Two of the eight teams remaining in both divisions of Class 1A reside in the Texas Panhandle. Happy, which is Class 1A Division I, and Valley, which is Class 1A Division II, each have a chance to represent the area in their respective state championship games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington with wins in the semifinals on Friday and Saturday.

It hasn’t always been this way. The Happy-Valley on-field rivalry is known as one the best Class 1A (Six-man) rivalries in the state. The two programs play each other every season, and have met in many playoff encounters over the years.

But after Valley dropped into Division II thanks to the realignment, the two programs won’t face each other in the playoffs. That allows the programs to cheer for one another.

“I visit with their coach Tye Keith a lot,” said Valley head coach Brandon Smith, whose team will face Balmorhea at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night. “I know he and our former coach Bret Tyler were really close. That really helped me get to know him. You’re always rivals when you go to play each other, but when you’re not playing each other, you exchange ideas and help one another. Now that we’re not in the same division we can talk more than what we used to since we won’t face each other.”

Keith echoed Smith’s comments.

“It has changed a little bit since we’re not in the same division,” Keith said. “When we play each other it’s a great rivalry and we want to win. But it’s friendly. We follow them through the playoffs. We check their score and root for them. We want to see them continue to win and it’d be neat to see us both at AT&T Stadium.”

The players feel the same way about the rivalry. Happy junior fullback Jayton Walden’s grandparents, Fro and Debbie Walden, have a ranch near Turkey. Jayton’s uncle, Charlie Walden, was a standout tight end/defensive end at Valley in 2006.

“Oh yeah, I know all those guys from Valley,” said Jayton, who has 733 rushing yards with 18 touchdowns for Happy this season. “It’s always fun playing them because I lived there until I was 6-years old. I go down there every summer to work on the ranch, so I know them real well. Since we don’t have to play them, I definitely cheer for them 100 percent. I hope they go both get to go to state. That would be pretty awesome.”

Valley quarterback Zack Stumbo is a friend of Jayton’s. Stumbo and his team have followed Happy’s success all through the playoffs and will be checking the score when the Cowboys play Borden County on Saturday afternoon.

“We like to go out and support them,” said Stumbo, who has thrown for 1,711 yards with 31 TDs. “We’d like to see Happy get another win. We’re good friends with the Happy guys. Some of them have family around Turkey, so we see them and hang out quite a bit.”