Kingston, Madill move to Class 3A for 2020 football season

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  • Kingston, Madill move to Class 3A for 2020 football season
    Kingston, Madill move to Class 3A for 2020 football season
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The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association approved the new classes for football on January 15 affecting both the Madill and Kingston High School football teams. Madill went down from being Class 4A school to Class 3A, and Kingston went up from 2A Class to 3A Class.

The OSSAA’s classification system is school based on the enrollment numbers of its member schools. This is done to attempt to provide an equitable grouping of potential talent for the sport. In Oklahoma, classifications are done every two years. The newest classification will run from 2020 to 2021.

The Madill Athletic Director Bink Stafford said this is not something new.

“Years ago, we were in the same district. Us [Madill], Tishomingo, Kingston and Marietta. A lot of us are back in the same district,” he said.

Stafford said dropping down a classification should not affect the games, even though Madill is the largest school in the 3A classification, and the other local schools are in the bottom half.

He said classification has nothing to do with the talent of the players. “It all depends on the size of our high school.”

The athletic director said that is has been two years since Madill and Kingston have met on the gridiron. He said they stopped playing Kingston because the Class 4A to Class 2A gap was too large. Years ago, there was a Madill-Kingston rivalry that many people loved, he said. Now that the two schools are back in the same classification, talks are in the works for reviving the fun feud.

“The rivalry has been in discussion,” Stafford said. “There is nothing concrete yet. It was always a fun week.”

Stafford also noted that being in the 3A classification is probably temporary. Madill missed the 4A classification by “a kid and a half.” When the districts are rezoned in 2022, Madill should be back in the 4A group, Stafford noted.

Madill football coach Todd Vargas said the move in classification is a good thing. “It’s extremely beneficial for us, and I’m not referring to talent, just the travel,” he said.

Vargas said the opposing schools being closer together allows the fans to travel.

“People are going to come watch us play Plainview and Kingston,” he said. “This creates a better environment for the players.”

Family is a real big thing for Vargas and the players. He said the family is not just the football players, but it also encompasses the community of Madill.

Being a graduate from Madill himself, the ability to play against Kingston brings back fond memories for Vargas. It may be his first-time coaching at Madill against Kingston at a varsity level, but he is looking forward to the possibility of firing up the Madill-Kingston rivalry once again.

“I’m happy about the rivalry of the Kingston game, I have fond memories from school,” Vargas said. “It’s unexplainable, unless you’ve been a part of it.”

Kingston Head Coach Tommy Bare said it is going to be a tough district. “You have Plainview who went [to] finals this year, Sulphur who went to finals last year. We went to semis,” Bare said.

Another tough aspect of the district change is the experience from being in a 4A and the coaches who come along with the teams, Bare noted. “Madill dropping down from a tough 4A, Lone Grove, Pauls Valley, and Dickson who are well coached and improving each year.”

Bare said the biggest difference will be having only 32 teams in the 3A category compared to the 64 teams in the 2A. He said he is “looking forward to the challenges.”

The Class 3A District 2 has Madill, Kingston, Dickson, Little Axe, Lone Grove, Pauls Valley, Plainview and Sulphur.