Nearly all colleges and universities have conference rivals, many schools have in-state rivals and a few even have inner-city rivals.

But there are not many NCAA institutions that have across-the-street rivals as is the case for Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist, both members of the Division II Gulf South Conference, are literally across the street from each other, separated only by U.S. Highway 67.

David Sharp, athletics director at Ouachita Baptist, said that the distance from the goal post at the end of Henderson State's football field to the Ouachita Baptist field is about 350 yards. Henderson State Athletics Director Sam Goodwin said that if the schools play a game at the same time on the same day, you can hear one school's public address system in the other school's stadium.

"It's probably the most unusual situation in college football," said Goodwin, who also played and coached football at Henderson State. "We literally walk across the street to play each other."

The football game between the schools, known as "The Battle of the Ravine," dates back more than a century.

It began on Thanksgiving Day in 1895 as then-Ouachita College beat then-Arkansas Methodist College, 8-0. That first match-up wasn't really a varsity game, said Henderson State sports information director Troy Mitchell, but it was the inaugural meeting between the institutions. Mitchell said more authentic games began in 1907 and, except for some brief periods, have continued since.

The rivalry is always fierce and at times the game was stopped because tensions ran too high, officials at both schools say. And the contention isn't just felt at football games; it runs through all sporting events between the two schools.

"Our student-athletes, our coaches and our institution as a whole, when we play Henderson State, there's no doubt the intensity level probably rises a little," said Sharp, who formerly played and coached football at Ouachita Baptist. "There is a little added incentive there because it is such a unique rivalry."

In the early 1950s, the rivalry intensified when Henderson State kidnapped Ouachita Baptist's homecoming queen. Mitchell said the queen was taken to Hot Springs, which is about 30 miles away, and returned only after her abductors were told the FBI was getting involved in the investigation.

Sharp said his father, who played football for Ouachita Baptist at the time, took a shotgun to go look for the kidnapped homecoming queen.

The football game started up again in 1963, and Goodwin was on that team. He said he still remembers a basketball game in 1962, the year before the "Battle of the Ravine" resumed, when people crowded into the gym three hours before tip-off to see the game.

Goodwin said the game was tied with seconds left and a Henderson State player was fouled at the buzzer, but he missed a free throw to win the game. A Ouachita Baptist guard then came over and made a comment to the player who missed the foul shot and, as Goodwin put it, "It was nothing but humanity on the court."

The game also stopped for a few years in the mid-1990s when Henderson State left the NAIA to join the NCAA, but it resumed once again and has been going strong for about a decade. In all, Ouachita Baptist leads the series, 37-36-6, including this year's 35-17 victory over the Reddies.

Nowadays, it's a bit calmer on both campuses before the game.

"The week we play, both schools leave their stadium lights on all week long at night to make sure no one messes with the fields, and you have a little extra security," said Goodwin. "But other than a little painting here and there I don't think there's been any major, major things."

Sharp agreed, noting that a tiger on Ouachita Baptist's campus and a bell on Henderson State's campus are usually targets for paint, but it's all in good fun these days.

Mitchell said that when the game is played at Ouachita Baptist, the Henderson State football players walk to the game through a tunnel formed by the marching band. The band plays the school fight song and the team marches single file as police block off traffic on the highway.

The team is led in their march by a trophy topped with a replica of the helmet, which is similar to a trophy also owned by the Ouachita Baptist team. If Henderson State wins the game, the middle of the trophy will hold a multi-colored football on the walk back. The football is half red and gray for Henderson State and half purple and gold for Ouachita Baptist, and the game winner is presented with the ball for their trophy after the game.

Ouachita Baptist players don't have that kind of fanfare when they go play at Henderson State, Sharp said. They take a bus to the game.

"It's kind of a short road trip," he joked. He said when the team wins players may run back to campus, but when they lose, it's back on the bus for the trip home.

The rivalry between these schools extends far into the Arkadelphia community, a small city of about 11,000 people in southwest Arkansas. Many families have their loyalties divided between the schools, with husbands and wives working at rival universities.

Barbara Coplen, city manager of Arkadelphia, noted that the rivalry even extends to city hall. The city's treasurer is a Ouachita Baptist grad, while the grants writer and computer technicians are Henderson State alums. Coplen said that one of the technicians once made the treasurer a new diploma from Henderson State and put it in a frame; it took the treasurer days to notice the switch.

"If I go to the game I have to sit on each side for a half so as not to incur wrath," Coplen said. "The city loves the fun of this and the reunions held and the alumni that come for several days.

"Our town is so neat and we have such cooperation between both colleges in all that the community does," she said. "It is a blessing.