Not much has to be said or written about the rivalry between Waurika and Ryan.
With the two communities just 10 miles apart, it is natural for the two schools to be rivals in all sports competition.
The football version of the rivalry is tomorrow night at Waurika’s Cy Sloan Stadium and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
In many of the years of this series the two teams have also been competing against each other for district honors and 2018 is no different.
Photo by Shelly Mora
And even though the series in football took a break (except for two seasons) after Ryan moved to eight-man football, the rivalry on the gridiron was resumed in 2012 when Waurika dropped to eight-man football.
The series of eight-man meetings have been split at three wins apiece for the two teams. Ryan won the first two and then Waurika won three straight before last year’s thrilling 44-36, double-overtime victory by the Cowboys in 2017.
It will be Waurika’s homecoming and that will give the Eagles added incentive to be able to revenge last year’s heart-breaking loss.
Waurika has a huge advantage overall in the series that dates back to 1919 – the first year the two schools played football. The Eagles lead the series 40-17-3.
The Eagles built a good part of that advantage with 11 straight wins between 1963 and 1973 before Ryan broke the string in the 1974 season with a 28-0 victory over Waurika on the Eagles’ home field.
Photo by Sheree Hanson
The game has been close and it has been lopsided. There have been two one-point games between the Cowboys and Eagles – in 1946 and 1954 – and each team came out on top once.
Waurika’s largest margin of victory came in a 1971 conquest of the Cowboys as the Eagles whitewashed Ryan, 64-0.
In 1937, Ryan earned its largest margin of victory over the Eagles with a 37-0 win.
Ryan has twice scored 44 points against Waurika – the highest number of points scored by the Cowboys in the series and both of those games were eight-man contests.
Waurika’s greatest margin of victory was the 64-point win in 1971.
Two of the three ties in the series were scoreless and they came in back-to-back years in 1942 and 1943.
Waurika has 15 shutouts over the Cowboys through the years, while Ryan has seven of shutouts. Both include the two scoreless games.
Waurika comes into this year’s game with a 5-0 record, while Ryan is 4-2 on the year.
Waurika had its biggest win of the year last week with a 38-6 decision over Wilson.
The Cowboys exploded for an 84-38 victory over Empire last Friday night, but that was helped along by two defensive scores and a kickoff return.
So, both offenses are potent and it could be an old-fashioned eight-man shootout.
Waurika has been a bit more dominating with only last week’s win over Wilson going past halftime.
The Cowboys will have to try to corral the team speed of the Eagles and figure out a way to keep the offensive momentum gained against Empire going against Waurika.
The two schools have three common opponents this season – Temple, Grandfield and Caddo. Both teams had runaway wins over Temple and Grandfield, but Ryan dropped a 57-26 decision to the Bruins, while Waurika rolled to a 48-0 win over Caddo.
Waurika features a potent running attack with Turner Mora, Colton Bryant, Kevin Garcia and Zachary Brown.
The Cowboys will counter on offense with a more wide-open attack behind quarterback Grayson Tomberlin, who has thrown for over 900 yards this season. He has also rushed for 655 yards.
However, the Cowboys are not one-dimensional as Skylar Parkhill has been the favorite target of Tomberlin’s passing attack. The Cowboy senior has rushed for 466 yards and 10 rushing scores.
Both teams will be challenged defensively to stop the offensive attacks.
Look for a contest with plenty of scoring if Ryan can solve the Waurika defense that has only allowed three touchdowns in five games.
Here’s a look at the results of the long-running series:
1919: Ryan 23, Waurika 0
1919: Waurika 29, Ryan 27
1927: Ryan 37, Waurika 0
1928: Waurika 14, Ryan 6
1929: Ryan 20, Waurika 0
1930: Waurika 27, Ryan 0
1931: Waurika 7, Ryan 0
1932: Waurika 7, Ryan 0
1933: Waurika 13, Ryan 0
1934: Waurika 18, Ryan 0
1935: Waurika 32, Ryan 20
1936: Waurika 14, Ryan 0
1937: Ryan 6, Waurika 6
1938: Waurika 12, Ryan 6
1939: Waurika 27, Ryan 0
1940: Waurika 6, Ryan 0
1941: Ryan 19, Waurika 0
1942: Ryan 0, Waurika 0
1943: Ryan 0, Waurika 0
1944: Waurika 38, Ryan 7
1945: Ryan 13, Waurika 0
1945: Waurika 19, Ryan 6
1946: Ryan 15, Waurika 14
1947: Waurika 14, Ryan 6
1948: Waurika 38, Ryan 13
1949: Waurika 32, Ryan 0
1950: Waurika 60, Ryan 0
1953: Waurika 41, Ryan 14
1954: Waurika 7, Ryan 6
1955: Ryan 19, Waurika 12
1956: Ryan 19, Waurika 6
1957: Ryan 33, Waurika 12
1958: Ryan 18, Waurika 14
1959: Waurika 20, Ryan 0
1960: Waurika 12, Ryan 8
1961: Ryan 8, Waurika 6
1962: Ryan 33, Waurika 18
1963: Waurika 40, Ryan 8
1964: Waurika 58, Ryan 6
1965: Waurika 2, Ryan 0 (forfeit)
1966: Waurika 35, Ryan 14
1967: Waurika 46, Ryan 0
1968: Waurika 22, Ryan 6
1969: Waurika 38, Ryan 0
1970: Waurika 34, Ryan 8
1971: Waurika 64, Ryan 0
1972: Waurika 50, Ryan 0
1973: Waurika 28, Ryan 6
1974: Ryan 28, Waurika 0
1975: Waurika 13, Ryan 8
1976: Waurika 21, Ryan 0
1977: Waurika 33, Ryan 0
1990: Ryan 27, Waurika 6
1991: Waurika 27, Ryan 20
2012: Ryan 36, Waurika 16
2013: Ryan 44, Waurika 26
2014: Waurika 29, Ryan 24
2015: Waurika 34, Ryan 22
2016: Waurika 46, Ryan 0
2017: Ryan 44, Waurika 36 (2OT)
