The echoes of history rang through concrete arches as Johnson C. Smith (JCSU) and Morehouse took the field at Harvard Stadium for the inaugural Essence HBCU Kickoff Classic. The 118-year-old arena — often called “America’s Colosseum” — became the unlikely stage for a cultural collision: HBCU football meeting Ivy League tradition in a packed house that felt more like a homecoming than an out-of-conference season opener.