The start of the 2026 Kingfisher High School football season could also be the genesis of a new rivalry.

Kingfisher begins its latest campaign at home on Friday night when it hosts the Cashion Wildcats.

It’s not going to be the visitors’ first game as they opened in Week 0 at home against Crescent and triumphed 37-14 in the “War on 74.”

It is, however, the first game between these two football programs - ever.

“I think this will be great for both communities,” said Kingfisher High School head coach Reagan Roof.

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It never became feasible for the two teams to play until 2008 when Cashion made the move from eightman to 11-man football.

Lynn Shackelford oversaw that transition and soon enough he had the Wildcats contending in Class A.

They’ve made the playoffs each year since the move and from 2009 through 2021, the Wildcats won at least one playoff game.

That included making the Class A title game in 2014 and 2015 and again in 2019.

Each of those times, Cashion settled for runner- up, but broke through in 2020 and repeated as the state champion in 2021.

Combined with its three eight-man championships, that gave the Cashion program five state titles.

[KT&FP Staff Photos] Just 20 minutes to the west, Kingfisher was making its own mark.

Under Rick VanCleave, the Jackets began a streak of reaching the playoffs in 2000 that remains today.

His 2003 team won the program’s first-ever state title and Jeff Myers took the reins the following season and catapulted it among the state’s elite.

Starting with Van-Cleave’s 2001 team, KHS won at least one playoff game every year until 2015. The Jackets resumed another streak of five straight seasons with at least one playoff win after that.

In the 13 seasons from 2002 through 2014, the Jackets were semifinalists 11 times, reached the finals six times and won two titles.

Simply put, Cashion and Kingfisher had reached the height of football.

Despite being about 17 miles apart, they still never met.

But, again, it didn’t make a ton of sense as there was still a wide discrepancy in the enrollments.

That’s changing. Cashion is growing. And fast. Shackelford is now overseeing another movement, this time from Class A to Class 2A-II.

The school district is among the fastest growing in the state and the gap between it and Kingfisher is quickly closing.

“It’s something that’s been talked about for a little while, but we really started talking about making it happen the last couple of years,” said Roof.

With Cashion making the move to 2A, with both teams needing a non-district game and with the distance being next to nothing in the football world, the timing was finally right.

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“I’m excited for a lot of reasons,” said Shackelford. “For one, it’s 20 minutes away. I’m tired of driving to Ringling and Velma to get in a non-district game.”

Cashion has a current rival in Crescent. Since making the move to 11-man, the two have annually played in the “War on 74” whether in a district or non-district game.

If Cashion’s growth continues as projected, however, that rivalry may not be feasible in the future.

Kingfisher, meanwhile, once upon a time had rivalries with both Watonga and Hennessey.

Kingfisher’s growth and success eventually eliminated each of those.

Roof has seen the value of rivalry games in previous stops, including Weatherford, which has its annual matchup with Clinton.

“That was so much fun to be a part of,” he said, “even in those years when you knew you probably weren’t going to win.”

The crowd. The atmosphere. The anticipation. Kingfisher doesn’t currently have that.

“Maybe it can be Cashion,” said Roof. Shackelford said it just makes sense.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer. I think it will be great for both programs and both communities and I don’t know why this game wouldn’t be played for at least 10 or 15 years now.”

Both coaches agree Cashion will eventually grow into Kingfisher’s class (likely it’s district) and, if projections hold up, will eventually pass Kingfisher in size.

“Even if we pass them up and move into 4A, I’d think they would still want to play us,” Shackelford said. “They’ve proven they’re not afraid to play bigger schools when they take on Weatherford and Clinton every year.”

Roof agrees. “I think this has the potential to be a really good rivalry,” he said. “And I think it will be great for both communities.”