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Texas High v Arkansas High Series Dead


bordertown

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While the door was left open by Texas High for the future, I suspect a change in coaches at one school will be necessary. Sad development for the greater Texarkana community. Not sure if it’s much of a surprise after AHS cancelled the game in 2021. Going to be hard to find 4 games in a reasonable proximity.
 

https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2022/feb/03/breaking-arkansas-high-texas-high-football-game/

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This is a sad day for many in Texarkana.  My parents lived there from 1952-1965.  I can remember in the 70's that KTAL 6 had a program on Saturdays about both teams, and they had highlights from the game the night before, with interviews with both head coaches into the 80's.  I think they should renew the rivalry as part of their non-district scheduling, because I know the stadium was packed.  

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5 minutes ago, bordertown said:

Think in this case one school is tired of being overmatched annually. 

I don’t think you will find too many AR High fans disappointed. Several have wanted out of this series for some time. AR High has lost a lot over the last several years.

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Guess you could see this coming after the last two years.  Probably a good time to end it.  AHS is dying over there.  Remember back in the 70's when they played Little Rock schools,  Ft. Smith,  Fayetteville,  Jonesboro and so forth.  Now look at who they play.  At the rate they are going they will end up as district mates with Fouke and Genoa.  Any athlete with any kind of chance of moving up will transfer to one of the Texas schools.  Other than the liquor stores not much left over there.  But when I was at THS in the early 70's that was the only game we really wanted to win.  Even if we lost every other game.  The winning team would yell that  score out the rest of the year.  My senior year we lost 2 games.  To AHS which won the Arkansas state championship,  and to John Tyler and Earl who won the Texas state.  We had JT beat if not for our idiot safety that fell for Earl Campbell throwing a touchdown pass.  Still remember the clown's name.  Went to a THS/AHS game when Mallet was playing and the game did not sell out.  That was one crazy,  wild week when I was a kid in Texarkana.  Who will be their big rival now?  Oh well, the memories and life will continue to move on with or without it.

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34 minutes ago, Mavchamp said:

Or Longview.  They could figure it out too, you know? 

It’s a two way street of greed. 

If I was Longview I would play the game forever. It’s a win 20 min away. 
 

You don’t get many 20 min road trips in football for Longview. 

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10 minutes ago, Valhalla said:

If I was Longview I would play the game forever. It’s a win 20 min away. 
 

You don’t get many 20 min road trips in football for Longview. 

Lobo fans have wanted it to end for a long while.  

If they were solely looking to save on gas money they could play Pine Tree. Or Hallsville.

I want it to end because I don’t particularly think it’s beneficial to us.   Some Lobo fans agree the same for them  

Others simply think we aren’t worthy to be on the same field with them.  Is what it is  

I don’t want to replace them with a cupcake. I want a competitive game. Win or lose.

If Marshall could make it annually competitive… even if we lost 100 in a row I’d be more supportive of it.  

But we need some 14-7, 17-14, 28-21 type games for that to happen.   42-7 annually is a waste of time for both IMHO. 

Last year’s 14-0 game was UGLY for both.  Sure it wasn’t a blowout.  But we also never really threatened to score in that game either.   So meh.   Maybe 2022 will be better.  We shall see. 

But to get back to the topic of the thread….IMHO the way Norton has handled it the last two years (using COVID as an excuse to cancel the game) was unbelievably unprofessional.  Made him look scared.  The games were already scheduled. 

Ending a series because the two programs are in different places is one thing.  Canceling existing games because you’re chicken sends a terrible message to your players. 

jmho 
 

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1 hour ago, Slimbodine said:

Guess you could see this coming after the last two years.  Probably a good time to end it.  AHS is dying over there.  Remember back in the 70's when they played Little Rock schools,  Ft. Smith,  Fayetteville,  Jonesboro and so forth.  Now look at who they play.  At the rate they are going they will end up as district mates with Fouke and Genoa.  Any athlete with any kind of chance of moving up will transfer to one of the Texas schools.  Other than the liquor stores not much left over there.  But when I was at THS in the early 70's that was the only game we really wanted to win.  Even if we lost every other game.  The winning team would yell that  score out the rest of the year.  My senior year we lost 2 games.  To AHS which won the Arkansas state championship,  and to John Tyler and Earl who won the Texas state.  We had JT beat if not for our idiot safety that fell for Earl Campbell throwing a touchdown pass.  Still remember the clown's name.  Went to a THS/AHS game when Mallet was playing and the game did not sell out.  That was one crazy,  wild week when I was a kid in Texarkana.  Who will be their big rival now?  Oh well, the memories and life will continue to move on with or without it.

