The 60th edition of the Skuna River Rivalry

There will be no shortage of emotions at Trojan Field Thursday night when Bruce and Calhoun City meet for the 60th edition of the Skuna River Rivalry after a two-year hiatus and like always their are playoff implications on the line.

Calhoun City (5-5, 3-2 Region 1-2A) currently sits at the number two seed in the region, but a loss by to Bruce (2-7, 2-2) could cause the Wildcats to slip into the third or fourth spot and would have to hit the road to take on West Bolivar or Hollandale-Simmons in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Trojans could climb into the number two spot with a victory by 12 or more and would host either Mound Bayou JFK or Greenville-O’Bannon next week.

Home field advantage, disadvantage

The Trojans hold an 18-11-1 edge over the Wildcats when the games have been played in Bruce having won four out of the last six official meetings at Trojan Field.

Before their 26-7 victory at Bruce, Calhoun City’s last victory on the other side of the river came in 1999 when the Cats handed the Trojans a 20-7 loss.

While history is on the side of the Trojans they are 0-4 on the season when playing at home, the road has not been kind to Calhoun City.

The Cats are 1-4 away from the friendly confines of the Bone Yard after picking up their first road victory over Walnut this past Friday night.

Breaking down the rivalry

Bruce and Calhoun City have combined for 464 wins, 217 loses, 1 tie, 38 trips to the playoffs, 10 state championship appearances and two Class 2A state championships since 1985, but the Trojans have the upper hand when it comes to the tradition-rich Skuna River Rivalry.

Bruce leads the all-time series 36-21-2, but Calhoun City has won the last two regular season meetings. The series has been decided by an average of 12.8 points since it started in 1930.

The Wildcats won the first ever meeting 60-6, the largest margin of victory in the series, but the Trojans have the longest winning streak in the series with eight-straight games from 1972-1979.

The Trojans have won seven out of the last ten meetings in a run of games that have been decided by an average of ten points. They have also won three out of the last five meetings where the games have been determined by an average of 7.6 points.

Only seven games were played in the developing stages of the rivalry and was not played for eight years while many brave men in the county severed the country during World War II.

The series was renewed in 1959 and played for 48-straight seasons before scheduling conflicts discontinued the series in 2007 despite numerous efforts by both schools to make arrangements to continue one of the state’s top rivalries. A spring scrimmage was set up to continue the rivalry, but interest was lost in the games before Bruce head coach James Ray came up with the idea to renew the rivalry with an alumni game in place of the scrimmage this past April.

“I’ve always wished I could play this game one more time because it’s a classic game,” Bruce alum Danyell Shaw said about the chance of playing in alumni game.

The game proved to be an overwhelming success as an estimated crowd of over 1,500 attended the first-ever alumni game that saw 64 former players battle to an ironic but fitting 12-12 finish despite players wanting to continue the game until a winner was determined.

“You’d love to win, but you still hate to lose to Bruce… it’s bitter-sweet,” Calhoun City alumni and assistant coach Robert Fox said about the 12-12 finish after the game.

Defining the rivalry

Every great rivalry has a game that defines just what makes the series special.

The Skuna River Rivalry defining game happened in 1996 when an estimated crowd of 3,500 fans that braved a constant down pour to see a field goal help Bruce defeat Calhoun City 10-7 in overtime to earn the Class 2A North State Championship after the Wildcats dominated the Trojans in the regular season meeting in a 22-0 victory.

Bruce defeated the Ackerman 15-6 to earn their first state championship and left Calhoun City fans with a bitter taste in their mouth as they watched the Trojans celebrate their championship.

Calhoun City has played for two championships (06, 08) while Bruce has failed to return to the main stage since 1996, but while many Trojan fans made the trip down I-55 to cheer on the Wildcats — loyalty eventually outweighed the support.

“I remember when Calhoun City started making their comeback (against East Marion in the 2006 Class 2A Championship) Bruce people started separating from the Calhoun City people,” said former Bruce Trojan Yarnell Marks.

“Before the game you could see blue and orange mixed together, but by the time the game was over all the blue was in one group away from everybody wearing orange. We still cheered for them, but deep down we didn’t want them to be able to brag about having one more state championship than us.”

