While the Hays County Showdown between San Marcos High School and Hays High School might soak up the headlines, Hays County’s other rivalry can match the intensity and fierceness as of its counterpart.
Known as the Battle of Ranch Road 12, the rivalry between the Dripping Springs Tigers and the Wimberley Texans still remains intensely competitive despite being dormant on the football field since 2013.
The origins of the Battle of Ranch Road 12 hearken back to 1938, when both schools were a part of a six-man football league that featured Kyle, Uhland and Martindale.
Though not named the Texans at that time, Wimberley High School was then known as both the Hillbillies and the Wildcats.
Dripping Springs took home wins in the games played in 1938 and 1939, winning 98-6 and 44-12.
The 1941 game was unique to the series as the two sparring teams met at Texas State’s Evans Field, as the first ever sixman football to be played in San Marcos.
Wimberley finally defeated their rivals up north, topping Dripping Springs with a score, 3113.
The rivalry came to an end when Wimberley High School’s status changed and it became a junior high that fed into several high schools, among which were Buda High School, and eventually, Hays High School.
Despite Wimberley ISD coming into existence in 1986, the first game of the Battle of Ranch Road 12 did not occur until 1992.
In the second game of the 1992 season, the first ever Battle of Ranch Road 12 offered spectators a thrilling contest. The end of this game saw Dripping Springs fight back from a 29-7 deficit.
The Tigers blocked a punt with 1:25 left in the game, and returned six points, to make a 35-34 game.
However, Dripping Springs then opted for the two-point conversion which ended with the Texans stuffing the Tigers to seal the win.
The series was played from 19921999 before discontinuing for four years.
But if you ask anyone why the rivalry stopped, many will point to the infamous game in 1998, the one that is better known as the Lights Out Game.
In a non-district showdown between the two rivals, Dripping Springs came into the game with an attitude to win.
In the third quarter, Dripping Springs was clinging on to a 13-7 lead, when a fist fight between the teams broke out, eventually bleeding into the stands.
The game soon descended into chaos, as the stadium lights suddenly cut out.
Hays County Sheriff Office deputies soon got involved, working to separate the teams. Order was restored and the lights were turned back on 17 minutes later.
According to a published article by the San Marcos Daily Record’s Peter Brown, a Dripping Springs statistician was the cause of the blackout. Brown stated that the statistician “... got up from her seat in the cramped press box and went to get herself some iced tea. Turning, she bumped into the fuse box. I was not three feet away when the lights in Tiger Stadium went out.”
Dripping Springs scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers took the victory at 27-6, in a night few would forget for years.
In an elaborate prank during the 1999 game, meant to be a callback to the events of the previous season game, Texan Stadium experienced a blackout of its own.
Following a fouryear break between the Ranch Road 12 rivals, Dripping Springs and Wimberley met again, beginning in 2004, then playing in 10 straight games until 2013.
Overall, the Ranch Road 12 Rivalry series is rather appropriately tied at 9-9.
Eventually, the growth taking place at Dripping Springs High School brought the Ranch Road 12 Rivalry to a halt.
Though the rivalry is currently on it’s longest hiatus, the memories of the Ranch Road 12 rivalry remain ever fresh to the fans of both teams, especially those privileged to see some of these games.
