ETSU kickoff pushed to 5 p.m. after Bucs stranded on I-26 Friday

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WJHL) — East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU) football game against The Citadel has been pushed back from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday after the team was stranded on Interstate 26 in North Carolina due to floodwaters Friday.

Voice of the Bucs Jay Sandos told News Channel 11 on Friday that he and the team were staying overnight in North Carolina after being evacuated from the flooded interstate.

According to a release from ETSU Athletics, the team buses left the campus in Johnson City at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. The buses made it through I-26 South just minutes before it was closed due to flooding.

Once the team learned that I-40 was closed in both direction in North Carolina, the Bucs exited the interstate in Fletcher, North Carolina in an attempt to find an alternate route. With roads closed due to flooding, the buses were forced to park – moving several times to higher ground to avoid flood waters.

At 6 p.m., a handful of ETSU coaches and a state trooper made it to a local Ingles supermarket, where the staff offered the team sandwiches, free of charge. By 8 p.m., without any cell service, the team decided it would sleep overnight on the buses outside Asheville.

An hour later, assistant coaches Dell, McClain and Scelfo walked to a nearby gas station, where they received a ride from a kind stranger to a hotel with phone service. The coaches sent word of the team’s situation.

“There was a random guy Ryan Ratliff that gave our coaches a ride to find shelter,” ETSU head coach Tre Lamb said in a post on X, “and came back to the refuge to let us know the highway was open.”

At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, Ratliff reportedly returned to the bus to wake the team, making them aware the interstate had reopened.

“‘You boys have got a game to win!'” Ratliff told the coaching staff, per the ETSU Athletics statement.

The buses arrived at the team hotel in Charleston by about 4:30 a.m.

The ETSU football team will still begin its Southern Conference schedule on Saturday with a clash against The Citadel. Kickoff between the Buccaneers and Bulldogs has been moved from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

ETSU Athletics

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.