Since it was launched by the respective supporters’ groups in 2019, Copa Tejas has been one of the great – and maybe slightly unheralded – rivalries in the USL Championship.

You can attribute each club’s fluctuations in fortunes on the field for that.

You see, despite the one season in which the rivalry’s current participants El Paso Locomotive FC and San Antonio FC were both legitimate contenders in the Western Conference in 2021, for one side’s form to be up and the other’s to be down has been much more common.

In fact, out of the five seasons in which the trophy has been contested – the 2020 edition was shelved due to the hyper-regional groups that were formulated during the COVID-19 pandemic – it’s been more common for at least one of the two to miss the postseason completely as it has for both clubs to make the playoffs.

That came to a head last year when both missed out, a low in Copa Tejas history.

The good news? This season, both have rebounded strongly and for the first time since 2021 look like serious challengers.

• PICKING UP STEAM: After finishing last in the Western Conference a season ago, Locomotive has powered back up the standings this year. As Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera’s side reaches the midway point of the campaign, it sits in second place with a 6-3-5 record and 23 goals. That’s only two wins shy and four goals off its full-season totals in 2024.

• BACK IN BLACK: San Antonio got out to a flying start under new Head Coach Carlos Llamosa with four consecutive wins. While it’s come back to earth a little since then, it’s still in fourth place in the West, two points behind Locomotive, and is perfect at the top of its USL Jägermeister Cup group going to the fourth and final game.

• CREATING CONSISTENCY: The main task for both Cabrera and Llamosa over the second half of the year will be to boost consistency. Some of the setbacks that have occurred – see San Antonio’s away defeats at the Charleston Battery and New Mexico United, or El Paso’s defeat to Orange County SC in its last home outing – have left questions as to what the top end for each side can be.

The current position for both clubs, though, means Friday’s Fourth of July showdown at Southwest University Park should add something extra to the first meeting between the teams this campaign.

“I mean, it’s obviously always a great match against San Antonio,” said Locomotive defender and El Paso native Memo Diaz. “It’s always a good rivalry with them, regardless of the standings. I think it's a game that both teams look to go out there and fight and win, and now that the standings are there, [there’s] a little bit more at stake.”

While Locomotive and SAFC are the current competitors for the USL Championship’s edition of Copa Tejas, there’s more to look forward to in the series’ future. The arrival to the league of Atlético Dallas – which will kick off at the Cotton Bowl in 2027 and has already released a sharp crest and kits – is one that looks eager to make an immediate impact. What better way than to knock off your established in-state rivals?

The potential of current USL League One club Texoma FC or Corpus Christi’s 2026 expansion side to enter the fray – either with the expansion of the USL Jägermeister Cup and implementation of promotion and relegation in the USL’s professional divisions – could also figure into Copa Tejas’ future. 

But with both El Paso and San Antonio each having won the trophy twice over its history – and San Antonio sporting a narrow 5-4-4 advantage in the head-to-head series – the current iteration of Copa Tejas remains among the league’s best rivalries.

As both sides aim for glory, there’s nothing like the stakes of a trophy being on the line.