The Celebration Bowl has mostly been a celebration of North Carolina A&T football and North Carolina Central football since starting in 2015.
The Aggies and Eagles have combined to win five of the seven MEAC vs. SWAC contests in Atlanta, designating them as HBCU national champions in the process. A&T triumphed in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Central won the most recent Celebration Bowl last December, knocking off undefeated Jackson State.
On Saturday, these two excellent programs with storied HBCU histories will take aim at each other in East Greensboro in the 94th edition of what is one of the most long-standing football rivalries in the state. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Truist Stadium. The game will be streamed on FloFootball.com.
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For new A&T coach Vincent Brown, Saturday’s meeting will be his initiation into the passion of Aggies vs. Eagles.
The Atlanta native played at Mississippi Valley State before being drafted by the NFL’s Patriots. His coaching stops have included Howard, Connecticut, Virginia, Richmond and most recently four years at William & Mary. Last season, Brown served as associate head coach and defensive coordinator, helping the Tribe to an 11-2 record and FCS quarterfinal playoff run.
It didn’t long after his hiring for A&T supporters and followers to get in his ear about the importance of this week’s game, even though it is no longer a conference match-up. NC Central remains in the MEAC, while NC A&T is beginning its first year in the CAA after a few seasons in the Big South (and no longer qualifies for Celebration Bowl consideration).
“Everyone’s spoken about this game since I’ve gotten here, the importance of it, and I understand it’s a very important game for the Aggie faithful,” Brown said Monday during his weekly press conference. “We will be ready. We will do everything in our power to make sure our kids are prepared for this game, with the mindset of going out and beating last year’s HBCU national champs, North Carolina Central.”
For Trei Oliver, NC Central’s coach, Aggies vs, Eagles needs no introduction. He has played in the game (1994-97) and has coached on both sides of it. He served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Central from 2003-06, then was an assistant at A&T from 2011-15. He took the head coaching job at his alma mater in December 2018 and it took him three tries to get his first victory, last season in the opener in Charlotte.
North Carolina Central (1-0) will come in as the favorite Saturday. The Eagles carry a No. 18 national FCS ranking. The Aggies, meanwhile, struggled last week in their opener, a 35-6 defeat at UAB.
But Oliver isn’t looking at what is on paper. He knows the fire this game brings, regardless of records and predictions.
“We’ll have to come up with a game plan and execute at a very high level this week,” he said. “With this being a rivalry game, they’re going to come in there jacked up and ready to roll.”
This will be the 101st year the A&T-Central game has been played. The two teams have failed to meet on a football field only in 1923, 1926, 1929, 1943, 1944, 1993 and 2020. Despite A&T separating from Central as conference mates, the teams have maintained a commitment to their annual showdown and have plans to continue until at least 2031. The 2027 contest will again be played in Charlotte.
The first-ever game, per the North Carolina A&T Bluford Library Archives, came on November 23, 1922. The A&T College, as it was known then, defeated the Durham State Normal School 26-0 at Dudley Field, the Aggies former athletic grounds.
A&T went 4-0-1 in the first five meetings. Then lost four in a row. Most of the games have been played on the schools’ respective campuses, though there have been games in Winston-Salem, at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium and at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium, in addition to the 2021 meeting in Charlotte.
There have been forfeits on both sides due to schools using ineligible players. There have been notable fights. In one game in the 1950s at Wallace Wade, the Greensboro News & Record reported a man driving his car onto the 50-yard line.
All told, the Aggies hold a 53-35-5 edge in the series, including 22-9 over the last 31 games. A&T won 12 games in a row from 1989-2001. The Eagles’ longest win streak is five, which came in 1970-74. Since then, Central has won no more than three in a row, though the Eagles have split the last eight games and have won nine out of 19 since 2002.
In this era of rampant realignment and the threat of super-conferences devouring college football, this rivalry remains strong and intact, with no signs of it going anywhere. That’s a win for everybody, whether A&T or Central earns bragging rights on the field Saturday.
“It doesn’t matter where we play,” Oliver said. “Put the ball down, and we’ll be ready to roll. It will be a great crowd, and Eagle Nation will also pack it out. It’ll be a good environment and great atmosphere. But that’s why you come to these schools, so that you can participate in games like this.”
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