ECSU Vikings travel for 13th Down East Classic

Packing up a football team and traveling 100 miles to play a home game might seem like a pitfall of distractions, but for the Elizabeth City State Vikings, this weekend is a familiar process.

Today’s Down East Viking Football Classic in Rocky Mount has grown into a second homecoming of sorts for ECSU. The weekend is full of parties, banquets and a football game to cap everything off. This year’s game, the 13th year of the event, pits ECSU (1-1) against fellow Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association member Fayetteville State (1-1), although this does not count as a league game. With all that surrounds the game, the Vikings are somewhat insulated from it, according to coach Waverly Tillar.

Down East Classic game features two programs on the rise

When Elizabeth City State plays host to Fayetteville State in the 13th annual Down East Viking Football Classic at 4 p.m.today at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex, the two teams will showcase more than an intrastate rivalry. Both the Vikings and the Broncos are Division II programs on the rise, especially visiting Fayetteville State, which finished last season seventh in the Super Regional 1 rankings.

“We’re coming along pretty good. We’ve been pretty consistent. We won the (CIAA) championship last year, and the past two years have been very...

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