I’m Terrence Summers owner of Social Dweebs Sports and a proud Springfield High alum.
As a former fan, player and now broadcaster of this long time rivalry, I believe the time is no better than now to create a trophy for this historic battle!
Clarksville High and Springfield High are currently being led by 2 former players who were inspired by their fathers who are also alums of these 2 historic programs.
As coach Shelby of CHS and Coach Wilson of SHS gave me the okay to begin finding a name and designing a trophy for this long time rivalry, I began digging through the history of this game that has been played since 1919 (Excluding 2020 Covid)
I tried my best to find similarities shared between the 2 historic programs. Through my thorough search one thing, well one place really connected Springfield & Clarksville.
Port Royal, Tennessee
A crowd on the porch of Port Royal’s 1859 Masonic Hall/general store building in the 1890s. Photo Courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Port Royal is an unincorporated community on the border of Montgomery and Robertson counties, Tennessee. It is home to Port Royal State Park and is located at the confluence of the Red River (Clarksville) and Sulphur Fork Creek (Springfield). The town of Port Royal was established in 1797, one year after Tennessee Statehood and was actually in consideration for being the state capital. The creation of a tobacco inspection point and flatboat yard led to the town’s role as a regional tobacco town—one that relied on dark-fired tobacco as currency and saw flatboats leave down the Red River to New Orleans by the dozens every year.
What began as a small flatboat port eventually saw the construction of a Silk Mill (the only in Tennessee), general stores, tailors' shops, inns, taverns, churches and warehouses. A thriving community, Port Royal was an early tobacco and trade center for northern middle Tennessee. Many tobacco farmers from Springfield and Clarksville met up to trade crops and goods in Port Royal.
Some very significant events took place in Port Royal including:
Trail of tears - In the fall of 1838 over ten thousand Cherokees slept in the State of Tennessee for the last time at Port Royal. All detachments of Cherokees that were removed via the Northern Route of the Trail of Tears. A letter from detachment leader Elijah Hicks to Principal Chief John Ross, tells of the stay at Port Royal. This letter is one of few remaining documents describing the Cherokees' experience at Port Royal.
The Black patch tobacco war: Port Royal noticeably declined in the 1890s. However, in 1904, the creation of the Planter's Protective Association at Port Royal eventually led to the Black Patch Tobacco War. In 1908, masked vigilantes in support of the Association, known as Night Riders, raided Port Royal. Port Royal is the only recorded town in Tennessee attacked by Night Riders in Tennessee.
This historic town, which is now just a shell of itself, was once the connector for the now two bustling cities of Springfield and Clarksville. The Sulfur Fork Creek which runs through the heart of beautiful Springfield and the Red River which snakes its way through historic Clarksville meet in Port Royal. The two rivers calmly meet under the bridge in Port Royal which was once a wooden bridge built in 1904 and stood until 1998.
The wooden covered bridge that once stood in
Port Royal for those many years, is as famous around these parts as this great rivalry!
It’s with my most humbled pleasure that I announce, beginning this 2023 season and forever, when The Wildcats of Clarksville and The Yellow Jackets of Springfield meet on the gridiron, they will be Battling For The Bridge!
Game Name: Battle For The Bridge!
Trophy: A wooden model of the old Port Royal covered bridge made entirely out of used tobacco sticks sourced from Montgomery and Robertson County are bonded together by a piece of walnut from Wilson Farm (Coopertown, TN)
Gold Plated logos Winners Choice (Springfield, TN).
The Tin roof is made of 100 year old scrap tin sourced from a farm near Port Royal and is anchored by steel beams from Kevin Dean (Powder Plus) atop of a 50 pound piece of walnut sourced from The Cobb Farm (Coopertown, TN)
Trophy designed by Terrence Summers and Thad Dorris. Beautifully hand crafted by Thad Dorris of The Tin-7barn.
Go Jackets. If you only win one beat Clarksville.
Being an alum of Springfield High, I remember many outstanding hard fought games from the 50s - 60s. I think this trophy is outstanding tribute to the rivalry. GO JACKETS.