UIL 4A AREA B 2025

[tastycheetos318]

On 9/30/2025 at 11:59 AM, tastiestbiscuit123 said:

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not too sure about Gatesville right now. Krum swept them at BOA and then went on to Melissa and did pretty well there, too. Gatesville might be pulling a Pecos, where they made State in 2021, then got a 2 at Region the following year. I'm not saying Gatesville's gonna get a 2, but they might be just out of State, or barely make it. Making State Finals might've gotten to them, but I hope they prove me wrong. I will say the top-half/bottom-half system definitely screwed bands over last year, and I'm sure it'll do it again this year. Then there's Eagle Mountain, which blew Sanger (who got 11th last year) out of the water in Saginaw.

While I still think Gatesville's a contender for State, I'm seeing them more in 5th place. It's still WAY too early to be predicting, but as of now I'm thinking:

1. Panther Creek

2. China Spring

3. Krum

4. Eagle Mountain

5. Gatesville

And then anyone can come in next. Alvarado, Aubrey, Castleberry, Richland, Robinson, Springtown, and other bands, such as Sanger, Brock, Godley, Kennedale, Lake Dallas, Southwest, and Venus.

i really hope an think eagle mountain actually has a shot this year and its only our second year open as a school

[bandmomma2024]

China Spring just had a heck of a run at the Midway contest showing great growth in the show in just a week!  Excited to see how things play out for them.  
 

 

[Gpk1968]

Kind of shocking that Panther creek didn’t make finals at McKinney. I thought they had a chance to grab one of those last two spots. This was a contest for bigger schools though, so maybe that hurt them. They were likely the smallest band there 

[tastiestbiscuit123]

Gatesville's not looking too hot anymore. They were just beaten out by Legacy Ranch at Vista Ridge, another band that did not make State last year. We'll see next week how they compare to Alvarado, China Spring, Castleberry, and Southwest

[cheeto2401]

3 hours ago, tastiestbiscuit123 said:

Gatesville's not looking too hot anymore. They were just beaten out by Legacy Ranch at Vista Ridge, another band that did not make State last year. We'll see next week how they compare to Alvarado, China Spring, Castleberry, and Southwest

from what i know Legacy Ranch was a school that was opened to freshman in Fall 2024, which i believe they are a Liberty Hill sister school, and right now their entire band is composed of freshman and sophomores. we could have another Panther Creek amidst us

[TenLostDogs]

China Spring hasn’t missed a beat with the new director. I haven’t seen Panther Creek. It looks like Area B  championship just a battle between these two assuming PC hasn’t  fallen off.

The real interesting battle is probably for 3rd. 

[Tubaplaya2011]

Kennedale placed 6th at USBands Midlothian and Robinson placed 7th, Godley placed 8th and Brock placed 10th at USBands Burleson today.

[tastycheetos318]

On 10/11/2025 at 4:44 PM, TenLostDogs said:

China Spring hasn’t missed a beat with the new director. I haven’t seen Panther Creek. It looks like Area B  championship just a battle between these two assuming PC hasn’t  fallen off.

The real interesting battle is probably for 3rd. 

3rd will be either eagle mountain or krum  mark my words

[bandguard]

what’s yalls opinion on the springtown hs band this year?

[tastiestbiscuit123]

9 hours ago, bandguard said:

what’s yalls opinion on the springtown hs band this year?

Actually, after looking into it, I'm pretty impressed with Springtown this year.

They were the only 4A at the HEB Drumline Contest, yet performed pretty well against the 5As and 6As there. They tied with North Mesquite for 5th out of 7 in the '5A Novice,' beating Timberview (and they also got a better score than North Crowley, who was in the '6A Novice' group). They were less than a singular point away from Independence (and about two points away from both Plano West and Weatherford in 6A Novice). Timberview and North Crowley were both present at the Springtown Marching Showcase, taking 9th and 8th Place, respectively. This makes me think that Springtown would've made finals if they were a contender, and would've been in the battle with those two bands, as well as Gatesville.

Then, they got 1st at the Lake Country Thunder Drumline Contest, but I am aware that the contest isn't as competitive as HEB and is full of smaller schools. I also couldn't find any other results, so I'm not sure what other schools attended, and what final placements were.

Then at Melissa, they got 23rd out of 25. Robinson was only one point behind them while Canton was ten ahead, and all of the judges there agreed on that placement (only the brass and percussion judges deviated, giving 22nd and 24th Place, respectively), except for the color guard judge. The Springtown color guard took 17th place, outperforming other notable guards, including Robinson, Canton, Krum, China Spring, and Sulphur Springs, all of which are genuine 4A contenders, with one even advancing to finals. While there isn't a 'Color Guard' judge at Area, they'll help Springtown's visual score.

