PHOTO | CURTIS WILSON

When Johnson C. Smith and Livingston take the field Saturday for the Commemorative Classic, they'll renew the oldest rivalry in Black college football. The Golden Bulls, who won the inaugural game, played on Dec. 27, 1892, by a score of 5-0, lead the all-time series 48-32-3.

There are better-known Black college football rivalries, but there’s only one original.

Saturday’s J.C. Smith-Livingstone game at the Commemorative Classic renews a series that started Dec. 27, 1892, in Salisbury. Biddle Institute – now JCSU – won 5-0 on a snow-covered field on the Livingstone campus. First-year Golden Bulls coach Maurice Flowers understands and values the game’s history and significance. JCSU leads the series 48-32-3. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Alumni Stadium on the Livingstone campus.

“I have put a lot of thought into it because I am an alumnus of Johnson C. Smith University and I played in this game for four years and I’m proud to say I’m 3-1 [and] wish I was 4-0,” he said. “It all started with us. It makes me feel great to see things about Deion Sanders and what he’s doing for HBCU football at Jackson State University and getting HBCUs more publicity and put [them] on the map even more, but it all started with us.”

With so many newcomers on JCSU’s roster, Golden Bulls coaches are taking it upon themselves to share what playing in the series means. They’ve made a point of sharing details of that first game from homemade uniforms sewn by students to the two-day trip by horse to the Livingstone (3-6, 2-5 CIAA) campus.

“We’re not assuming that our young people know,” Flowers said. “Ninety percent of our football team that will suit up on Saturday has not played against Livingstone before and we’ve been giving history lessons every day at every meeting. Just talking on the history of the game with HBCU football and where it started and who won and how we won.”

Although it lacks the national profile of HBCU rivalries like Southern-Grambling or North Carolina Central-North Carolina A&T, JCSU-Livingstone is just as intense. Last year’s game was declared a no contest when a third-quarter brawl disrupted play. Coaches have been fired for losing too often to the other side. Flowers believes the series will grow in recognition and value when the Golden Bulls (2-6, 2-5 CIAA) develop a winning program.

“You know what I say? It’s up to us to make it better, bigger,” he said. “And when I say us, I’m talking about JCSU. Our part is to go win football games. When you win, people pay attention and I guarantee you when we go out and we win our fair share of ball games and compete for championships, this classic will be bigger. So, what I tell our coaching staff and I tell our team is let’s do our part to make this thing bigger.”

The first order of business though is Saturday’s game. Flowers is excited for the opportunity to continue the longest-running chapter in HBCU football as a head coach and share the experience with his players and beyond.

“It’s been great to cover it with them and just know that it’s a rival game, but it’s even more important than just being a rival,” he said. “More importantly, it started with us, and you want to win it. When you watch Grambling and Southern that comes on every year for the Bayou Classic, a lot of folks think it might have started there, but it did not. I just feel a certain sense of pride and glow when I see other HBCUs that might be Division I FCS get certain recognition and then us in D II get our certain recognition. But just know that across HBCU football, it started here.”

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