The 27th annual Down East Viking Football Classic featuring ECSU and Fayetteville State will be both a family affair and homecoming of sorts, as coaches and players with either past personal connections or ties to Rocky Mount renew those bonds on the gridiron.
The city of Rocky Mount held a press conference Tuesday to promote this year’s football game between Central Collegiate Athletic Association rivals Elizabeth City State University and Fayetteville State University. The game will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex.
Rocky Mount City Councilman T.J. Walker, standing in for Mayor Sandy Roberson, welcomed guests to the press conference.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to stand in the stead of our mayor to be able to welcome the 27th annual Down East Viking Classic to Rocky Mount,” Walker said.
Walker, an alum of N.C. Central University, touted the significance of being a graduate of one of the state’s more prominent historically Black colleges and universities.
“This is instrumental and important to me because I began attending (the Classic) as a 9-year-old young man, a man who went on to attend an HBCU and continued to exceed and excel through that path,” Walker added.
He welcomed officials from both ECSU and FSU to Rocky Mount and thanked them for “continuing to come to Rocky Mount for an annual event that means so much to our community, so much to our city and so much to the region that surrounds us.”
ECSU Director of Athletics James M. DuBose thanked Rocky Mount officials for again hosting the Viking Down East Classic.
“We are extremely excited to return for another Down East Classic, and we are so thankful for the support from the city of Rocky Mount and the leadership,” he said. “This really serves as an opportunity for two great CIAA institutions to bring HBCU football to a wonderful location and to be able to showcase all of the great things about both of our universities.”
FSU Director of Athletics Anthony Bennett echoed DuBose’s and Walker’s sentiments.
“Ditto to what you said AD DuBose and Councilman Walker,” Bennett said. “This event, to me and for a lot of folks at Fayetteville State University, is a family affair.”
Bennett noted that he, Dubose and Broncos head football coach Richard Hayes Jr. previously worked together at another school and have a connection to Vikings head football coach Marcus Hilliard when the four were at ECSU together.
“It’s a great event,” Bennett said of the Viking Football Classic. “We also have family members in this region who attended Fayetteville State and Elizabeth City State University, so you have that rivalry going on, but it also a family affair as well.”
Hilliard, a 2004 graduate of ECSU, noted during his remarks that not only has he coached in the Classic; he’s also played in it as well.
“For us, it is like family and like a homecoming for us,” he said. “We appreciate the hospitality that Rocky Mount provides. And like AD Bennett said, it is like family — my wife actually went to Fayetteville State, so I’ve got to ask her whose side is she on.”
The Vikings are looking forward to “a great game against a great opponent,” Hilliard said.
“I’ve known Coach Hayes since I was a player, and as coach I’ve definitely leaned on him for a lot of advice, but now, this is the game and a chance for us to compete and play against the best,” he said.
While the Broncos “have been a staple in our conference,” Hilliard said his team will be up to the challenge.
“We come here to show our Viking Pride and show the fans what they want to see,” he said. “This is our Classic and we want to show out, sell out the stadium and be a presence in Rocky Mount on Sept. 21.”
Hayes, who also thanked the city of Rocky Mount for hosting the annual game, said it would be his fifth time participating in the Classic, adding that he always has “enjoyed the family atmosphere and the camaraderie” of the event.
“Rocky Mount does a great job, our players enjoy it, and we look forward to the challenge,” Hayes said. “He (Hilliard) makes me feel real old when he said he knew me as a player and now as a coach, but I appreciate the kind words, and we are looking forward to a great game.”
The game will also be a homecoming of sorts for ECSU defensive lineman Omar Richardson, a graduate student who is from Rocky Mount and played football at Nash Central High School.
“First of all, I would like to thank God for the opportunity to be here,” Richardson said during the press conference. “Little did I know, when I went to the first Classic with my folks when I was 11 or 12, that I would be playing in the Classic a few years later. It’s a full circle moment, and this will be a great test for us to showcase our talent as a defense and as a team.”
The event started in 1996 when Rocky Mount and ECSU officials came up with a plan to boost the economy in the region and increase name recognition for the university among prospective students. The first game was held in 1998, which was won by FSU 10-7.
This will be the first Viking Classic meeting between the CIAA rivals since 2021, when the Broncos defeated the Vikings 47-6. ECSU won a thriller 45-42 in 2017, and FSU thumped the Vikings 55-12 in 2019. ECSU shut out St. Augustine’s 13-0 in last year’s Viking Classic.
The Classic has been canceled three times: in 1999 because of Hurricane Floyd; in 2018 because of Hurricane Florence; and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tickets are on sale for $25 and available at https://tinyurl.com/ecsucc. Tailgating packages will be available for purchase soon through the city of Rocky Mount.
Local News
Comments / 0