Battle of the River returns: Mexia, Groesbeck in same football district

The Battle of the River will return this fall.

Mexia will play in the same football district as Groesbeck, according to the biennial University Interscholastic League (UIL) alignment announced Thursday.

The Blackcats dropped from Class 4A to Class 3A and will be in District 8-3A, Division I. Basically, Mexia was added to the already existing district, which includes Groesbeck, Teague, Fairfield, Malakoff, Eustace and Kemp.

Mexia football coach Aaron Nowell is excited about moving to the new district.

“I’m so fired up,” Nowell said Thursday. “Obviously the big one, the Battle of the River is back on. We’re playing teams that are around us. So, there’s some familiarity from a few years ago when we were playing some of these schools as a routine.”

Groesbeck coach Jerry Bomar said though the rivalry has been dormant for some years since the teams last played, it could heat up again this year.

“I think the big thing is, it’s been a while since they’ve played,” Bomar said. “I think the excitement or the anticipation with the kids will have to be kind of rekindled. Older folks around remember the rivalry. To be honest, I don’t think the kids know a whole lot about it. Not that it’s negative. When they don’t play someone on a regular basis, they don’t really know. I’m not saying it can’t be rekindled because all rivalries can.”

Bomar noted that the players in his program have never played against Mexia. That will change next season.

“They didn’t come up through the junior high ranks playing them, play them on JV and then play the rivalry game,” Bomar said. “I think parents will be the ones who try to tell the kids, we used to play them, it’s a rivalry. I guess it will start to work itself out.”

Fairfield head football coach John Bachtel says the addition of Mexia to the district will make it tougher and he welcomes the challenge.

“We've always played good, tough games and it makes it a tougher district,” Bachtel said. “When you play rivals it's nice, the kids all know each other. From the three that are closest to us, Groesbeck, Mexia and Teague, the kids see each other on the weekends. When it's a rivalry it makes it more fun.”

The new district also is more condensed than Mexia’s Class 4A district the past two years, in which the four other teams all were nearly 100 miles away. The new district will cut down on the Blackcats’ travel time to games.

“On the administration side of it, the fact you’re traveling 25, 30 minutes for a game versus two hours, it’s better on everybody,” Nowell said. “Not only the players, but the cheerleaders, the band, the parents, everybody.”

Despite school being out Thursday, Nowell was in his office at the Mexia High School field house working on the phone to touch base with the other coaches in the new district and take care of some administrative tasks.

“We’ve kind of had a group text going,” he said. “We’re setting up a meeting on Monday to hash everything out and all that kind of stuff. It’s more introductions than anything.”

Nowell said he hadn’t spoken with his players, since school was out due to the inclement weather. But he had been putting information about the new district on social media which some of his players had been sharing.

The Battle of the River will be the 80th meeting between Mexia and Groesbeck. Mexia holds the advantage, 54-22-3. And, Nowell reminded, the trophy that goes to the winning school is currently in Mexia from the last time the teams played each other.

(Edgar Estrada contributed to this story)