Razorbacks & Rivalry: A look at the roots of the 'Backs' legendary name and how their rivalry started with the Texas side

Eddie Ray Shuffield speaks Saturday about the history of the rivalry of Arkansas High School and Texas High School during a presentation titled "Before They Were Razorbacks" at the P.J. Ahern House in Texarkana, Ark.
Eddie Ray Shuffield speaks Saturday about the history of the rivalry of Arkansas High School and Texas High School during a presentation titled "Before They Were Razorbacks" at the P.J. Ahern House in Texarkana, Ark.

On Saturday afternoon in Texarkana, Arkansas, local historian and Arkansas High School graduate (class of 1963) Eddie Shuffield, along with Dr. John Tennison, 1986 Arkansas High valedictorian, delved into the history of Arkansas High's football program and the rivalry with their rivals across town, Texas High.

Shuffield handled most of the presentation held at the P.J. Ahern House. "Before They Were Razorbacks" led the audience through a series of slides based on his research that filled a series of notebooks. Shuffield said his work has been driven by passion to know the facts behind the names, events and legends of the Arkansas High School football program. His presentation was the result of researching school annuals and more than 400 newspaper articles, dating from 1905 through 1930, from publications like the Four States Press, Texarkana Courier and Texarkana Daily. "Arkansas High started their football program in 1911, but did not actually call themselves Razorbacks until fall of 1921," he said. "At that point, all the sports teams called themselves Razorbacks."

Shuffield said University of Arkansas was using the name Razorbacks much earlier, dating back to 1905.

"The reason they called themselves the Razorbacks was unknown," said Shuffield. "Other names have been associated with them, such as the Rams, but on an unofficial basis. One sports writer called them the Bulldogs in 1912 due to their on-field tenacity, but once again, that was not an official name. Before that, most just called them Arkansas High or the East Side Team."

The rivalry between Arkansas High and Texas High dates back to Thanksgiving Day, 1912, where the two went at it in a game where the East Side Team was the easy favorite to win.

"Arkansas High's team was performing well, having come from a series of wins before the matchup," Shuffield said.

"Everyone expected them to easily win. Texas High ended up beating them overwhelmingly, 40-0. Not only that, they rubbed it in later that day with a downtown parade."

After that, an intense rivalry existed for decades between the teams. Things were tense around the game for many years as folks on both side of the state line, not just the football team, found themselves in a fighting mood. Over the years, there had been various attempts to make peace, but not really took for the longest time.

"The rivalry continued at that level of intensity as late as the 60s," said Shuffield. "It was so intense, there was no game in '13, '14', '21, '52, '54 and '56. Various other things occurred over the years to aggravate the tension, such as in 1921, when Texas High fielded a player named Ernest Jones, who turned out to be a ringer from Rusk Junior College. The rivalry only became friendlier with the passage of time."

Shuffield said there is much more to the team's history and he is planning another presentation.

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