CLARION, PA. – A new tradition will begin Saturday when the Slippery Rock University and Clarion University football teams battle at Memorial Stadium.

The 69th gridiron meeting between the two schools will be the battle for “The Milk Jug,” Rock Director of Athletics Paul Lueken and Clarion AD Dave Katis announced Thursday.

“The Milk Jug” will be a traveling trophy, awarded immediately after the game to the head coach and players of the winning team. That school will have the “Jug” for a year and bring the trophy to the next game site, where it will be displayed for presentation following the next game.

Half of the “Milk Jug,” which was donated and painted by Chad Thomas, Director of Auxiliary Operations at Clarion, is white with a green "S" for Slippery Rock and the other half is gold with a blue “C” for Clarion. The winning school will post the year and score on their side of the jug after each game.

“We've had a very healthy rivalry between the two programs over the years and we thought we'd start a new tradition,” Katis said. “This will give a little added incentive to the game each year, and hopefully build and even better tradition between the two schools.”

“I think this is really great,” Lueken added. “I've always felt our schools have had healthy competitions and we're really proud of that. This new tradition will make it even better.”

“The Milk Jug” will make its first appearance Saturday in the Autumn Leaf Festival Parade in downtown Clarion.

 Clarion won last year's game vs. The Rock, 27-10, on Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium in Slippery Rock. The Rock had won each of the previous five games in the series and leads the overall series by a 41-24-3 margin.