Of the 668 Texas high school football games this week, only 12 are a battle of the unbeatens including our Marquee Matchup featuring Corpus Christi's oldest rivalry between Ray and Miller.
"This rivalry is one of the oldest in the state of Texas and it's such a close...I don't know what the record is," said Craig Charlton, Ray football head coach. "I want to say we're neck and neck as far as wins over the years since 1950."
Miller has won this rivalry series with shutouts the past three years, but when you look at the entire last decade this series is split at 5 wins a-piece.
"You know there's a lot of pride between both communities and both communities want to win the game, so it's a natural rivalry," said Justen Evans, Miller football head coach. "You know the oldest rivalry in CCISD."
Ray implemented a new offense this season, and it's starting to pay off with a 3-0 start.
"Like we said at the beginning of the season, our chemistry has really gotten stronger through the offseason," said Nicolas Talavera, Ray junior quarterback. "We put in a lot of hard work together, and it's helped us get to where we are now."
"Our offense started off a little rough, but I think they got it after a couple of weeks going," said Juan Cavazos, Ray senior outside linebacker. "They did a good H.M. King game, so I think our defense is going to be one of the big factors coming out to play out here."
Miller's high-flying offense overshadowed the Bucs defense at the beginning of the season.
"Lot of people doubted our defense and you know the thing that they bring to the table it hypes up the offense and it let's us come out and do our thing," said Eathan Vela, Miller sophomore wide receiver.
However, after Miller defeated El Campo and their star running back Rueben Owens 49-29, the Bucs' defense has built confidence.
"Really did help us a lot because he's the number one running back in the country, so we're not going to see any better than that," said Landon Johnson, Miller junior safety and receiver. "We're just going to go out there and play hard."
Miller and Ray kickoff on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Buc Stadium. Members from both school's Hall of Fames will be in attendance at the pre-game coin toss.