Renewing the rivalry

When Calhoun City move into the 1A classification their 10-team region schedule limited their opportunity to play Bruce and after exhausted efforts the series was eventually put on hold.

It was estimated that both programs lost an estimated thirty-thousand dollars to their budget in the two year absence of the game, but when the crowd pack Trojan Field financial earnings will be the furthest thing from the players mind.

“You don’t have to say anything other than Bruce and Calhoun City,” said Bruce head coach James Ray who will be coaching in his fourth Skuna River Rivalry. “With the two year layoff it’s kind of a weird feeling right now, but there’s no doubt come Thursday night when the lights flip on it’s going to be a heck of a game.”

Coach Perry Liles will be entering the rivalry for the first time as a head coach, but knows the history of the rivalry and the importance of keeping the players focused on the task of taking care of business when the whistle blows Thursday night.

“This is a game that you can’t pick the winner,” said Calhoun City head coach Perry Liles. “It’s exciting to be a part of a rivalry like this and anything you play anybody across county it’s important to practice well to get prepared for it.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Trojan Field, but the highly anticipated large crowd is expected to starting to filling the stadium two hours before the game starts.

Jennings’ looking to move up the scoring list

Calhoun City QB JR Jennings is looking to move his family name up the scoring list in this famed rivalry game.

The Jennings’ are currently third on the all-time scoring list of family names that is made up of combined family members from both teams:

1. The Armstrong Family — 36 touchdowns
2. The Fox Family — 31 touchdowns
3. The Jennings Family — 29 touchdowns

The Series

1930 Calhoun City 60 Bruce 6
1931 Calhoun City 7 Bruce 6
1933 Bruce 9 Calhoun City 0
1934 Calhoun City Bruce – no score reported as Calhoun City won
1935 Bruce 19 Calhoun City 7
1939 Bruce 25 Calhoun City 0
1947 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 0
1957 Bruce 19 Calhoun City 14
1958 Bruce 39 Calhoun City 12
1959 Bruce 19 Calhoun City 19
1960 Calhoun City 27 Bruce 14
1961 Calhoun City 25 Bruce 12
1962 Calhoun City 37 Bruce 0
1963 Bruce 20 Calhoun City 14
1964 Bruce 6 Calhoun City 6
1965 Bruce 25 Calhoun City 24
1966 Calhoun City 7 Bruce 6
1967 Calhoun City 33 Bruce 6
1968 Calhoun City 16 Bruce 7
1969 Bruce 6 Calhoun City 0
1970 Calhoun City 32 Bruce 0
1971 Calhoun City 14 Bruce 12
1972 Bruce 21 Calhoun City 20
1973 Bruce 34 Calhoun City 6
1974 Bruce 21 Calhoun City 0
1975 Bruce 39 Calhoun City 0
1976 Bruce 39 Calhoun City 14
1977 Bruce 32 Calhoun City 12
1978 Bruce 32 Calhoun City 0
1979 Bruce 42 Calhoun City 20
1980 Calhoun City 34 Bruce 0
1981 Bruce 13 Calhoun City 0
1982 Calhoun City 3 Bruce 0
1983 Bruce 12 Calhoun City 0
1984 Bruce 17 Calhoun City 0
1985 Calhoun City 6 Bruce 3
1986 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 13
1987 Bruce 26 Calhoun City 15
1988 Bruce 16 Calhoun City 13
1989 Calhoun City 26 Bruce 6
1990 Bruce 23 Calhoun City 14
1991 Bruce 28 Calhoun City 0
1992 Bruce 21 Calhoun City 14
1993 Calhoun City 24 Bruce 16
1994 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 13
1995 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 6
1995 Calhoun City 6 Bruce 0 – North State Championship
1996 Bruce 22 Calhoun City 0
1996 Bruce 10 Calhoun City 7 Overtime – North State Championship
1997 Calhoun City 21 Bruce 7
1998 Bruce 20 Calhoun City 0
1999 Calhoun City 20 Bruce 7
2000 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 6
2001 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 7
2002 Bruce 20 Calhoun City 14 Double Over Time
2003 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 9
2004 Bruce 14 Calhoun City 12
2005 Calhoun City 26 Bruce 7
2006 Calhoun City 13 Bruce 7

36-21-2 Bruce leads the series