ST. GEORGE — The Trailblazers and Thunderbirds are renewing their rivalry.

And their friendship.

After a 60-year hiatus, football teams at Utah Tech and Southern Utah universities are bringing back the Battle of the Ax.

A promotional video for the “Battle of the Ax” can be seen in the video above.

The game Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City represents the renewal of a rivalry that started in 1937 and was last played on the field in 1962.

“This is well overdue,” Utah Tech Athletics Director Ken Beazer told St. George News.

Beazer joked that he might have the “dubious honor” of being the only athletics director to have worked at the schools on both sides of the rivalry.

He added that while both institutions have gone through various name and mascot changes over the years, a consistent theme in the Southern Utah rivalry is that it has always involved the student bodies of both schools.

“It’s developed through the students,” Beazer said. “Athletics have just come along with it.” 

The ax in question is the Victory Ax trophy that will go to the victor to be displayed on their campus. It’s a play on a tradition in other football rivalries like the Beehive Boot decided between BYU, Utah and Utah State, the Fremont Cannon between UNLV and Nevada, the Victory Bell fought over by USC and UCLA and another ax — Paul Bunyan’s Ax — awarded to the winner between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Both teams will play each other twice this season, and each school will hold their homecoming at the rivalry games. Southern Utah holds its homecoming at the game Saturday night while Utah Tech’s homecoming will be at Greater Zion Stadium on Nov. 6 when the Trailblazers and T-Birds meet for the second time.

In a press release, Utah Tech Student Body President Devon Rice said the rivalry game adds a larger level of interest for students.

 “We like to watch teams that we know,” Rice said. “Reviving this old Battle Ax tradition will provide a great opportunity for us as students to be passionate about the teams we’re playing.” 

Rice added that students are excited about his school’s move to Division I status.

For the first time in the long history of this rival game, both teams represent the same Division I conference.

Saturday’s tilt will be the first Western Athletic Conference game of the season for both schools. Utah Tech is 1-3 to start the season while Southern Utah is 2-1.

According to the press release, the local rivalry started in 1937, when the student body presidents of the then-Branch Agricultural College and Dixie Junior College created an ax with each college’s name on it.

Referred to as both the Victory Axe and the Battle Ax, the trophy was presented to the winning team in all athletic competitions between the two institutions. 

“We are really excited to restore the Battle of the Ax tradition,” said SUU Student Body President McKay Pollmann. “I am hopeful this will be a great way to get students engaged and active on both campuses, as we are constantly seeking to improve student life.”

In 1963, SUU gained four-year status and the St. George institution remained a junior college, and athletics competition ceased between the two schools.

It was decided at the time that the original ax would be split in two so each institution could display it on their respective campuses. 

But when both schools joined the WAC and renewed their rivalry, the symbolic trophy came out of retirement.

With the help of Washington City metalworker Vandy Creations, which has previously done work for BYU, the institutions created a new ax that displays the universities’ updated names and colors to signify the renewal of their old rivalry.

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