Red River State Fair Classic

Red River State Fair Classic[1]
StadiumIndependence Stadium (1924–1989,[2] 1999, 2001–2003, 2010–2013, 2015–2016)
LocationShreveport, Louisiana
Previous stadiumsState Fairgrounds field (1911[3]–1917, 1919–1923)
Centenary Field (1927)[4]
Operated1911–1917, 1919–1989, 1999, 2001–2003, 2010–2013, 2015–2016
Former names
State Fair Game (1911–1917, 1919–1924)
State Fair Classic (1925[5]–1989,[6] 2002[6]–2003[7][8])
Red River Classic (1999,[9] 2002[10])
Port City Classic–State Fair Game (2001)[11]
Shreveport Classic (2010[12]–2013[13])
2016 matchup
Grambling State Tigers vs. Alabama State Hornets (21–0)

The Red River State Fair Classic (formerly the State Fair Classic and, more recently, the Shreveport Classic) was an American college football game played annually in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Independence Stadium—formerly called State Fair Stadium—during the State Fair of Louisiana.[14][15] It traced its historical lineage from a series of 167 games played over the 106 football seasons between 1911 and 2016. By having first paired historically black colleges and universities in 1915,[16] the contest held the distinction of being the oldest documented annual black college football classic, edging out the Turkey Day Classic by nine years and the similar Texas State Fair Classic by ten years.

  1. ^ "2015 Red River State Fair Classic". redriverstatefairclassic.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  2. ^ "Silver Football to Be Given Winner of L.S.U.–Arkansas Game". Baton Rouge State-Times (p. 20). August 1, 1924.
  3. ^ "School And College Day: This Will Be Celebrated at the Louisiana State Fair on Nov. 4". Baton Rouge New Advocate (p. 6). September 22, 1911.
  4. ^ "Rivals Old and New to Meet This Week on Gridirons of Louisiana; Tigers' Upstate Game is Feature". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (p. 10). October 26, 1927.
  5. ^ "Grid Schedule for Gentlemen Near Complete". Shreveport Times (p. 15). December 17, 1925.
  6. ^ a b "Ragin' Cajuns cut back in workout". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 7). September 28, 1989.
  7. ^ "Football: ETBU tops La. College". Longview, Tex. News-Journal. November 3, 2002.
  8. ^ "Louisiana College vs East Texas Baptist". ascsports.org. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "G-Men seek to stay in title hunt". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 4). October 22, 1999.
  10. ^ "State Capsules". sec. D, p. 16). October 19, 2002.
  11. ^ Joseph Schiefelbein (October 9, 2001). "Southern Football: Halftime adjustments key to Southern win over AAMU". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, pp. 1–2).
  12. ^ "Prairie View A&M Panthers and Southern University Jaguars fight it out in the 2010 Shreveport Classic". blogs.shreveport-bossier.org. September 30, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  13. ^ "Prairie View A&M University: 2013 Football Schedule". pvpanthers.com. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  14. ^ "2013 Shreveport Classic". shreveportclassic.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  15. ^ "Shreveport Classic". Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  16. ^ "Circus Expected In Negro Football Game: Marshall, Texas, and Homer College Teams Mix on the Fair Grounds Field Monday". Shreveport Times (p. 6). November 7, 1915.