McDuffie Helps Seal Football Win for The Shoes Trophy

Rancho Verde’s Alumni Marcus McDuffie, a freshman linebacker on the Occidentals Tigers football team, had a last-minute interception that sealed the victory for the Tigers for a win of 23-17 on Saturday, Oct. 11. Prior to Saturday’s football game Whittier College football was in possession of the bronzed shoes trophy. Occidental head football coach Doug Semones coached practice and walked around Oxy’s athletic facility barefoot the entire week prior to the highly anticipated shoes battle. McDuffie was also a defensive stand out at the Oct. 4 win against the La Verne Leopards. McDuffie anchored the Tigers defense, recording seven solo tackles and 11 total on the night with a Tiger victory of 33-27. McDuffie, who wears #33, is the only freshmen starting on the Occidental football team that currently stands undefeated in the league. McDuffie is a 2014 honor alumni student and product of the Rancho Verde’s High School powerhouse football team in Riverside County where he received Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year earlier in 2014. Rancho Verde has played in several CIF Championship games and has produced players such as Tyrone Smith, who is currently playing for the Dallas Cowboys. The Battle for the Shoes Story: Since 1946 the Whittier Poets and Occidental Tigers have played for a pair of bronzed cleats, worn by 1940 Whittier graduate Myron Claxton, in a rivalry game that has grown to be called the “Battle for the Shoes.” Legend has it that on the Thursday evening prior to the scheduled meeting of the teams in 1939, members of the Occidental football team stole the All-American running back’s shoes from the locker room, forcing Claxton to play in his work boots. Even so, Claxton led the Poets to a 36-0 victory as they went on to win the SCIAC title that year. Following the game, Claxton, who was the final draft pick of the Giants in the 1940 NFL draft, went over to the Oxy sideline and retrieved his shoes, “bringing them home.” Seven years later members of the Franklin Society, of which Claxton was a member, had the shoes bronzed and the teams have played for the coveted “shoes” trophy ever since. Since the introduction of the trophy the teams were tied with a 35-35 record, both teams holding the shoes trophy equally. However, the record was broken on Oct. 11 when freshman linebacker McDuffie, with the play of the game, helped sealed the win with a late interception. The interception was Whittier’s last offensive play of the game. The Occidental Tigers now hold the trophy 36 times, taking back the shoes trophy from Whittier. Other Occidental standout players in the 2014 “Battle of the Shoes” football game included runningback Kwame Do, Quarterback Bryan Scott, wide receiver Sam Stekol, linebackers Nicholas McHugh and Adam Goltche, and wide receiver Kaleb Mitchell. The historical “Battle of the Shoes” rivalry game between Occidental and Whittier College has been featured on ESPN College Game Day and live television. It is one of the oldest and competitive football rivalries in college. Occidental is also home to football greats Jack Kemp and Jim E. Mora.