McGowen 4, Aundra Stovall 4

Summit – Maya Hawkins 14, Ashley Eli 9, Shayna Jackson 4, Alex Rundles 4, Nia Jackson 3, Jazzmin Jackson 2, Destiny Strange 2, Tierra Brown 1

The girls won 47-42 while the boys came back in the fourth quarter to win 43-39.

“It’s one our team goals [to beat the Mansfield teams,” head girls basketball coach Tammy Lusinger said. “That’s special to our seniors.”

The Lady Jags got off to a slow start against the Lady Wolves, trailing by five at the half. But the second half was a completely different story.

The Lady Jags came out of the break on a 15-2 run and outscored Timberview 19-6 in the third period. Senior Ashley Eli said the difference was being able to play as a team.

“From the beginning, we were a little bit jittery,” Eli said. “I know I was taking some bad shots. So I think in the second half we calmed down and started to rely on our offense than trying to do our own thing.

The Lady Jags came into the game ranked fifth in the state 4A rankings while the Lady Wolves came in the number 15 team in 5A. Eli said this win is bigger than any other so far.

“Beating Timberview feels a lot better than a lot of other things,” Eli said. “It’s not even about the win necessarily. It’s about Timberview. They’re our biggest rivals and we’re happy.”

The Jags also got off to a slow start, falling behind 5-0 early on. Head boys basketball coach Jason Mutterer said they missed a lot of little things which led to the deficit.

“Early in the game we missed a lot of opportunities,” Mutterer said. “We missed a lot of offensive put backs that would have stretched out the lead. We struggled to score.”

The Jags took hold of the game in the second, starting the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 21-18 lead at the break. Timberview made a run in the third retake the lead, but in the fourth, the Jags grabbed hold of the lead for good.

“I think some of that is our conditioning,” Mutterer said. “We play a lot of kids and I think in the fourth quarter, when you’re pressing and doing a lot of things, you need your legs.”

The Jags held the Wolves’ leading scorer to zero points, something not lost on the players.

“That made a huge difference in the game,” junior Patrick Tshituka said. “It all came down to defense.”

The Lady Jags start district play next Tuesday night against another state ranked team, Seguin. Coach Lusinger said the team is ready to defend their title.

“We start off with the toughest team on Tuesday,” Lusinger said. “We’ve got one more game and we’ll get that out of the way and then we’ll get ready for Seguin.”

The Jags will have to wait an extra week to begin district play when they take on Burleson. After the sweep and a good run in the Mansfield Spring Creek Classic, Coach Mutterer said they’ve still stuff to work on.

“We’ve got a lot of practice time,” Mutterer said. “We need practice time with these guys. Some of the players have played more than they’ve practiced. So right now we’ve just got to get in that gym and practice and get something of these things cleaned up.”

Friday night, the Lady Jaguar basketball team will kickoff their season against Fort Worth Dunbar. Considering their tough exit from playoffs last year, junior Maya Hawkins is ready to go.

“We’re very excited to start off the year,” Hawkins said. “We can’t wait. We all have a common goal and we know what is expected of us.”

That common goal is to get back to the state tournament in Austin in March. After winning the 5A title in 2009, the Lady Jags have fallen in the regional semifinal round each of the last two years.

Last year, the Lady Jags ended their season with a 29-26 loss to eventual 4A state champion Canyon. They were held to about half of their season average points scored and fell short with free throws down the stretch. For senior Ashley Eli, it was an experience to forget.

“It was very tough,” Eli said. “We never want to feel like that again. We were so close.”

About nine months removed from the loss, however, the Lady Jags are now using that loss as motivation.

“We remember that loss,” Hawkins said. “We’re pushing super hard to ensure that we don’t lose like that again.”

Fortunately for the Lady Jags, the team only lost two graduating seniors; however, replacing them was not easy.

“We do have the heart of our team back, however we are a different team,” head coach Tammy Lusinger said. “Right now we are trying to establish our own identity. Each year is a new year.”

One of the graduated seniors was a starter and will have to slow down their running game.

“We’re not as fast as we were last year,” Eli said. “We’ve had to adjust. Our defensive philosophy has changed, and we’ve changed a lot because of the speed.”

Despite these changes, Hawkins believes that they can go all the way.

