The year was 1988 when the Randall Raiders took the football field for the very first time. Their unstained uniforms were crisp, fresh out of the box. Through unscathed helmets, the Raiders stared down their opponents. However, the eyes that stared back were familiar. They were former schoolmates, friends, players who’d just a short time before attended the same school. They were the Canyon Eagles. With the building of a new high school, Canyon ISD had been split in two.

The referee blew his whistle. The time clock ticked away. Helmets collided. Friends became enemies. A new rivalry was born.

From the beginning, the Eagles have been the Raiders biggest rival. They were from the same school district, competing for the same district titles. From sports to academics, graduation rates and test scores, traditionally Canyon has been the school to beat.

However, a few years back, Canyon moved to 3A while Randall remained 4A. The thirst for Eagle blood seemed to fade. The schools were no longer fighting for the same trophies. Academic teams began to collaborate rather than compete. The schools looked for rivalries within their own districts.

Then somewhere down the line, someone coined the phrase, “The Battle of Bell” and the Raiders found a new rival in Amarillo High. Each year, t-shirts are made, pranks are carried out, and it all comes to a finale with a beat down on the football field.

Now, UIL has reworked district boundaries yet again. Randall, Amarillo High and Canyon are all competing against each other in district 4A. That leaves us to wonder, who is RHS’s biggest rival?

In a Sept. 20 poll of 145 random RHS students, 56 said Amarillo High is the biggest rival while 89 said Canyon is the team to beat.