Is Kalamazoo Central vs Battle Creek Central Really the Oldest Football Rivalry ‘West of the Alleghenies?’
Talk high school football in Michigan and someone is bound to bring up the Kalamazoo Central vs Battle Creek Central rivalry, one that dates back to 1893 and is billed as the "Oldest Football Rivalry West of the Allegheny Mountains." So is it?
As you might hear on Saturday, "Not so fast, my friend."
It turns out the Kalamazoo Central-Battle Creek Central rivalry is eclipsed by one year thanks to a pair of schools in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Old Rivalry between Male High School and duPont Manual High School in Louisville started in 1892. And that rivalry bills itself as the "oldest west of the Allegheny Mountains"
The Michigan State High School Athletic Association documents that KC vs BCC is the oldest rivalry in the state, but it's not the most played. That honor goes to Saginaw High School and Saginaw Arthur Hill.
The Kalamazoo and Battle Creek squads once played for a prize called the Finley Trophy which was introduced in 1928. Later the schools played for a 6-foot-ball totem pole. However that trophy was stolen in the 1950s.