“No team should be able to throw us off our game,” Hawkins said. “We want to go as far as we can go.”

The Lady Jags come into this year ranked fourth in the state for 4A. Coach Lusinger has hope that this team will live up to that.

“I look for this team to really start coming together in the first month of the season,” Lusinger said. “I think if we can stay hungry and understand that it take a lot of work to have the kind of year we would like to have, the sky is the limit.”

“We feel like we accomplished the goal,” receiver senior Donovan Ellis said. “We worked for it and we deserve what we got.”

The Jags accomplish their goal with a 35-7 win over Granbury Friday night.

The Jags ended their district season 7-0 and with a commanding defense. They allowed no more than 20 points in one game and averaged 11.9 points allowed per game. Linebacker senior Micah Awe said that their run has made them better for the playoffs ahead.

“Even though we ran through district, we still faced adversity,” Awe said. “At the beginning of the Granbury, Everman and Joshua games, it was still close. We know that everything won’t be perfect.”

The offense has also increased its production over the last seven games, going from a relatively inexperienced unit to a high power, potent offense, scoring 46 points per game. Ellis said they feel good going into the postseason.

“We’re a better team now,” Ellis said. “We have a better bond and we work to win. We are set on what we want.”

The Jags will face Waco High  in the first round at Lumpkin Stadium in Waxahachie Friday night. The Lions bring in a 2,000 yard rusher in Darrell Harris. Awe said that they’re ready for whatever Harris does.

“Every week [in district] we’ve gone against a great running back,” Awe said. “And every week we’ve stopped him. We plan on swarming to the ball.”

If the Jags pass the Lions, they stare down a possible matchup up back-to-back state champion Aledo and their running back Jonathan Grey. Head coach Travis Pride isn’t worried about that possibility yet.

“That’s the way the brackets worked out,” Pride said. “You just have to keep playing your game.”

Last year, the Jags made it to second round before losing to Birdville in the last minute. This year, they’re hoping to go further.

“Our first goal is to win our district,” Pride said. “Our second is to practice on Thanksgiving because that means you’ve won your first two games. Our sights are set on the first two rounds.”

Awe believes that they have that run in them.

“If we get past Waco, we have a chance to make a deep run,” Awe said.

The ball is snapped. Immediately, Cuevas looks for his receiver senior Brandon Pegg. He releases it and a few seconds later Pegg hauls in the one-handed grab for a first down. A few plays later, senior Calvin Burns ran in the game’s first score to give the Jags the 7-0 lead.

It was that type of night for the Jaguars as they ran over the Bulldogs for a 35-14 win.

“We beat them fair and square,” Cuevas said. “We weren’t scared and played our game.”

That wasn’t the only clutch catch Pegg made. In the second half, Cuevas threw it deep to Pegg who once again made a one-handed grab. For that reason, his teammates call him “Mr. Clutch”.

“He’s making plays to make me look good,” Cuevas said. “We need someone like him to make plays.”

The win puts the Jags’ district record to 5-0 and clinched a playoff berth. A win over Seguin this Friday night will clinch the district.

The Jaguars dominated virtually the entire game, handling the Bulldog running game and forcing key turnovers while the  Jaguar offense proved to be too much.

“I was more worried about being able to slow down their offense,” head coach Travis Pride said. “They’re able to chew up the clock. But our defense shut them down. Minus the one touchdown because of blown coverage, we held them to seven points which is a big night.”

The Jags also snapped a couple of Everman’s streaks. Up until Friday night, Everman had never lost back-to-back district games since 1998. The Bulldogs had also never lost at home since 2006 to Wichita Falls who was led by Coach Pride at the time.

“It was a shock at first,” Burns said. “We did something that hadn’t been done in a long time.”

With only two weeks left in the season, the Jags need to win one of them to clinch the district championship, something the Jags have not done since 2007. But Burns said they’re focused on going undefeated.

“We want to finish the next two games against Seguin and Granbury,” Burns said. “We want to win district and then move on to playoffs.”

The Jaguars jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and never looked back on the way to a 50-20 victory.

“It’s a great way to start district play,” quarterback junior Ryan Cuevas said. “Our name is out there.”

