Game called after coaches, police separate Carver, Spencer players, fans during almost fight
Ask players or coaches on the Carver and Spencer football teams what the Heritage Bowl means. They’ll all give pretty much the same answer: tradition.
That’s the story of this historic rivalry, which first kicked off in 1962 and has featured 58 games since its inception. However, Carver-Spencer is not a typical rivalry. And 2020’s Heritage Bowl, which Carver won 53-7 after a rain delay and a near-brawl, was no typical installment.
“It’s so much pressure for this game,” Tigers head coach Corey Joyner said. “I think that’s why everything escalated like it did. There’s a lot of pressure on these kids to try to win this one particular game.”
The Heritage Bowl is usually a massive event that rivals a college football atmosphere, centered more around history than actual on-field hatred, spanning five decades of competition.
A.J. McClung has hosted games ranging from Georgia-Auburn to the Peanut Bowl. The Heritage Bowl normally takes things to another level.
The history of the annual rivalry remained in 2020’s edition. But circumstances could not have been more different compared to years past.
Memorial Stadium usually hosts thousands of onlookers for the annual game, but COVID-19 precautions meant that only a fraction of the stadium’s normal capacity was feasible. Many of the fans who did attend quickly emptied out as Carver built a massive halftime lead and rain began pouring.
This year’s game also ended abruptly, as both sets of benches nearly cleared following the end of the third quarter.
It’s unclear exactly what happened, but a small number of parents also made their way onto the field. Police and coaches separated fans and players.
Carver football makes a statement in Week 1
Carver could not have asked for a better performance for its season opener.
“We wanted to play a complete game from start to finish,” Joyner said. “To be honest, I had a little anxiety about how we would start the game.”
That anxiety quickly disappeared.
Dasheen Jackson opened the night with an 87-yard kickoff return touchdown, on which the Tigers quickly added more points.
From there, it was more of the same in a rivalry dominated by the Tigers.
Carver has dominated the overall series, with 45 wins to Spencer’s 12 wins. Spencer last won in 2017, its first win in the series since the late 1990s. The Tigers have won 20 of the previous 21, and all but one by double digits.
How they scored
Carver 28-25-0-0—53
Spencer 0-7-0-0—7
What’s next?
- Carver (1-0) TBD, according to Muscogee County School District.
- Spencer (0-2) faces Northside at Kinnett Stadium 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 11:07 PM.