Finally, at Aubrey, they placed 3rd overall and 1st in 4A. Out of the 5 other 4As, the only other 2 to make Finals were Ranchview (7th) and Lake Dallas (9th). However, it is important to note that the 4As at Aubrey aren't as notably challenging as other bands like Krum and China Spring (two of them got a 2 at Region last year, one got 21st at Area, one got 15th, one got 14th, and then Springtown), so Springtown's placement just kind of solidifies their 'Area Finalist' tag.

With how competitive this Area is becoming, I don't think we'll see Springtown make it back to State yet. I just don't think they've returned to the level they were at in the 10s and 20/21. I do, however, comfortably see them fighting for an Area Finalist spot.

[tastycheetos318]

12 hours ago, tastiestbiscuit123 said:

Actually, after looking into it, I'm pretty impressed with Springtown this year.

They were the only 4A at the HEB Drumline Contest, yet performed pretty well against the 5As and 6As there. They tied with North Mesquite for 5th out of 7 in the '5A Novice,' beating Timberview (and they also got a better score than North Crowley, who was in the '6A Novice' group). They were less than a singular point away from Independence (and about two points away from both Plano West and Weatherford in 6A Novice). Timberview and North Crowley were both present at the Springtown Marching Showcase, taking 9th and 8th Place, respectively. This makes me think that Springtown would've made finals if they were a contender, and would've been in the battle with those two bands, as well as Gatesville.

Then, they got 1st at the Lake Country Thunder Drumline Contest, but I am aware that the contest isn't as competitive as HEB and is full of smaller schools. I also couldn't find any other results, so I'm not sure what other schools attended, and what final placements were.

Then at Melissa, they got 23rd out of 25. Robinson was only one point behind them while Canton was ten ahead, and all of the judges there agreed on that placement (only the brass and percussion judges deviated, giving 22nd and 24th Place, respectively), except for the color guard judge. The Springtown color guard took 17th place, outperforming other notable guards, including Robinson, Canton, Krum, China Spring, and Sulphur Springs, all of which are genuine 4A contenders, with one even advancing to finals. While there isn't a 'Color Guard' judge at Area, they'll help Springtown's visual score.

Finally, at Aubrey, they placed 3rd overall and 1st in 4A. Out of the 5 other 4As, the only other 2 to make Finals were Ranchview (7th) and Lake Dallas (9th). However, it is important to note that the 4As at Aubrey aren't as notably challenging as other bands like Krum and China Spring (two of them got a 2 at Region last year, one got 21st at Area, one got 15th, one got 14th, and then Springtown), so Springtown's placement just kind of solidifies their 'Area Finalist' tag.

With how competitive this Area is becoming, I don't think we'll see Springtown make it back to State yet. I just don't think they've returned to the level they were at in the 10s and 20/21. I do, however, comfortably see them fighting for an Area Finalist spot.

what are ur toughts on eagle mountain highschool

[tastiestbiscuit123]

17 hours ago, bandkid3110 said:

what are ur toughts on eagle mountain highschool

Eagle Mountain is an interesting case.

I will admit, I've gone back and forth on them this season. At first, I wasn't expecting much, just because they got 24th at Area last year when other schools that were also in their first year had performed better (Legacy Ranch getting 7th at Area D and Freeman getting 11th at the same contest), and, unlike most competitive schools in the area, they only went to two contests this year, USBands Saginaw and Don Hanna Memorial.

They did catch my attention at Saginaw when they got 11th Place in Prelims and 11th in Finals, beating Sanger by multiple places (Sanger had tied for 17th), and that definitely meant something. Sanger has historically been a good band: 10th in Area Prelims/6th in Finals in 2021, 13th at Area in 2022, 15th in 2023, and 11th in 2024—just one spot from Finals. Beating them, and by that big a margin, was very surprising and made me rethink my initial thoughts. I even started seeing them in the fight for State.

However, then the Don Hanna Memorial contest occurred, and that one makes me not so sure. There were 19 bands at the contest, 1 of which was a 3A, 4 of which were 4As, and the rest were 5As and 6As. Eagle Mountain got 17th Place. Prelims results were never posted, so I couldn't compare, but there were four bands smaller than 5A (excluding Eagle Mountain), and EM only beat two of them. I know Krum got 1st in 4A (which I expected), but this means that either EM got 2nd in 4A, beating Gainesville and Kennedale, but losing to Krum and Howe, or got 3rd in 4A, beating Howe and Gainesville/Kennedale, but losing to the other one and Krum. Because Howe was the exhibition, that makes me think they beat all 4A bands. Howe is a very good band, consistently making 3A State and fairly often making State Finals, so I wouldn't be surprised if they came in clutch and beat the 4As, but still, losing to even a 3A State Finalist doesn't look good. Raymondville was a 4A in 2023, got 19th at State, then dropped to 3A in 2024 and got 4th at 3A State. Howe's best State finish in the last 15 years was 7th, meaning they would barely qualify for 4A State if they were in the class, if at all.

