November 2020

RIVALRY R ivals for 110 years, it stands to reason that both sides of Texarkana’s State Line would agree, “Texas/Arkansas Week” is festivity of the highly anticipated hometown rivalry showdown. At the game’s onset in 1910, the tradition ARKANSAS vs. TEXAS BY TONJA HAYS

was for it to be played on Thanksgiving Day, when Texarkana would rush through turkey dinners and rally as a split community to watch the Texas and Arkansas sides battle it out. From that time until now, this game has been a cornerstone moment in the life of generations of Hogs and Tigers marking the passage of deeply held loyalties and time-honored traditions. A graduate of Texas High in 1996 and a member of the Texas High football team, Roy Vasher remembers, “The Texas and Arkansas game was always what I looked forward to, all of those

the most highly anticipated and spirit filled week of the whole school year for both Texas High and Arkansas High students and possibly even the entire cities of Texarkana. The traditions of frying bacon on the school lawn, chomping Tiger Tail doughnuts, stealing mascots, and driving down State Line with the Texas and Arkansas state flags unfurled and flying proudly from the beds of pick-up trucks, all add to the flare and

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