JCSU & Livingstone Set to Renew Rivalry In the Commemorative Classic
Charlotte, N.C. (Nov. 7, 2014)—Johnson C. Smith University and Livingstone will add another chapter to its long-standing rivalry on Saturday, Nov. 8, as the two teams will face off for the 66
th time at JCSU's Irwin Belk Complex. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Livingstone is in the midst of its best season since 1998, when the Blue Bears finished 7-4 under head coach Rudy Abrams. Livingstone started the 2014 campaign with four-consecutive wins, two coming on the road at Millersville (46-44) and at Paine College (48-45). Since starting 4-0, Livingstone has dropped three of their last four games, including a one-point loss (31-30) on homecoming against St. Augustine's.
Dual-threat quarterback Drew Powell leads the way for the Blue Bears. Powell has rushed for 763 yards, accounting for six touchdowns on the season while passing for 2,048 yards and 25 touchdowns. Justin Forte has also rushed for 417 yards and one touchdown on the year. Livingstone's receiving corps are led by Jalen Hendricks. Hendricks has hauled in 71 passes for 1072 yards, accounting for 12 touchdowns. Teammate Austin Higgins has caught 22 passes for 259 yards and three scores. Arthur Bowden has also been a steady contributor, accounting for four touchdowns on 15 catches.
Defensively, Kenneth White leads the way with 87 tackles, including two sacks and three interceptions on the year. Justin Edwards and Hildon Bush have also turned in two interceptions each, along with 66 and 50 tackles, respectively.
The Golden Bulls are coming off a dramatic last-second homecoming win last week against St. Augustine's when senior
Chris Patterson (Pendleton, S.C.) out-jumped his defender to catch a 29-yard touchdown pass from
Keahn Wallace (Homestead, Fla.) with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift JCSU to a 14-10 win. The win broke a six-game losing streak for JCSU, and sent the home fans into a frenzy in which the Golden Bulls scored twice in under 3:30 to play to take the win. Junior
Fred Scott (Stone Mountain, Ga.) provided the first touchdown, an eight-yard pass from Wallace that capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive that gave JCSU its first lead at 7-3.
The JCSU defense is centered on junior linebacker
Austin Jacques (Springdale, Md.) Jacques leads JCSU with 117 tackles including 17 for-loss, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. Senior
Kerry Hartley (New Orleans, La.) has had five interceptions on the year while fellow seniors
Chris Randolph (Gainesville, Ga.) and
Jovontey Williams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) have made a living in the opponent's backfield, registering 5.5 and 4.5 sacks, respectively.
JCSU has won the previous five meetings against the Blue Bears and has not surrendered the Commemorative Classic Trophy since the inception of the game in 2009. No current player on the Livingstone roster has experienced a win over the Golden Bulls, with the last Livingstone win in the series coming in a 32-26 decision in 2008.
The series, the first ever between two historically black institutions, began on a snowy afternoon just two days after Christmas, on Dec. 27, 1892 on the front lawn of Livingstone's Old Delta Grove campus in Salisbury. Livingstone's W.J. Trent scored the only touchdown on a fumble recovery in the game, which featured two 45-minitue halves giving the Blue Bears the apparent win. The Biddle Institution's players contested that the snow had covered the field markings and that the ball was recovered out-of-bounds. The official upheld their protest, nullifying the touchdown, giving Biddle (JCSU) the historic 5-0 win.
