The Top Two Texas High School Football Rivalries Features Longview and Marshall
With state championships won and lost recently in the Lone Star State, it’s a great time to reflect on the top high school football rivalries in Texas.
Thanks to TikTok Creator, @LoneStarSports, for breaking it down for us. He features two of the oldest rivalries in Texas, one here in East Texas. The other is a famous one from out west.
Longview VS Marshall
He notes that the two towns come to stand still in East Texas when these two schools are scheduled to compete. I happen to agree.
The rivalry is over 100 years old, and going strong. Longview leads the series 64-42-5. The two faced each other at Brown Park Stadium for the first time in 1909. Their most recent match up was the 111th match up. On September 3, 2021, the Lobos defeated the Mavericks 14-0.
Notably, Marshall has only Victory in the past 20 years, on October 9, 2015 at Maverick Stadium. The last time Marshall beat the Lobos at home was seven years earlier, also on October 9, and the game went into Over Time.
Permian VS Lee
These two West Texas schools have been battling it out since the 1960’s. It’s such a popular rivalry that it was featured in the documentary film, Friday Nights in America.
Of course the schools and their rivalry are also famously featured in the book and film, Friday Night Lights. A little digging and I found that Midland and Odessa football teams have actually been duking it out since 1921. It transformed into the current rivalry when both Odessa and Midland built new 5A high schools in 1959 and 1961 respectively.
Some say that the feud goes back to a newsprint column from the 1970’s that read, ‘Midland, a great place to raise kids. Odessa, a great place to raise hell.’ Since 2006, Permian has been the dominant winner, defeating the Midland Lee Rebels more than 10 times.