Old game gets a trophy to go along with bragging rights

Published 11:46 am Thursday, October 27, 2011

Traveling trophies give an added flavor to bitter rivalries and a point of celebration to the winning team.

Their names bring back the golden days of college football: Paul Bunyan’s Ax (Minnesota-Wisconsin), the Little Brown Jug (Michigan-Minnesota) and the Jeweled Shillelagh (USC-Notre Dame).

And of course there’s the Golden Egg, which has dwelled in Starkville the past two years. In high school football, Laurel and Hattiesburg battle each year for their own Little Brown Jug.

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The Vicksburg-Warren Central rivalry has always given the loser heartbreak and the winner bragging rights. But now, the rivalry has a name, the River City Classic, and a trophy to boot.

No, not the Golden Boot. That’s LSU and Arkansas and that is one heavy trophy.

Vicksburg Warren School District superintendant Dr. Elizabeth Duran Swinford showed off the new trophy on Monday to Vicksburg’s football team and Tuesday at WC. Trustmark Bank paid for the trophy, which is a bit more than 3 feet high and will reside in a shadow box to be built for it at each school.

She feels the trophy can be part of the learning process where the field is an extension of the classroom.

“We wanted to up the chances of earning some reward, some trophy and I felt, as a member of this community, we were ready to name this game,” Swinford said.

The name was decided by an online poll. Swinford said that more than 200 voters participated and the River City Classic got a large majority of those votes.

But the new trophy isn’t the only reward for the winner of Friday’s River City Classic. A continued shot at postseason glory is another. Vicksburg controls its own destiny, needing to win out to clinch a berth. WC will need two wins and Clinton to lose its final two games.

And the Classic is all about streaks, too.

Vicksburg wants to continue its longest streak of dominance — four straight wins — in a rivalry once owned by WC. A win Friday would give Vicksburg two senior classes who have tasted nothing but victory against their bitter archrivals.

And the Gators want to send off their coach, Alonzo Stevens, to retirement with one more victory over their rivals.

Warren Central wants to snap a streak of infamy. In the past four meetings, the Vikings have scored 19 points in a series they once dominated. From 1991-2001, the Vikings were undefeated against their crosstown rival.

But the best part of this year’s game is that both entertain postseason hopes. The season shrinks to one game-and-done for the loser.

The lagniappe is that two teams will have a tangible reminder of bragging rights. And the name for the game isn’t too shabby either.

Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.