EDINBURG, Texas – The spotlight always shines brightly when the South Texas Derby arrives, but this Saturday night’s matchup between Rio Grande Valley FC and San Antonio FC (8:30 p.m. ET | Match Center | ESPN+) has an added wrinkle to it with the return to H-E-B Park of former Toros standout Jose Escalante, now with SAFC, to face his former club.

The 22-year-old made 37 appearances for Rio Grande Valley over the past two seasons and scored seven goals for the club that included a memorable finish at Toyota Field a season ago that led the Toros to victory in San Antonio.

Five games into the new season with San Antonio, the Honduran winger recently notched his first goal for the club in a 3-1 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC. With the time they spent on the practice field in addition to league action over the past two seasons, the Toros are hoping they get the chance to face their former teammate.

“It is good to play old teammates,” said Toros defender Kai Greene. “We know how he plays. That is one thing that we can use to our advantage. We know him as a player and at the same time we respect him as a player.  We would like to use that, we know his style of play. Hopefully he is on the field so we can exploit that.”

The presence of Escalante – and another former Toros player, Kyle Murphy, who was signed this week – on San Antonio’s roster adds something to the first meeting of the season between the clubs, but the history that has developed over the past two seasons means the game would be one to watch regardless of that subplot. From San Antonio spoiling the party in the first official league contest at H-E-B Park a season ago to RGVFC snuffing out any hope its rival had of reaching the playoffs on the final day of the regular season two years ago, the tension between the two clubs has grown strongly.

“It’s a neat match,” said San Antonio goalkeeper Diego Restrepo. “It’s a derby between two teams that play quality soccer. It’s going to be entertaining and we’re going into a venue with a big pitch on which we can play our style. The intent is to go in and win three points.”

“It means a lot,” added the Toros’ Todd Wharton. “Every time they come here or that we go there, it is a really physical game. The crowd gets into it. No team wants to lose. We are going to be in for a fight.”

With the Toros on a three-game undefeated streak after a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night against Fresno FC that saw the visitors fight back twice to earn a point, picking up a win at home would be big for Head Coach Gerson Echeverry’s side as is looks to keep in touch with the playoff positions. Sitting five points back of SAFC – which enters the weekend in eighth in the Western Conference standings – the chance to close the gap even at this stage of the season is important.

“It is a game that has a lot of implications,” said Echeverry, “not only on where we end up in the table but also on regional bragging rights.”

After his late heroics helped San Antonio earn a second consecutive victory last Saturday against Fresno, though, Restrepo is hoping to get one over the Toros again and help San Antonio continue its push to make ground on the conference’s leaders.

“We’ve been patient and worked hard to get our chemistry where it needs to be in terms of incorporating new players and figuring out our system,” said Restrepo. “We work day in and day out and the repetition helps to get things right. We keep working hard and now we need to execute this weekend.”