Gate City Soup Bowl

The annual Gate City Soup Bowl pits the Guilford College Quakers against cross-town rival, the Greensboro College Pride and is the non-conference season opener for both teams. Since 1997, students of the dual G.C.'s have competed in a canned food drive to benefit Second Harvest and Greensboro Urban Ministries with helping those in need. Additionally, teams within each school's athletic departments compete amongst themselves to see which squad has the highest participation rate. The school with the most donations receives bragging rights and the "Cup Award" and the winning team gets to keep the actual "Soup Bowl Trophy" for a year. (Winning the game Trophy is icing on the cake for the school that wins the Cup Award.) Fans and students bringing at least two nonperishable food items receive free admission to the event.

The Gate City Soup Bowl Trophy. 
Photo courtesy of Guilford College Athletics.

guilfordquakers.com

The game's location rotates yearly between Appenzeller Field at Armfield Athletic Center on the Guilford College campus, and Jamieson Stadium, the 10,000 seat facility at Grimsley High School and "home" field of the Greensboro College Pride.

(* Ironically, the Quakers played major home contests at Jamieson before Armfield Athletic Center was built in 1961 to replace Hobbs Field, a dusty, informal practice and game field on Guilford's campus.)

(* Excerpted from Guilford College: On the Strength of 150 Years, Stoesen, 1987.)

* The Soup Bowl was the idea of former Greensboro College President Dr. Craven Williams, who also instituted the Greensboro College football team in 1997. It was known for a time as the "Souper Bowl," but was changed back to Soup Bowl to avoid copyright infringement by the NFL.

(* Excerpted from The Guilfordian.)

Photo: Guilford College Athletic Department.

The two schools have long competed in other sports but the football rivalry is somewhat new. Guilford's football program was established in 1892. Greensboro College began play over a hundred years later, in 1997. However, the student donation challenge, combined with the game and close proximity of the schools (roughly 6 miles apart) equals an interesting, anticipated event for both colleges. The tournament game is usually close and competitive, as the teams seemingly trade-off victories. There have been a few streaks by each team, but as the overall record indicates, the winner has statistically alternated. Currently, Guilford College holds the Soup Bowl Trophy, leading the series11-8, and has retained the Cup Award (donations leader) for the last four seasons.

Date	Site	Result
09/07/13	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 31 Pride 28
09/01/12	Armfield Ath. Center	Pride 14 Quakers 13
09/03/11	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 27 Pride 7
09/04/10	Armfield Ath. Center	Pride 17 Quakers 15
09/05/09	Jamieson Stadium	Pride 12 Quakers 7
09/29/08	Armfield Ath. Center	Quakers 22 Pride 12
09/29/07	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 41 Pride 35
09/30/06	Armfield Ath. Center	Quakers 36 Pride 30 (2 OT)
10/01/05	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 36 Pride 35
10/02/04	Armfield Ath. Center	Pride 28 Quakers 7
10/04/03	Jamieson Stadium	Pride 13 Quakers 7
10/05/02	Armfield Ath. Center	Quakers 21 Pride 7
09/29/01	Jamieson Stadium	Pride 15 Quakers 14
11/11/00	Armfield Ath. Center	Pride 35 Quakers 20
11/13/99	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 15 Pride 14
11/07/98	Armfield Ath. Center	Pride 27 Quakers 7
11/08/97	Jamieson Stadium	Quakers 46 Pride 7

• To date, 71,307 nonperishable food items have been collected and donated to Greensboro Urban Ministry and Second Harvest. 

                    (Source: Greensboro College Sports website; greensborocollegesports.com)

The Gate City Soup Bowl greatly benefits all involved: the students providing community service, the charity recipients, and city residents and fans enjoying the friendly cross-town rivalry.



* UPDATE *

Guilford keeps both trophies for two years running, again winning the "Cup Award," and the "Soup Bowl Trophy" last fall. The final score of the 2014 contest saw the Quakers winning 52-0.

The 2015 contest last week had the Quakers winning again (big!),
77-13, the third-highest scoring total in Guilford football history. Guilford students collected a whopping 5,086 cans of food, retaining the "Cup Award," and keeping the "Soup Bowl Trophy" with the big win in the game. Greensboro College students collected a hefty 2,347 cans of food. All 7,433 cans will benefit the Greensboro Urban Ministry. Kudos to the students of both schools for donating so much time and effort to a truly good cause!

Photo: Guilford College Athletic Department.

(* Helmet drawings at top of post courtesy of The Helmet Project @ nationalchamps.net)