Year after year, decade after decade, almost an entire century later, and one event has continued to bring together the alumni and fans of both Arkansas High School and Texas High School. The Battle of the Axe, as it’s commonly known, has seen the many triumphs and defeats of the two schools, dating back to years when most of us didn’t exist.

“The last break [where the rivalry game wasn’t played] was in the 1940s or ‘50s,” Athletic Director Gerry Stanford said. “The game has so much historical value for the town.”

However, in light of the pandemic that has spread across the nation, the University Interscholastic League, which administers Texas high school events, and the Arkansas Activities Association, which administers Arkansas high school events, have come into a conflict where the two state’s schedules did not have room for the pre-season rivalry game, resulting in its termination.

“There are always very high hopes to play this game,” Stanford said. “Since the two organizations did not have an aligned calendar, both schools lost the sense of that natural rivalry, which has always been a great tradition for both schools and fans.”

Ever since March, COVID-19 has taken its toll on countless events and traditions, and like all of these traditions, it’s simply heartbreaking to witness the loss of what could have been.

“This will be my senior season, and of course, every year the rivalry game between our two schools rolls around and it gets very hyped up, and it’s always a great experience,” senior kicker Oscar Hernandez said. “So it’s just really difficult to think about how much we took for granted, and now we’re kind of just being trained to roll with the punches.”

This termination will result in a replacement game filled in by the Denison Yellow Jackets. A small addition to an entirely remodeled schedule for the upcoming season.

“We’re excited to welcome the highly ranked Denison High School to our schedule,” Stanford said. “With everything going on, we expected anything to happen, so we’ll just have to see how this addition affects us.”

With the termination of the rivalry game in mind, as well as the delay of the beginning of high school football practices for schools that are under the domain of UIL’s 5A and 6A conferences until Sept. 7, athletes and coaches are simply holding out for a season whatsoever.

“Of course the ignition for the season was supposed to be The Battle of the Axe, but at the end of the day, a lot of plans have changed,” Hernandez said. “We’re just a bunch of athletes hoping to make memories, and for some of us, get seen by college coaches, and at the end of the day, all we need is a season.”

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