Both Magnolia Teams Open August 28. Two Weeks Later They Play Each Other.

Magnolia High School opens its season at home on Friday, August 28, against Willis, kickoff at 7. Across town the same night, Magnolia West opens on the road at Bryan, also at 7. One town, two teams, both starting the same evening.

Then the part to circle. On September 11, Magnolia travels to Magnolia West, and it is not an exhibition. Both schools sit in the same district this year, and that game counts in the standings the same as any other.

The district is a crowded one. Both Magnolia programs face all four Klein high schools, plus Tomball and Tomball Memorial. Which means the two schools play largely the same opponents on different weeks, and by November their records get read against each other whether anybody wants them to or not.

The full fall, as both schools have it published:

Magnolia Bulldogs. August 28 Willis at home. September 4 at College Station. September 11 at Magnolia West. September 18 Klein Collins at home. September 26 at Klein, a Saturday game that kicks at 6 rather than 7. October 2 Klein Oak at home. October 9 at Tomball Memorial. October 23 Klein Forest at home. October 29 at Klein Cain. November 6 Tomball at home. Every game from September 11 on is a district game.

Magnolia West Mustangs. August 28 at Bryan. September 4 Cypress Creek at home. September 11 Magnolia at home. September 17 at Klein Forest. September 25 Klein Cain at home. October 2 at Tomball. October 16 Klein Collins at home. October 22 at Klein. October 30 Klein Oak at home. November 6 at Tomball Memorial.

A note on the two openers, because they are different animals. Magnolia gets the easier logistics: home, week one, in front of its own crowd, against a Willis team from up the road. Magnolia West opens away at Bryan, which is a real trip and a real program, on a night when nobody has played a down that counts yet.

Both campuses are on farm roads that this paper writes about constantly for other reasons. Magnolia High is on FM 1488. Magnolia West is on FM 1774. If you are going to a game, the roads you will be sitting in are the same ones under construction in every transportation story we run, so the advice is the boring kind: go early.

One caution on the schedules above. Times and dates are as the schools publish them, and high school schedules move. Weather moves them, officials move them, and district realignment has moved games before. Check before you drive, particularly for the away trips.

September 11 is the one that will fill a parking lot. Two schools from the same town, playing a game that counts, three weeks into a school year. That is worth putting on a refrigerator now.