About the Black Kats
Fredericton High School entered the New Brunswick High School Football League in 1985 and won two games that first season. A year later the Black Kats won the provincial final, beating the Tantramar Titans 15–12. Since then the team has won 14 provincial championships and reached the final 20 times. The 2026 season is the team's 41st, and the Kats are chasing a 15th title.
The team plays in the AAA Southwest division, one of two AAA divisions in the province alongside AAA East, in a 12-a-side format. Home games are played on the turf field at Grant Harvey Centre, and the team's black and yellow — with a black panther as its mascot — has been a fixture of Fredericton Friday nights for four decades.
The Ed Skiffington Trophy
The provincial championship game is played for the Ed Skiffington Trophy, named for Edmund “Ed” Skiffington Jr. The Black Kats have lifted it fourteen times, the first in only their second season and the most recent in 2013.
| Year | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Riverview | 38–31 |
| 2012 | Moncton | 19–10 |
| 2010 | Bernice MacNaughton | 15–14 |
| 2005 | Oromocto | 26–9 |
| 2003 | Hampton | 17–7 |
| 1998 | Harrison Trimble | 35–14 |
| 1996 | Tantramar | 21–7 |
| 1993 | Simonds | 36–0 |
| 1992 | Mathieu-Martin | 27–2 |
| 1991 | Simonds | 28–21 (OT) |
| 1990 | Simonds | 21–17 |
| 1989 | Tantramar | 43–19 |
| 1988 | Mathieu-Martin | 30–7 |
| 1986 | Tantramar | 15–12 |
The North–South Bowl
Since 2001 the Black Kats have met the Leo Hayes Lions each season in the North–South Bowl, the city rivalry that splits Fredericton north and south of the river. The Kats lead the series with sixteen wins.
The 2020 edition was cancelled along with the rest of that season because of COVID-19.
The 2026 edition, North–South Bowl XXVI, is scheduled for Friday, October 9 against the Leo Hayes Lions at UNB BMO Field.
| Year | Score |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Fredericton 20 vs Leo Hayes 14 |
| 2022 | Fredericton 38 vs Leo Hayes 6 |
| 2021 | Fredericton 27 vs Leo Hayes 7 |
| 2019 | Fredericton 15 vs Leo Hayes 13 |
| 2018 | Fredericton 31 vs Leo Hayes 14 |
| 2014 | Fredericton 57 vs Leo Hayes 10 |
| 2013 | Fredericton 49 vs Leo Hayes 28 |
| 2012 | Fredericton 35 vs Leo Hayes 2 |
| 2010 | Fredericton 21 vs Leo Hayes 15 |
| 2008 | Fredericton 35 vs Leo Hayes 8 |
| 2007 | Fredericton 21 vs Leo Hayes 0 |
| 2006 | Fredericton 44 vs Leo Hayes 0 |
| 2005 | Fredericton 33 vs Leo Hayes 0 |
| 2004 | Fredericton 22 vs Leo Hayes 21 |
| 2003 | Fredericton 28 vs Leo Hayes 7 |
| 2002 | Fredericton 35 vs Leo Hayes 12 |
Black Kats wins only.
League structure
The NBHSFL AAA tier is split into two divisions of six to seven teams each, Southwest and East, playing a 12-a-side format. See the Schedule Page for this season's standings in both divisions.
