Northwestern, South Pointe football game to honor legacy of Emmett Scott High School
When South Pointe and Northwestern high schools line up against each other during football games in Rock Hill, the rivalry is fierce. NFL players Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore, Mason Rudolph, and others have played in this game. It once was so big that it was nationally televised on ESPN.
Friday night under the lights during halftime at South Pointe, the two schools will pause. Those present will unite to honor the legacy of the long-closed Emmett Scott High School. That was the only school Black students could attend during segregation.
The school was named after Emmett Scott, a former aide to Booker T. Washington and President Woodrow Wilson.
Emmett Scott, nicknamed the Rattlers, opened in 1920 -- 100 years ago. It closed when desegregation came in 1970. Northwestern opened in 1970. Former Emmett Scott students were shifted to Rock Hill and Northwestern high schools.
Sam Foster of Rock Hill served as the last principal at Emmett Scott and the first principal at Northwestern.
“This is a great idea, to bring people together to remember Emmett Scott and its students’ spectacular achievements,” Foster said earlier this week. “Emmett Scott was a place of great success. Northwestern and South Pointe are that way today. This is truly a community event.”
South Pointe principal Marty Conner and Northwestern principal Hezekiah Massey came up with the idea to include Emmett Scott at the game, which is called the “Crosstown Showdown.”
The two principals, both Black men, said they wanted the history of Emmett Scott and its people to be honored.
“On the 100-year anniversary of the opening of Emmett Scott, we wanted to show the impact, the importance, of Emmett Scott and its students on both schools and the community,” Conner said. “The legacy lives on in our schools, our students, and in our successes.”
Massey said as the big game approached this year, he and Conner had good-natured conversations about which team would come out on top. Then as both men talked about concerns associated with race relations in America in 2020, the time was right for the Emmett Scott tribute, which celebrates achievement.
Rock Hill’s strength as a community that stands for equality and justice in schools and other areas of life shows in arenas such as football, Massey said.
“Principal Conner and I both agreed that Friday nights at a football game is where our community as a whole, of all people from all backgrounds, comes together,” Massey said. “So it was a perfect place to honor the Emmett Scott tradition and its impact on where we are today.”
Emmett Scott
The school was named after Emmett J. Scott, a Texas teacher and entrepreneur who was Booker T. Washington’s top assistant. The Rock Hill school was founded in 1920 and had kindergarten through 12th grade until the mid 1950s. Then it became a junior high and high school.
After Rock Hill schools desegregated, Emmett Scott closed. The City of Rock Hill bought the property on Crawford Road and renovated it. The building is now the city-owned Emmett Scott Recreation Center.
One goal of Friday’s event is to bring renewed awareness to the importance of Emmett Scott and positive race relations in the history of York County, Rock Hill, and both schools, Conner and Massey said.
The game will showcase a halftime presentation that includes Foster, Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys, and others who will honor the Emmett Scott spirit. Two other African-American principals from the recent past -- James Blake from Northwestern, and Al Leonard of South Pointe, also will be there.
Josephine Jordan is the longtime president of the “Scottites” alumni organization of Emmett Scott graduates. Jordan said Emmett Scott’s legacy of success and achievement was in the classroom, athletics, music, and other areas of life and education.
Jordan will be honored for her decades of work with the alumni chapter and work to keep the Emmett Scott history alive.
“Emmett Scott had outstanding students and teachers, and was a place that pushed for excellence,” Jordan said. “This tribute is fitting to honor Emmett Scott and all who went there.”
The schools are also working together to showcase student athletes. Friday at Hickory Tavern on Celanese Road, several colleges, including Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from both South Carolina and North Carolina, will have a recruitment college fair.
The game
The winner of Friday’s game will get a Crosstown Showdown trophy. The plan is to hold annual events during the week of the rivalry game.
Emmett Scott alumni can RSVP to attend the game by Thursday by contacting South Pointe assistant principal Marek Marshall at gmarshall@rhmail.org.
Friday night’s game at South Pointe starts at 7:30 p.m.
South Pointe is 3-0 this season. Northwestern is 2-0.
But at halftime, the bragging will be about the greatness of Emmett Scott High School, its heritage and alumni, and how that place and its people helped shape Northwestern and South Pointe.
And in that game, everybody wins.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 8:40 AM.
