Greater Athens Magazine | January 2023 | 13
Another whirlwind of a high school football season concluded for all Henderson County teams in November , save for the Malakoff Tigers , who took off on one of their best post season runs in program history .
When the final regular season games were played on Nov . 11 , all could look back on highs and lows , high hopes and disappointments . District races began in late September and October and our local teams who fell short of securing playoff berths , often still had some long-standing rivalries to settle before reaching the finish line .
Malakoff proved once again they have no peer in District 8-3A Division 1 , storming through unbeaten under coach Jamie Driskell .
Athens opened the season with two wins , then met stiff competition in District 8-4A Division 1 . Win number three would have to wait until coach Zac Harrell ’ s team reached the season finale . The Hornets delighted the Bruce Field crowd with a 42-29 win over Palestine . When the district season ended , Chapel Hill was king . They had beaten Athens 48-28 in the next to last game , then defeated Kilgore to go into the playoffs as the top seed . Ultimately , they had to beat Kilgore again , 24-21 to win the region .
Brownsboro was like Athens in many ways . They possessed a strong offense and won early in the season and stood 2-2 before stepping in the tall weeds of District 8-4A Division 2 , where Carthage reigns supreme . The Bears came closest to a win against Bullard in a heartbreaking 35-34 loss .
Cross Roads got back into UIL play and just missed a winning season , finishing 4-5 . Coach Daniel Pierce ’ s Bobcats won their first three to stir up some excitement among the Cross Roads fans . In district , the Bobcats won their eighth game of the season over Itasca , 14-13 , before a happy home crowd .