The Jags took the opening kickoff and ran it straight through the Burleson defense, scoring on a two yard touchdown run by Temitope Adegoke. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Jaguars had the ball on their own three yard-line.

That’s when running back senior Calvin Burns took over.

Burns took the hand off and went 96 yards untouched for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

“Honestly, I was just trying to get into the end zone,” Burns said. “I can’t explain what I thought. It was a good feeling.”

From there, the Jaguars never looked back. They rattled of runs of 21 and 14 unanswered points to get the win. Head Coach Travis Pride said that this is a good win for the team, especially after the loss to the Tigers.

“This is the start of our second season and our goal is to win district,” Pride said. “We played well all game and never let them back into the game.”

The blowout win was also a morale booster for the team.

“Because it was a rivalry game that was lopsided, their confidence was altered,” Pride said. “You have to believe before you achieve.”

Up next for the Jaguars is a matchup with Crowley who is coming off of a 35-14 loss to Everman.

It is also the much anticipated homecoming game.

The Jaguars have loss the homecoming game each of the past three years. Coach Pride said he is just trying to keep his team focused.

“There are a lot of distractions throughout the day,” Pride said. “Mature teams know the difference between enjoying the festivities and being focused for the game.”

Even with all of the possible distractions, Cuevas believes this coming game will be much of the same as the Burleson game.

“We’re going to win,” Cuevas said. “This is homecoming. We have to do this.”

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District Champions.

Those are the goals the Jaguars have set upon themselves as they head into District 7-4A play starting Friday night. Quarterback junior Ryan Cuevas said they have every intention of completing those goals.

“This is where it really counts,” Cuevas said. “This is where we put it all in. Everything before were preseason games. We can do it if we stay healthy.”

The Jaguars are coming off of a 46-15 loss to Mansfield two weeks ago. A lot of mistakes in that game were self-inflicted.

“We were off our game,” Cuevas said. “We weren’t clicking. Nothing was working and we beat ourselves.”

Since then, the Jags have had two weeks to get past that loss and prepare for the district opener against the Burleson Elks.

“We’re using that loss as a learning tool,” Cuevas said. “Instead of getting down, we’re working out harder and going [into district play] as the best team.”

As for the motivational aspect of the loss, defensive back senior Kolbi Nixon said they’re not using the loss as motivation.

“That game is done,” Nixon said. “It’s in the past. We just have to be ready because the next game is the most important.”

With the Jaguars in District 7-4A are Burleson, Cleburne, Crowley, Everman, Granbury, Joshua and Seguin. Out of that group, the only serious contender appears to be Everman, who beat the Jags last year to win the district title.

The Jaguars will travel to Everman to rematch the Bulldogs on Oct. 21. Even though that game is still far off, Nixon said their mentally ready for the match up.

“We’re not scared of them,” Nixon said. “The coaches teach us to fight and compete and we will come out with a ‘W’.”

The Jags will open with the Elks Friday night at 7:30 p.m. For head coach Travis Pride, this is the start of the real season.

“We generally have three seasons: non-district, district and post-season,” Pride said. “This is our chance to show how much we’ve improved.”

And as for their plan to complete their goals, it is quite simple.

“We are planning on winning,” Pride said. “This is a legitimate opportunity to win district.”

“We want to win,” quarterback junior Ryan Cuevas said. “Last  year they took the win from us. We want it back.”

The Jaguars improved to a 2-0 record last Friday night with a 52-28 win over Legacy. Cuevas said that that gave them a huge boost.

“It gave us confidence,” Cuevas said. “It shows other teams that can that we can hang with them.”

The Jags took the opening kickoff and put the pedal to the metal. After picking up a couple of key first downs, running back senior Calvin Burns ran in the game’s first touchdown from three yards out.

“That touchdown told [Legacy] that we were there to win,” Cuevas said. “It put pressure on them to score.”

The Broncos did just that.

Legacy drove down the field and answered with DaCarlos Humphrey 42-yard touchdown run. The Jags answered back with Donovan Ellis touchdown reception to go up 14-7. Late in the second, they seemed to take a two touchdown lead after and interception was returned for a touchdown, but that was called back because of a penalty. The Broncos ended up score not too long later to tie the score a 14 going into the half.

During halftime, however, it wasn’t the coaches firing the team up.

