The Stephenville High School Yellow Jacket football team has had quite a run in 4A, gathering four state championships and playoff appearances nearly every season. The Jacket football program has been a 4A powerhouse since the early 90s. Their rivalries between Brownwood and Aledo have become the thing of Texas football legend. After years on the border of 3A and 4A Stephenville High’s enrollment is low enough to drop to 3A and terrorize the smaller schools with big football.

By dropping to 3A, the Jackets have the chance to face off against other legendary teams like Celina who has eight state championships and made it to the State semifinals in 2011. They will also faceoff once again with Alvarado, another old rival school, for the first time in two years.   

Although the Jackets have their district schedule filled, they are having trouble finding teams to play in pre-district play. The Jackets have scheduled the first game of their 2012 season against Monterrey Tech, a team from Mexico. Head coach Joe Gillespie is traveling everywhere in the attempts to find teams to fill up the Jackets’ empty pre-district schedule, including trying to set up a game against a 7A Arkansas team.

Football is not the only thing that will benefit from dropping levels. Yellow Jacket and Honey Bee basketball have been doing exceptionally well the past two years and with the realignment dropping them into regions with smaller schools the potential is there for big seasons and big success. The Honeybees made it to the state quarterfinals in 2012.

Other events like baseball, softball, track and field and band have been met with limited success during Stephenville’s time in 4A. However, the stage is now set for big improvements and the opportunities to win big.

It will be interesting to see how things play out for Stephenville High School in the 2012-2013 school year.