By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
The approaching, all-too-infrequent collision of north Louisiana’s Football Championship Subdivision teams was finally given some hype Thursday as coaches and administrators from Grambling State and Northwestern State joined local officials to promote the Sept. 10 matchup at Independence Stadium.
Billed as “The Shreveport Classic,” the Grambling-NSU contest will kick off in 23 days, at 6 o’clock. Setting a start time was part of the reason the spotlight was only turned on Thursday, as that wasn’t set until two weeks ago.
While there apparently were some differences on game time between the schools and the city’s Shreveport Public Assembly and Recreation officials, for a contest agreed upon in spring 2021, they were all reading from the same script Thursday.
They are very pleased to meet on the biggest football stage in the state north of Baton Rouge, in a primary market for both institutions, with thousands of alumni and students hailing from Caddo and Bossier parishes.
For their hometown fans and their very impressive bands, it’s just an hour’s drive from campus to the stadium.
They don’t know what they’ll line up against. Neither coaching staff has a bead on what the other will do. Grambling’s Hue Jackson is in his first season with the Tigers. Northwestern’s Brad Laird enters his fifth season as head coach at his alma mater with brand new offensive and defensive coordinators, and Laird is handling special teams.
For that matter, they don’t know who will start at quarterback, although both coaches said their decisions will soon follow their final preseason scrimmages Saturday morning.
They shared all the diplomatic words when asked if the upcoming game was a “one off” or if it was part of a series in the future – but confirmed there is nothing on the books for subsequent meetings.
Laird was joined by NSU Director of Athletics Kevin Bostian and their Grambling counterparts, Jackson and Grambling vice president/AD Dr. Trayvean Scott. Bostian and Scott are on the verge of their first football seasons at their institutions; Scott has been at Grambling 13 months. That left it to Laird to speak to the long history of the Demons playing in Shreveport, and the five previous NSU-Grambling matchups.
“There’s a lot of history for Northwestern State in this stadium with the State Fair Classic against Louisiana Tech for so many years,” Laird said. “I had the opportunity to come as a little kid many times and spent a lot of time at the fair more so than the ballgame. Then I had the opportunity to play in this stadium, and now we bring our 2022 Northwestern State football team to play against a great Grambling State football team.
“It’s a win-win for both teams, and it’s a big win for the Shreveport-Bossier City area. With our recruiting, we ask our alumni, the student-athletes to travel 60 miles south on Saturdays to watch us play. For us to be able to bring that back to them and travel 60 miles north to their backyard, we’re looking forward to it.”
The teams last met in 2018, with Northwestern dominating at home 34-7 to give Laird his first collegiate coaching victory. They’re 2-2 against each other this century and have met before in Shreveport – in an epic 14-13 Grambling win before a nearly-full stadium on Sept. 14, 1974, in what is believed to be the first-ever contest between a Historically Black College or University and a predominantly white college in the Deep South, if not the nation.
This year’s edition won’t have historical impact, but it should be intense and interesting – and well attended, said Sara Nelms of the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission, now that there’s a kickoff time to promote on the commission’s $20,000 budget.
“We didn’t have the game time two weeks ago,” she said.
But now it’s set, and while there are questions both teams must resolve, there’s no doubt about the matchup’s appeal.
“You know what you get when you play a Grambling State football team,” Laird said. “You know both bands are going to be strong. You’re going to have alumni for both schools. It brings back a lot of memories. I’m thrilled we get that opportunity again, but in the Shreveport-Bossier area.”
Contact Doug at SBJDoug@gmail.com