The Rowe Middle School 8A football team poses after defeating Truitt Middle School to become the first-ever outright district champion in the eighth grade “A” division. The 20 middle schools were aligned into four zones and two conferences, with zone winners meeting in two semifinals. Championship games were played at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium.
Nov. 21, 2023—The CFISD athletic department concluded its 2023 middle school football season by crowning four outright district champions. The season featured new zone and conference alignments for the 20 middle schools, while the football teams were showcased in semifinal and championship games at Cy-Fair FCU and Pridgeon stadiums.
With Sprague Middle School opening in August as CFISD’s 20th middle school, the athletic department aligned the campuses geographically into four zones and two conferences for football.
Zone alignment were:
- North Zone – Anthony Middle School, Salyards Middle School, Smith Middle School, Spillane Middle School and Sprague Middle School;
- South Zone – Bleyl Middle School, Campbell Middle School, Cook Middle School, Dean Middle School and Truitt Middle School;
- East Zone – Aragon Middle School, Arnold Middle School, Goodson Middle School, Hamilton Middle School and Labay Middle School; and
- West Zone – Hopper Middle School, Kahla Middle School, Rowe Middle School, Thornton Middle School and Watkins Middle School.
The Rowe Middle School 8B football team poses after defeating Hamilton Middle School to become the first-ever outright district champion in the eighth grade “B” division.
In football, the North and West zones comprised the Northwest Conference, while the South and East zones comprised the Southeast Conference.
Rowe Middle School swept the two eighth grade football championships, winning both the 8A and 8B titles. In seventh grade, Spillane Middle School won the 7A title, while Salyards Middle School earned the 7B championship.
“We’ve always had the ability to name our district champions in cross country, and now for the first time, we have the opportunity to name district champions in our team sports, including football,” said Virginia Flores, CFISD director of athletics. “It has been simply amazing to be able to implement district championship structures for our middle schools.”
Following a football scrimmage to begin the season, each team played four zone games and two non-zone contests during the regular season. Zone champions faced each other in Week 7, with the Southeast Conference championship games played at Pridgeon Stadium and the Northwest Conference title games held at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium.
The Spillane Middle School 7A football team poses after defeating Bleyl Middle School to become the first-ever outright district champion in the seventh grade “A” division.
Two weeks later, the conference winners met at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium for the overall district championship.
Rowe defeated Truitt, 38-28, to win the 8A championship. In the 8B title game, Rowe beat Hamilton, 23-20.
In seventh grade, Spillane defeated Bleyl, 18-7, to claim the 7A title. Salyards won the 7B championship with a 20-0 victory over Hamilton.
“It means so much to all of us who were involved in the process to know that we've been able to make this championship structure such a memorable experience for our middle school athletes, coaches, and community,” Flores said. “We couldn't have pulled it off without the support from our administration who believe in providing lifetime experiences through athletics. The team of people responsible for such a great community event work so incredibly hard to make it a top-notch, and to know that a player may want to continue to compete because of this experience and that we might've had a small part in that decision, makes it all worth it.”
The Salyards Middle School 7B football team poses after defeating Hamilton Middle School to become the first-ever outright district champion in the seventh grade “B” division.