Traditions

Traditions (2)

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Robert C. Bailey Stadium & E.Z. Smith Field

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The Bell Game

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Contributed by Concord Football Historian David Stancil

The state's longest continuous running high school football rivalry is the Concord-Kannapolis rivalry.

Concord High School and A.L. Brown High (prior to 1952, J.W. Cannon High) School in Kannapolis have played continuously since 1931. The storied series, which regularly draws fans in excess of 11,000, began with a 13-0 Concord victory in 1931. Concord leads the series 39-38-4*. The series celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2005.

 
The winner of the game gets the Victory Bell donated by Southern Railroad. It dons the school colors of the winning team for the year.
 
For many years the game was the last of the year, and almost always had implications in the conference championship race. Recently the game was earlier in the season due to Kannapolis' move to the North Piedmont Conference and the realignment of the SPC a couple of seasons ago. However since Kannapolis returned to the SPC the game has been the last game of the regular season.
 

* - Concord forfeited a 21-0 victory on the field in 2001 due to an ineligible player.