By FRED KRONER
Thursday September 1, 2005
Did you know?
Staff writer Fred Kroner offers 10 things you might not have known about the Champaign Central vs. Urbana football rivalry:
1. The football series between the Maroons and the Tigers began in 1894 and is the second oldest in state history, trailing Aurora East vs. Aurora West by one year. According to the National High School Sports Record Book, the series is tied for the 13th longest in the United States for longevity.
2. In 1933 – 39 years after the series began –Urbana served as host for the first time. It ended in a scoreless tie.
3. In the last 50 years, Champaign has won 29 games. Overall, the Maroons lead the series 63-32-4. In games that resulted in shutouts, Champaign's edge is 35-11-3.
4. A melee prevented the 1899 game at Illinois Field (located at the current Beckman Institute site) from being finished. The series was suspended for eight years, and when it resumed it was again played at Illinois Field.
5. In 1941, the field was under water, and the game was delayed two weeks. Champaign won 20-13.
6. Outstanding performances have been the order of the day. A few of the all-time highlights: In 1940, Fred Green caught the winning conversion pass and Urbana won 7-6 to win the Big 12 title. In 1970, Champaign quarterback Bob Blackwell rushed for three touchdowns in a Friday the 13th game. He also engineered the final drive, which enabled the Maroons to score and pull out a 27-26 triumph. In 1984, Urbana's Andrew Pettigrew rushed for a career-high 165 yards vs. Central. In 1985, Urbana quarterback Darren Hursey passed for a career-high 152 yards against the Maroons. In 2000, Morris Virgil's five-TD performance for Urbana offset the passing of Central's Griffin Mulcahey, who averaged nearly 29 yards a completion in the highest-scoring game in the history of the C-U series. In back-to-back years, Central's Drew McMahon rushed for 192 and 157 yards in 2001 and '02.
7. The Wright Street Trophy donated by the Champaign-Urbana Courier, was awarded annually to the winning team. It was a symbolic street sign that was kept on display at the victorious school for a year.
8. On Thanksgiving Day 1925, 8,000 spectators watched Champaign shut out Urbana 21-0. Other Turkey Day games were in 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920 and 1924.
9. From 1916 through 1935, Champaign never lost to Urbana on the field, going 16-0-3. However, the Maroons forfeited the 1928 game for using a 21-year-old player. The schools did not play in 1929 because the Big 12 Conference prohibited Champaign from playing league games for one year as a penalty. Another dominant period for Champaign in the series was between 1943 and 1951. The Maroons outscored the Tigers 314-6 in that nine-year stretch.
10. It has been 20 years since the Urbana vs. Champaign Central game was the regular season finale. This is the third year for the game to be played in Week 2, and the Big 12 has it scheduled for that week through 2016. Before being shifted to early in the season, the game was played in Week 8 for 17 seasons.