Crosstown Rivalry game kicks off Friday Night Lights in Las Cruces, New Mexico

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The longtime rivalry matchup between the Las Cruces Bulldawgs and the Mayfield Trojans that's existed since at least 1967 will kickoff Friday Night Lights in Las Cruces Friday, August 22nd at the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Last season this duo played in the first game of the season for the first time in rivalry's history due to the district realignment that moved Mayfield down to class 5A, which removed the chance of them meeting in the district championship.

Last year the Bulldawgs defeated the Trojans 50-7, making it its ninth straight win in this rivalry matchup.

 "We feel like we have tradition and a lot of winning history here at Cruces High," Las Cruces Head Coach Mark Lopez said. "With that, comes a recipe for success and we feel like we have some recipes now and some groups buy into it faster than others."

With a new game plan in store, the Trojans feel they'll have a chance to snap Las Cruces' winning streak.

"We have a great new game plan, we just need to execute," Las Cruces' Center Steven Arellin Jr. said. "Everything we do, we need to come out here and we need to work. We obviously didn't get the outcome we wanted last year but we use that every day as motivation."

Las Cruces and Mayfield will kickoff their season opener at the Field of Dreams on Friday, August 22nd at 7p.m.