DENISON - Sherman ISD listed the Bearcats’ 2026 season opener for 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, against Denison in the 128th Battle of the Ax at Munson Stadium, and the district said the game had sold out with a livestream available for fans who did not get tickets. For Cooke County readers who follow North Texas high school football, the game brings together neighboring Sherman and Denison programs that the UIL’s rivalry archive lists as 16 miles apart and more than a century deep.
Sherman ISD’s Aug. 25 preview identified the matchup as Sherman Bearcats vs. Denison Yellowjackets and used the Battle of the Ax spelling. Sherman ISD’s posted varsity schedule also listed Denison as the Aug. 28 opponent at Munson Stadium. The UIL archive lists the rivalry as Battle of the Axe and records the first meeting as a Sherman win in 1902.
Through the archive’s 2019 entry, UIL records show Sherman ahead in the series, 66-42-6, with 114 meetings listed. That count sits near other older Texas entries in the same UIL archive, including Bay City-El Campo at 116 and Cuero-Yoakum at 110, placing Sherman-Denison among the state’s more frequently played school rivalries in that record.
The sold-out gate means fans who did not secure seats were left with the livestream option Sherman ISD pointed to in its preview. Sherman ISD’s ticket page says its athletic events do not take cash and varsity football tickets must be bought online, including at the gate by mobile QR code. Denison ISD’s ticket page also says its athletic events use online ticketing and have no cash sales at the gate.
Sherman ISD tied rivalry week to a canned-food drive for MasterKey Ministries from Aug. 21 through Aug. 28. The district said campuses accepted food and cash donations, with each dollar counted as five cans.
The schools enter the 2026-28 cycle in different UIL football divisions. UIL’s alignment places Sherman in Conference 5A Division I District 3 and Denison in Conference 5A Division II District 4. UIL cutoff records put Sherman’s listed enrollment in the Division I range and Denison’s in Division II, with the rank-order file listing Sherman High School at 2,134 and Denison High School at 1,414.
Sherman’s opener was set for Denison while its own new stadium waited for its first varsity game. Sherman ISD said the Bearcats’ first varsity home game in the new 8,000-seat stadium is scheduled for Sept. 18 against The Colony. The district said construction began in early 2025, three years earlier than first planned, with 5,000 home-side seats and 3,000 visitor-side seats.
The rivalry arrives while both communities have added residents since 2020, according to Census Bureau estimates released for 2025. The bureau put Sherman above 52,000 people and Denison above 26,000, with both cities larger than their April 2020 estimate bases.
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