EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 Nearly a century after El Paso High and Austin High first lined up against each other, the \u201cBattle of the Claw\u201d remains one of the oldest high school football rivalries in Texas, drawing students, alumni and the wider community into a weeklong tradition that goes far beyond the final score.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the brown and gold versus the orange and black,\u201d one supporter said.<\/p>\n
El Paso High and Austin High have been playing each other since 1930, according to the El Paso High School Alumni Museum website. That makes it the fourth-oldest rivalry game in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t always a trophy, but there was always a rivalry,\u201d the report noted. In 1960, the matchup gained a signature prize: the Claw trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rivalry is over 100 years old because at the time there were only two high schools around,\u201d one alumnus said. \u201cSo when they started playing football, they played.\u201d<\/p>\n
For generations of students, the buildup has traditionally lasted all week, with pep rallies, bands, cheerleaders, parades and school colors. <\/p>\n
Ron and Patsy Stallworth, who graduated from Austin High School in 1971, share their connection with the tradition. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a very fun week of rivalry,\u201d Patsy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pep rallies. And even still now they have a parade around the neighborhood,\u201d Ron said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a parade in our game, but now they literally go around the neighborhood honking again,\u201d Patsy said.<\/p>\n
From pep rallies to parades ‘Battle of the Claw’ fuels El Paso’s oldest football feud<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By the way, if you happen to recognize Ron and Patsy’s names, that’s because Ron, a retired police officer, wrote the “BlacK Klansman,” a true-crime book that chronicled how he, an African-American detective, infiltrated the Colorado Springs Ku Klux Klan chapter. The book was subsequently adapted into an Academy Award-winning film with the same name.<\/p>\n
The rivalry\u2019s intensity extended well beyond the field, according to alumni.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was it was a bitter rivalry in the two schools,\u201d one alumnus said. \u201cIt was important to the band cheerleaders, the whole thing. It was it was intense. And that\u2019s why they put it on radio just assemblies.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1963, the schools did not play the rivalry game following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n
\u201c1963. Remember, Kennedy was assassinated, so they didn\u2019t play the game,\u201d said Jim Paul, an El Paso High alum and longtime owner of the El Paso Diablos. \u201cHe was killed that morning. So what happened 20 years later? They got the team from both schools and they played the flag football game to see who\u2019s going to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original Claw was designed by an El Paso graduate, but it was later stolen, according to alumni, so it had to be replaced with the version used today.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Yeah. And whoever wins keeps the claw,\u201d one supporter said. \u201cAnd they did another claw that is similar to it. But yeah, it\u2019s still the clock before alumni.\u201d<\/p>\n
As game night arrives again, alumni loyalties remain strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they don\u2019t cheat, El Paso will win,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Golden Panthers. Let\u2019s do it,\u201d Patsy said. \u201cI took out this blouse and ironed it just for this. So go Panthers!\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s brown and gold or orange and black, the Battle of the Claw continues as a piece of El Paso history \u2014 a rivalry that has given generations something to cheer for, talk about and argue over.<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: El Pasoan Ron Stallworth recounts infiltrating Ku Klux Klan as Colorado Springs detective<\/a><\/p>\n RECOMMENDED: El Paso’s Desert Spoon Food Hub marks 10 years, founded by mom and daughters<\/a><\/p>\n