I think Eagle Mountain will come around and surprise me again, but I'm leaning away from State this year. They definitely have a good chance at Area Finals (beating Sanger, and, if they beat Kennedale, who tends to make Area Finals but did falter a bit last year), and if we see 12 finalists this year instead of 10, then an even higher chance of that second run, but, like with Springtown, I just think the Area is so competitive that it's going to take some more time for them to catch up to that level. I think a year with the Finalists will give them a sense of the rigor, and then they'll use that experience next year to propel even further.

[tastiestbiscuit123]

Ladies and gentlemen, we've officially entered into Week 1 of Region (for 4A at least)! I know Region 4 is going today, but the Area B Regions are as follows:

Wednesday, October 15th (Tomorrow!!!):
Region 20 4A/6A (Ferris and Life School of Waxahachie) - 2 Bands

Thursday, October 16th:
Region 30 Zone 2 (Eagle Mountain) - 1 Band

Saturday, October 18th:
Region 2 - 7 Bands
Region 7 North Zone - 2 Bands
Region 7 South Zone - 3 Bands
Region 8 - 7 Bands
Region 24 - 2 Bands
Region 30 Zone 3 (Rest of Region 30) - 16 Bands (15 Varsity)

Overall, we'll have a good idea of what the competition's going to look like Saturday evening, but next week, we do have:

Tuesday, October 21st:
Region 31 - 1 Band

Wednesday, October 22nd:
Region 20 5A-Down (Rest of Region 20) - 9 Bands (3 Varsity)

These bands could be enough to advance more bands to Finals and maybe even an extra band to State 🤞. The most bands we could see at Area are either 41 (since Non-Varsities don't count), which would be 14 to Finals and 8 to State. This is incredibly unlikely, and we'll probably see something close to last year—the most I think we'll see is 12 to Finals and 6 to State.

[percussion486]

17 hours ago, tastiestbiscuit123 said:

Eagle Mountain is an interesting case.

I will admit, I've gone back and forth on them this season. At first, I wasn't expecting much, just because they got 24th at Area last year when other schools that were also in their first year had performed better (Legacy Ranch getting 7th at Area D and Freeman getting 11th at the same contest), and, unlike most competitive schools in the area, they only went to two contests this year, USBands Saginaw and Don Hanna Memorial.

They did catch my attention at Saginaw when they got 11th Place in Prelims and 11th in Finals, beating Sanger by multiple places (Sanger had tied for 17th), and that definitely meant something. Sanger has historically been a good band: 10th in Area Prelims/6th in Finals in 2021, 13th at Area in 2022, 15th in 2023, and 11th in 2024—just one spot from Finals. Beating them, and by that big a margin, was very surprising and made me rethink my initial thoughts. I even started seeing them in the fight for State.

However, then the Don Hanna Memorial contest occurred, and that one makes me not so sure. There were 19 bands at the contest, 1 of which was a 3A, 4 of which were 4As, and the rest were 5As and 6As. Eagle Mountain got 17th Place. Prelims results were never posted, so I couldn't compare, but there were four bands smaller than 5A (excluding Eagle Mountain), and EM only beat two of them. I know Krum got 1st in 4A (which I expected), but this means that either EM got 2nd in 4A, beating Gainesville and Kennedale, but losing to Krum and Howe, or got 3rd in 4A, beating Howe and Gainesville/Kennedale, but losing to the other one and Krum. Because Howe was the exhibition, that makes me think they beat all 4A bands. Howe is a very good band, consistently making 3A State and fairly often making State Finals, so I wouldn't be surprised if they came in clutch and beat the 4As, but still, losing to even a 3A State Finalist doesn't look good. Raymondville was a 4A in 2023, got 19th at State, then dropped to 3A in 2024 and got 4th at 3A State. Howe's best State finish in the last 15 years was 7th, meaning they would barely qualify for 4A State if they were in the class, if at all.

I think Eagle Mountain will come around and surprise me again, but I'm leaning away from State this year. They definitely have a good chance at Area Finals (beating Sanger, and, if they beat Kennedale, who tends to make Area Finals but did falter a bit last year), and if we see 12 finalists this year instead of 10, then an even higher chance of that second run, but, like with Springtown, I just think the Area is so competitive that it's going to take some more time for them to catch up to that level. I think a year with the Finalists will give them a sense of the rigor, and then they'll use that experience next year to propel even further.

