You don’t see Fort Hancock coming—until you do. Traveling south along I-10 from El Paso, there are no welcome signs pointing toward the small West Texas town. But then, as you near the Mexican border, there’s that navy blue water tower emblazoned with text looming large against the horizon. “Fort Hancock Mustangs,” it reads. “6-Man State Football Champions.” The writing commemorates the local high school’s football program, which won Texas state titles in 1986 and again every year from 1988–1991.
The water tower is the best-kept structure for miles around; its preservation says a lot about the importance of the sport in an otherwise remote community. But last week, when Fort Hancock High School honored the one hundredth anniversary of its founding ahead of a football game against the visiting Fort Davis Indians, the celebration was less about the way things are than about the way they were thirty years ago, when the home team was winning.
A lot has changed since that run of championships. The Mustangs’ currently own one of the longest losing streaks in the state; their last victory came in October of 2021. When they took the field to start their 2025 season, on August 29, they were chasing a simple goal: to live up to the legacy so vital to their town’s recent history. To win a single game.