End 1st
Carlsbad leads 6-0, as Brock Wright scored on a 3-yard run with 4:13 left in the period. Extra point attempt no good.
The Carlsbad Cavemen and Artesia Bulldogs begin the 2026 football season facing each other in the annual rivalry game that divides both communities for one day a year.
Tonight at 7 at the Bulldog Bowl in Artesia both teams square off for football supremacy in Eddy County.
Last season both teams made it to the postseason. Carlsbad advanced to the second round of the 6A playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
The Cavemen defeated Rio Rancho in the opening round and finished last season with a 6-6 record.
The Bulldogs finished 12-1 and won the 5A state title with a 25-24 win over Roswell.
Both teams have key players that people need to watch tonight and all season long.
Carlsbad linebacker Colton McKibben has attracted attention during the summer as he enters his senior season.
McKibben, a four-star recruit, has committed to attend UCLA next fall.
Running back Brock Wright, who is the Carlsbad Current-Argus Male Athlete of the Year, rushed for mor 1,100 yards last season.
Artesia wide receiver George Blackburn IV and running back Tyler Egeland could play key roles for the Bulldog tonight’s game.
Keep it right here for the latest updates on the Eddy County War.