CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central University will play their annual rivalry game.
The Duke's Mayo Classic is playing host to the 100th anniversary of the Aggie-Eagle Classic.
It's a storied rivalry that had some more history behind it than previously thought.
"Revelatory. It really was," Charles Johnson, the director of the public history program at NCCU. "You realize, wow, this is a piece of history here."
Johnson, along with NC A&T professor Arwin Smallwood and teams of researchers, recently discovered that the first football game between the schools was in 1922, not 1924.
The revelation came from an old newspaper archive, when researchers looked for NCCU as "The National Training School," one of its previous monikers.
"The Black press covered the Black college sports. They blanketed it," Johnson said. "And it was in those early newspapers that we discovered that game."
The Aggies won the first game in 1922, holding the Eagles scoreless.
They did not play again until 1924, and the second game could be where the seeds of the rivalry were planted.
"It ended up being 13-13 tie," Smallwood said. "From that point onward you see the beginnings of the rivalry."
Now, 100 years in, that rivalry is unlike any other.
"These kids played little league football together, played against each other in junior high school and high school," Aggies coach Sam Washington said. "Some of them are related. It's those close-knit ties that you're competing against."
Many families are split between the Aggies and the Eagles.
"You have families who support one school or the other, and on gameday they are fiercely loyal to their schools," Smallwood said, "but then, they're family."
On Friday before the game, the two professors made a presentation of the game's history to the current players.
"When our rivalry started, I think you have to bare in mind that we were in a period of racial segregation in the United States," Johnson said. "It brought great pride to the institutions. You can literally connect the game field to the cotton field, and tobacco field and so forth. There's a historical thread that needs to be understood."
The Aggies have won the last four meetings.
This will be the 94th Aggie-Eagle Classic.
Locked On is the leading podcast network for local sports and is owned by WCNC Charlotte's parent company TEGNA.
Listen to Locked On here.
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.