For the uninitiated, how would Amando Moreno describe the Derby Del Camino Real between El Paso Locomotive FC and New Mexico United?

“In one word? Hectic,” said Moreno this week. “I think my first memory of joining New Mexico was obviously playing against El Paso, and hearing about the rivalry. That year was 2020, so it was the COVID year, and we played El Paso a lot, and I just remember the first game getting stuck in with Yuma, Eder Borelli, both guys, obviously, who’d been in the league a long time.

“It was never ill will. It was always a tough match for me. I think I only scored a couple of goals against them. It was always hard games, but it was one that I was always looking forward to. So definitely crazy and very exciting to watch for the fans, for sure.”

Moreno should know.

The current Locomotive forward is one of only three players who has seen action for both New Mexico – which he competed for over four seasons between 2020 and 2023 – and El Paso, which he joined prior to the 2024 season.

The two clubs – separated by a 266-mile stretch of I-25 – have developed one of the strongest rivalries in the USL Championship since each joining the league for the 2019 season. There has been plenty of drama across the 17 prior meetings between the clubs in the regular season and playoffs, and it’s been amplified by two of the most passionate fanbases in the Championship, both of which make their presence felt at home and away whenever the sides meet.

“Obviously, [New Mexico has] a big fan base, but I think the fans that El Paso has – that we have – know how much New Mexico wants to get on us,” sad Moreno. “So, they get even more into it, saying, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna allow these guys to out-rally us.’

“I would definitely say it’s up there [in the league’s rivalries]. I don’t know about the best – I would say the best – but to each their own.”

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Truth be told, after four seasons, Moreno wasn’t in any hurry to move on from New Mexico. He was coming off a season in which he’d recorded 15 goal contributions across the regular season and playoffs, equaling his career high, and notched his first season with double-digit goals since 2018 with the New York Red Bulls II.

But when former Locomotive Head Coach Brian Clarhaut – a fellow New Jersey native – came calling with Moreno a free agent, it gave the 29-year-old a hard decision to make.

“Brian, he was the one that definitely convinced me to come here,” said Moreno. “His idea of how he wanted to build a team drew me towards coming here. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, it actually took me a while. It took me, like, a month to really decide to make the move to come here. But eventually I decided to talk to my family, my agent, and we thought it was the best decision for me to come.”

The move in terms of the rivalry was notable – Moreno became the first player to move directly from one club to the other in its history – but the plan for Locomotive seemed sound with Moreno on board to add to Clarhaut’s attacking options.

And then, nothing seemed to click into place for the side.

After scoring only once in their first four games, Locomotive appeared on the verge of a breakthrough when they visited New Mexico’s Isotopes Park for their fifth game of the campaign. After Joaquin Rivas pulled the visitors level with nine minutes to go, Moreno capitalized on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to put El Paso ahead before the fans that used to cheer him.

And then, almost as quickly, it all fell apart.

With two goals in three minutes from Jacobo Reyes and Nicky Hernandez, New Mexico grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat and left Locomotive with one point from their first five games.

El Paso reached the Western Conference Final in each of its first two seasons in the league, and over the club’s first three seasons it won 40 regular season games – second-most in the Western Conference to Phoenix Rising and fifth-most in the Championship overall – while averaging 1.78 points per game.

In the three seasons since, the side has averaged only 1.23 points per game and missed the postseason twice. Last year marked the nadir as the club bagged only 27 goals in 34 regular season games, the lowest mark in the league.

“What I felt was missing was just that connection,” said Moreno. “We just felt disjointed, and to be honest, it wasn’t me not liking any guys, or the guys not linking up. We were genuinely trying to build something good. But so many moments that didn’t go our way, that just kept bringing us down and down, that just wasn't easy for us to get out of.”

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This year, we’re starting to see shoots of recovery at Southwest University Park.

While Locomotive has two points from two games after a pair of dramatic drawn contests against defending title-winner Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC – where El Paso grabbed a stoppage-time equalizer – and Phoenix Rising FC – where Moreno’s brace was overshadowed by Rising’s three-goal comeback – there have been more positives than negatives to take from the games.

“I don't feel worried,” said Moreno. “What we have this year in terms of camaraderie, team building, man, I genuinely enjoy playing with my teammates. I know the same feeling that they have, that I have, like, ‘man, we got to do better this year.’ And the connection that we have with the new guys that came in, it just added to that joy.

“You could tell that it looks fun to watch El Paso now, you know what I mean? I got a bunch of family and friends saying, ‘Man, you guys were a joy to watch,’ It’s been unfortunate with the results, but the last two games, man, that feels so good for me.”

Moreno acknowledges the need to start putting results on the board – “we’re trying to get these points as early as possible, so once mid-season starts or towards the end of season, when guys start getting tired… it’s easier for us to adjust.” – but there’s been a sea change in the way the side is playing.

For Moreno in particular, there’s more freedom to drift into different areas of the field, picking up pockets of space alongside new arrival Beto Avila, with whom he’s quickly developed a positive understanding. After the rigidity of the system Locomotive was using a season ago positionally, Moreno is flourishing again with three goals in the opening two games.

“[Beto] just takes a lot of pressure off me,” said Moreno. “You could tell, I could hear it in the games. I make a run and then the defenders get confused, ‘if I leave this guy, now we got Beto, who’s just as shifty, he’s just as crafty, just as creative.’ Like I was saying to him during training, ‘man, that’s the kind of guy that we need on this team, to bring that extra pressure in the attack.’”

As Locomotive and Moreno prepare to visit New Mexico this weekend – for United’s home opener, no less – that attacking incisiveness is set to be key as the visitors try to make a statement against their biggest rival.

While Moreno has great memories of the successes he had at Isotopes Park, he’s also out to lead his current club back to its early glories.

“I know how much New Mexico helped me grow as a player, and I’m never going to forget that, but I’m going to bring my ‘A’ game,” said Moreno. “Right now, I’m on fire, and I know they're going to be worried. I know how to score there, so I’m going to have a little bit of that confidence, and then try to bring that to my teammates. We’re just going to go out there and do the best that we can.”