Friday night will be the 68th meeting of the annual cross-town rivalry game between Permian and Odessa High. Through the 67 prior engagements, the Panthers own a 56–10-1 all-time record over the Bronchos.
Rivalries… basketball has the LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics, baseball has the Yankees-Red Sox, and college football has Texas-Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. In the land of ‘Friday Night Lights’, Permian vs. Odessa High has drawn near sellout crowds to W.T. Barrett Stadium until 1981. The annual event moved in 1982 to Ratliff Stadium, where it has been hosted ever since.
The 2026 edition has arrived, and it’s Eastside vs. Westside, Black vs. Red, Panthers vs. Bronchos… it’s MOJO vs. BIG RED that will divide the City of Odessa this week. The climax will come this Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Ratliff Stadium, with bragging right chatter to last throughout the following week. And that, more than likely, will conclude in the break room on Monday.
HISTORY OF THE RIVALRY:
Permian opened as a brand new high school in east Odessa in 1959, and fielded a football team the same year. In their debut season, the Panthers fell prey to the Bronchos by a 14-6 deficit. The following season Permian answered with a 27-14 victory.
By the time 1964 rolled around, Country music singer Larry Gatlin quarterbacked Odessa High to its last win over the Black Cats before a three-decade long drought. The next 33 years would belong to Permian. The streak would end when the Panthers absorbed a 20-17 loss to the Bronchos in 1997. West Odessa had “broken the spell” from East Odessa.
In the heart of that streak, the two teams would brave the icy “Blizzard Bowl” in 1976. Sub-freezing temps had the school district cancel the Friday night date. With ice and snow still covering the field at W.T. Barrett Stadium, a Saturday matinee game commenced. It would prove to be a dramatic 14-6 win for Permian. The loss snuffed out OHS plans for the playoffs in a year eight teams comprised District 3-5A, with only two teams advancing to the post-season.
The Panthers started building a new streak in 1998, but it only lasted six years. In 2004, the Bronchos broke the new streak with a 20-19 win. Odessa High won again the following year for back-to-back wins over Permian, which was unheard of in the half-century in the history of the crosstown battle. It happened again in 2009 and 2010.
Mojo would start another win-streak and 2013 would be the last OHS win for a decade. In 2023, the Bronchos won in a 49-42 overtime decision. Permian redeemed itself by dishing out a humiliating 50-26 Broncho loss in 2024, and followed that with a 49-7 blasting last year. On Friday, the Panthers will look to notch yet another victory into the history books… and allow another Mojo win streak to continue.
