In 2010, I made my first TXHSFB pilgrimage down to the Rio Grande Valley, and the game I had to see first was Harlingen and San Benito’s annual showdown dubbed, “The Battle of the Arroyo.” As I pulled up to Morrow Stadium in San Benito two hours early, the parking lot was already full, tailgaters were out in full force cooking up some of the best food you can find in the Valley, the palm trees were swaying in the breeze and there was a buzz in the air. Harlingen rolled to a 12-1 record that year with one of their best teams in school history, but what struck me was the intensity with which an outmanned San Benito squad played with that day. The passion and emotion of an overflow crowd estimated to be near 14,000 and the halftime fireworks show all screamed to me “This is HUGE.”

Huge might be an understatement in the Valley, where high school football is everything to a part of the state that often feels overlooked by the rest of the state, but this game and rivalry take a back seat to no rivalry not just in Texas, but in the country.

The game started in 1930 and the teams have played nearly every year since, and in 2009 and 2010 they played twice as Harlingen knocked off SBHS in the playoffs both years. The namesake of the game, the Colorado Arroyo, used to separate the two towns. The river has altered course some and the part of San Benito that used to lie on the side of the Arroyo is now in Harlingen and that’s symbolic of a rivalry dominated by the big brother to the northwest. San Benito has had stretches of success, but they’ve been brief as the Cardinals, for the most part, have dominated.



Current Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez is no stranger to the rivalry as he’s a grad of Harlingen High and knows the importance of the game, but he also knows being one of the Valley’s premier programs means the target is on their back every week.

“The game means so much to the community, we try to keep it in perspective because we know every game is big, but this one is special because of the hype in the communities and the Valley," Manny Gomez said. "They are fun games to coach in, the stadiums are packed and the crowds are really into it. The Valley is crazy about high school football, it’s so much fun to be a part of.”

San Benito head coach Dan Gomez is somewhat new to the rivalry. He arrived in Cameron County in 2014 after a stint as head coach at Lytle, but his arrival signaled a new era for the Greyhounds as they’ve taken two of the last three games from Harlingen. Gomez’s first Battle of the Arroyo was one of the most memorable as in 2014, SBHS scored 22 points in the final five minutes of the game to stun heavily favored Harlingen 25-21. In 2015, again San Benito won a thriller over Harlingen 22-21 before 2016 when Harlingen, who came into the game as the rare underdog, returned the favor with a 29-27 win.

Former San Benito head coach Mario Pena commented once on the game, to now San Antonio Express-News writer David Hinojosa, “It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced before, when you talk about the Battle of the Arroyo, you are taking it to another level. When you walk out for pregame and look up at the bleachers and one side is purple and the other is red, there is electricity in the air.”



Hinojosa himself is a Valley Native and has seen his fair share of big games statewide, covering high school football for the Dallas Morning News, as well. For him there’s no comparison when it comes to the state’s top rivalry.

“From a hype standpoint and fan attendance perspective it’s one of my top rivalries in the state, normally when you have a lopsided rivalry it loses its luster, but San Benito every year, no matter what, brings the intensity and that’s one reason the rivalry never lost its luster, despite Harlingen opening a second high school,” Hinojosa said.

Quick hits for "The Battle of the Arroyo":

How many years has it been played? 87 years

Overall record: Harlingen leads 59-22-5

Distance between schools (in exact miles): 5.9 miles

State titles won and/or appeared in for each team: None. In 1961 San Benito advanced to the state semifinals.

Average attendance — combined average of both stadiums’ capacities: Boggus Stadium in Harlingen lists a capacity of 10,400; Morrow Stadium in San Benito holds 12,000. There’s always an overflow crowd at either location.

How much animosity is there, really? Is it a fun rivalry, or does it always get chippy and cross the line? There’s a lot of mutual respect between the two teams and there are a lot of family ties that get thrown out the window during the week of the game. Longtime Harlingen assistant Bobby Lucio, a San Benito grad, told a story to the Valley Morning Star about his aunt telling before the game, “You are still going to lose, Bobby.”

Does the game have a nickname? What’s the story behind it? Battle of the Arroyo. The two towns were once divided by the Arroyo Colorado, thus the namesake of the game.

WHY do the schools dislike each other? What’s the town history? There is a natural rivalry between the two towns which border each other. Harlingen is the much larger town (now with two high schools), and San Benito plays with the chip on their shoulder each time they meet up.

How has the rivalry changed over the years? Many thought the rivalry would lose its edge when Harlingen South opened up in 1993, but the suggestion that San Benito would take a back seat to the “Bird Bowl” (annual game between Harlingen and South) only intensified San Benito’s fire.

Any famous alumni? Coaches? Harlingen: Phil Danaher, now the head coach at Corpus Christi Calallen and the state’s all-time winningest coach. San Benito: Bobby Morrow, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist in 1956 and the namesake of San Benito’s stadium.

How’d the first-ever game go? What is known about that one? Harlingen won the first meeting in 1930, 19-0.

Greatest game ever? In 1995, San Benito hadn’t beaten Harlingen in 28 years. The Greyhounds had gotten close, tying Harlingen in 1993 and 1994. But in 1995, with the Greyhounds playoff hopes on the line and their head Tommy Roberts en route to the Valley from a UIL hearing, San Benito ended Harlingen’s dominance with a 15-6 win and a trip to the playoffs.