“The veteran players were telling everybody to step it up,” Cuevas said. “They said it shouldn’t be this close and that [Legacy] couldn’t stop us.”

And did they ever step it up.

The Jaguar defense came out and immediately forced the Broncos into a punt. A few plays later, Burns rattled off a 58-yard touchdown run. The possession after that was the same story. As well as the possession after that.

In all, the Jags went on a 21-0 in the third quarter to take a 35-21 lead and held on after that for the 24-point victory.

Burns ended up with 199 yards rushing and four touchdowns, but those stats weren’t on his mind during the game.

“I was just doing it for the team so we could get the win,” Burns said.

Head Coach Travis Pride said because of Burns, the offensive threat is now complete.

“We have weapons at quarterback, wide receiver and now the running back is a threat,” Pride said.

The Jaguars now look ahead to the Tigers, a rival that has beaten them two times out of the last three years. Coach Pride hopes that that fire to win doesn’t hurt their performance on the field.

“They just can’t get too hyped up,” Pride said. “They’ve put the work in and it can’t go to waste because they went haywire.”

And while the rest of the team is ready for this game, Cuevas said it all comes down to one thing.

“We just have to execute plays,” Cuevas said. “If we go out without any major mess ups, we’ll be okay.”

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And in the end, it all lead to a 38-22 Jaguar win over the Panthers.

“I feel blessed,” Ellis said. “I asked [God] for the opportunity and it came. I felt like a leader.”

Ellis got it started late in the first quarter. Both teams traded possessions and Ellis returned the Fossil Ridge down inside the Panther’s five yard-line. A couple of plays later, quarterback junior Ryan Cuevas found Ellis for the first touchdown of the game.

“That touchdown gave us all a boost,” Cuevas said. “Once the receivers catch the ball they’re unstoppable.”

The Jags added another touchdown in the second quarter on a Calvin Burns touchdown run and converted the two point conversion for 15-0 lead. But before the half, Fossil Ridge recovered a fumble and punched it in a short while later.

Coming out of the half, the Jags forced the Panthers into a punt, but Cuevas threw an interception a few plays later and Fossil Ridge’s Glensen Perry took it back for a touchdown and a 15-15 ball game.

“I was feeling cramps in my leg,” Cuevas said. “As I was trying to roll out, I began to feel cramps in my leg. Then, my running back didn’t get his block and I was hit as I threw the ball.”

Cuevas sat out the next few possessions as the training staff tried to relieve the cramps. That’s when Ellis stepped up to the front once again.

With all the momentum seeming to be in favor of Fossil Ridge, Ellis rattled off a 55-yard touchdown run to put the Jags back up 22-15.

“That just happened on its own,” Ellis said. “I really didn’t think I was going to score on the play.”

Fossil Ridge came back and tied it at 22 on the next possession, but after that, the Jags scored 16 unanswered points for the 38-22 win, the first of the year.

“At 15-0, it could have been a rout,” head coach Travis Pride said. “But we had a fumble here and a pick here and I told them, ‘We have a fight here.’ We ask in practice who’s willing to step up late and this was a chance for them to apply that to win a game.”

Ellis finished with 50 yards rushing, 66 yards receiving, and 13 yards passing. It’s that versatility that Coach Pride likes about him the most.

“[Ellis] wants to lead and he has the ability to do so,” Pride said. “He has a great work ethic and is a great play maker. We can put him at quarterback, running back and wide receiver when we need him.”

Cuevas said having someone like Ellis helps relieve some of the pressure of being the quarterback.

“He is very elusive and easy to spot,” Cuevas said. “I’m able to get it to him as quick as possible.”

Even though it was just the first game of the year against a non-district opponent, Coach Pride chalked this game up as an important one for his team.

“The first games build confidence,” Pride said. “This is a new football team and they’ve worked hard. You can’t falsely create success. You have to earn it. I’m glad whenever they have any opportunity to feel that victory or success. We just need to build confidence and become better.”

The Jags will face rival Legacy this Friday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium. Last year’s meeting resulted in a 21-16 Jaguar win. The Broncos are coming off of a 63-9 loss to L. D. Bell. Even after that beat down, Ellis said they aren’t changing anything.

“We’re going to play the same,” Ellis said. “We’re going to play the same tempo and play our game.”

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