I wish they released the scores and placements for all the bands, especially the 4A's, at the DHM contest. I remember seeing somewhere that Eagle Mountain was 3rd best in 4A, with Kennedale being a close second to Krum. I am definitely interested to see how Eagle Mountain will do this year, and I think they have a fair shot at making Area Finals. 

[percussion486]

Also here’s my finals predictions for anybody wondering:

1. China Spring

2. Panther Creek

3. Aubrey

4. Gatesville

5. Krum

6. Kennedale

7. Alvarado 

8. Robinson

9. Eagle Mountain

10. Springtown

Out of finals: Sanger, Brock, Castleberry

These are based off previous years and the few shows that I’ve seen this year. Feel free to elaborate!

[TenLostDogs]

1 hour ago, percussion486 said:

Also here’s my finals predictions for anybody wondering:

1. China Spring

2. Panther Creek

3. Aubrey

4. Gatesville

5. Krum

6. Kennedale

7. Alvarado 

8. Robinson

9. Eagle Mountain

10. Springtown

Out of finals: Sanger, Brock, Castleberry

These are based off previous years and the few shows that I’ve seen this year. Feel free to elaborate!

Had anyone seen Aubrey? It has been really quiet about them. They were #3 at area and had a decent finish at state. Are they going to be able to replicate that #3 finish from last year or do they slide a bit?

[Tubaplaya2011]

1 hour ago, percussion486 said:

Also here’s my finals predictions for anybody wondering:

1. China Spring

2. Panther Creek

3. Aubrey

4. Gatesville

5. Krum

6. Kennedale

7. Alvarado 

8. Robinson

9. Eagle Mountain

10. Springtown

Out of finals: Sanger, Brock, Castleberry

These are based off previous years and the few shows that I’ve seen this year. Feel free to elaborate!

You’re putting Robinson in the Finals and Godley came close to beating them at USBands Burleson this past Saturday. What about Godley?

[percussion486]

I haven't seen Robinson nor Godley yet this year, so I based them off last year's placement. I think Godley and Springtown could be interchangeable with each other.

[tastiestbiscuit123]

Just because I genuinely have no clue how it's going to turn out, these are the bands I currently think have a chance of making Finals, not including placement (in alphabetical order):

Alvarado
Aubrey
Brock
Castleberry
China Spring
Eagle Mountain
Gatesville
Godley
Kennedale
Krum
Panther Creek
Robinson
Springtown
Stephenville
Venus

These are bands that I wouldn't be too surprised if they snuck up and snagged a Finals spot:

Lake Dallas
Ranchview
Richland
Southwest

Obviously, this is 19 bands, and there are only 10-12 open spots, but these are the ones I think are in the running for a second performance.

[percussion486]

Any opinions on Kennedale? Saw that they scored 81.1 at USBands Midlothian.

[TexasStrangers]

6 hours ago, TenLostDogs said:

Had anyone seen Aubrey? It has been really quiet about them. They were #3 at area and had a decent finish at state. Are they going to be able to replicate that #3 finish from last year or do they slide a bit?

I saw Aubrey at Royse City this past Saturday. It was a good show but nothing to get excited about. They got beat by 3A Mineola and Sulphur Springs and it wasn't even close. 

[Tubaplaya2011]

3 minutes ago, TexasStrangers said:

I saw Aubrey at Royse City this past Saturday. It was a good show but nothing to get excited about. They got beat by 3A Mineola and Sulphur Springs and it wasn't even close. 

Aubrey also got beat by Alvarado and Castleberry at the Wildcat Marching Festival three weeks ago, just not sure how Alvarado has done since then. I’m guessing they’ve been doing great since and Castleberry’s been holding their own as well?

[percussion486]

2 hours ago, Tubaplaya2011 said:

Aubrey also got beat by Alvarado and Castleberry at the Wildcat Marching Festival three weeks ago, just not sure how Alvarado has done since then. I’m guessing they’ve been doing great since and Castleberry’s been holding their own as well?

Apparently Castleberry doesn’t even have their own show on the field yet. They’re definitely cutting it close since this is region weekend.

[Tubaplaya2011]

1 minute ago, percussion486 said:

Apparently Castleberry doesn’t even have their own show on the field yet. They’re definitely cutting it close since this is region weekend.

That’s not a good sign and after a strong start too? Oh no…..

[percussion486]

3 minutes ago, Tubaplaya2011 said:

That’s not a good sign and after a strong start too? Oh no…..

Yeah who knows. They for sure need to get their whole show on the field and clean it ASAP if they want to go to Area.