Top 25 Games of 2017: No. 7, Texas High At Arkansas High

The interstate war between the two biggest schools in Texarkana (Texas and Arkansas) is a big deal every year. But it's taken on greater significance in 2017.

Both Texas High and Arkansas High have new head coaches, and folks on the Texas side of Texarkana are very familiar with the Razorbacks' new boss.

It's none other than Barry Norton, who patrolled the sidelines as Texas' head coach from 1999-2016.

New Tigers coach Gerry Stanford will take his team across the border on Sept. 8 to face Arkansas High. It checks in at No. 7 on ETSN.fm's list of the top 25 games of 2017.

Norton, Texas High's winningest coach, will inherit a Arkansas program in need of a spark. The Razorbacks haven't had a winning record since 2007, and have beaten their neighbors to the south just once in the last 16 years.

Texas High rolled to a 37-7 win over Arkansas last season.

The Tigers lost a pair of Division I signees on the offensive side of the ball in quarterback Cade Pearson (North Texas) and receiver Quan Hampton (Kansas).

However, Texas High has a pair of D-I commitments on this year's team -- receiver and TCU pledge Tevailance Hunt, and defensive end Leonard Parks, who has committed to SMU.

And new quarterback Coltin Clack, a junior, already has a few Division I scholarship offers to his name.

All in all, Texas High has 12 returning starters from last year's squad that completed the school's first 10-0 regular season since 2006.