On the schedule biggest rival I would say goes to Marshall . History alone ties them together they have played each other over  100 times I think. 

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3 hours ago, DaveTV1 said:

This is a sad day for many in Texarkana.  My parents lived there from 1952-1965.  I can remember in the 70's that KTAL 6 had a program on Saturdays about both teams, and they had highlights from the game the night before, with interviews with both head coaches into the 80's.  I think they should renew the rivalry as part of their non-district scheduling, because I know the stadium was packed.  

Al Hanna himself on Saturday mornings for many many years 

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44 minutes ago, RogerDorn said:

On the schedule biggest rival I would say goes to Marshall . History alone ties them together they have played each other over  100 times I think. 

Texas High leads the overall series 53-39-8. 

THS is 10-3 since Marshall joined them again in the same classification in 2002. 

Been pretty one-sided.  

Two of our wins were Marshall teams that advanced to the region semis (2009, 2018).  One was in 2007 in the first round of the playoffs. 

Texas High beat us in 2015 when we advanced to the Region semis.  

6 of Texarkana’s wins were against Marshall teams that made the playoffs…. 4 did not.

We need to step up our game for this to be a true rivalry.  3 wins in 13 games isn’t pretty.  

Especially when Marshall has been the 2nd best team in the district with Texas High in most seasons.   

 

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9 minutes ago, Mavchamp said:

Texas High leads the overall series 53-39-8. 

THS is 10-3 since Marshall joined them again in the same classification in 2002. 

Been pretty one-sided.  

Two of our wins were Marshall teams that advanced to the region semis (2009, 2018).  One was in 2007 in the first round of the playoffs. 

Texas High beat us in 2015 when we advanced to the Region semis.  

6 of Texarkana’s wins were against Marshall teams that made the playoffs…. 4 did not.

We need to step up our game for this to be a true rivalry.  3 wins in 13 games isn’t pretty.  

Especially when Marshall has been the 2nd best team in the district with Texas High in most seasons.   

 

imo coaches only staying in Marshall 3-4 years has played apart in 10-3 record since 02. 

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While the THS/AHS game has tilted heavily in the Tigers favor, it has been a money maker for both programs. I would estimate it has had approximately 6000 paying fans each year (remainder of seats to bands & pep squads). In addition, the concession stands make a killing in the week 2 evening heat. If I see the schedule correctly, THS will have only 4 home games. I fear they will be forever destined to “neutral site games”. Think the winner will be Royce City as host of the “Texas High Classic” featuring the Tigers v a Metroplex team to be named.

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Texas High wanted to play Arkansas High but did not want to play Pleasant Grove.   I don’t blame the Hogs for not wanting to play.   The enrollments are too far apart now.   Pleasant Grove obviously needed games but the Tigers didn’t want to play.  That would have been fun for a couple of years.  The Tigers would win the game most years.   

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53 minutes ago, BlackShirtD said:

Texas High wanted to play Arkansas High but did not want to play Pleasant Grove.   I don’t blame the Hogs for not wanting to play.   The enrollments are too far apart now.   Pleasant Grove obviously needed games but the Tigers didn’t want to play.  That would have been fun for a couple of years.  The Tigers would win the game most years.   

As long as Stanford is there, he will never play PG. 

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Reason?  Just curious.

I'm really not in favor of Marshall playing a 4A school overall.....but... when the 4A is Carthage.... well.... that's a different story.

Carthage beat Crosby last season...and Crosby went 4 round deep in 5A Div II.  They will probably be 6A in 2024.

PG is no slouch.  No.... they aren't Carthage.  But they aren't a slouch.

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32 minutes ago, Mavchamp said:

Reason?  Just curious.

I'm really not in favor of Marshall playing a 4A school overall.....but... when the 4A is Carthage.... well.... that's a different story.

Carthage beat Crosby last season...and Crosby went 4 round deep in 5A Div II.  They will probably be 6A in 2024.

PG is no slouch.  No.... they aren't Carthage.  But they aren't a slouch.

He would have to answer that. He just will not play PG. Maybe he believes it is a no win situation for them. Since Gibson arrived at PG as well as open enrollment at PGISD, the dynamics have changed in Texarkana.

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