It will be a Southwestern Athletic Conference classic as fans from across the country will travel to Chicago to watch the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils take on their conference foes, the Alabama State Hornets, in the Chicago Football Classic Sept.
It will be a Southwestern Athletic Conference classic as fans from across the country will travel to Chicago to watch the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils take on their conference foes, the Alabama State Hornets, in the Chicago Football Classic Sept. 26 at Soldier Field.
The 10th annual Chicago Football Classic’s mission is to support educational achievement, promote cultural excellence and showcase the spirit, energy and tradition of America’s HBCUs.
Spearheaded by entrepreneur’s Everett Rand, Tim Rand and Larry Huggins, the 10th Classic is being touted as the biggest ever, and Chicago alumni of the two schools are already engaged in a bragging contest.
This year’s match-up between the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s “Monsters of the Gridiron” – The Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State University and Hornets of Alabama State University will surely attract thousands of African-Americans to one of the most highly anticipated, well-respected cultural event in Chicago’s African-American community.
The Chicago Football Classic halftime show, which will include the exciting Battle of the Bands between “The Mean Green Marching Music Machine” of Mississippi Valley State University and the Alabama State University “Mighty Marching Hornets,” will be an entertaining, enlightening event for the young and old. The bands are also scheduled to perform at the Daley Center plaza the week of the game.
The Classic attracts more than 50,000 African-Americans, and the weekend also features a Historically Black Colleges and Universities college fair, a Back to School Block Party, President’s Reception, Classic Golf Outing and Coaches Luncheon, Pep Rally and Concert, Opening Ceremony and Buckingham Classic Parade, and a Classic Marketplace with the best variety of vendors from the Chicagoland area.
The CFC’s mission is to support educational achievement, promote cultural excellence and showcase the spirit, energy and tradition of HBCUs, which educate 14 percent of African American students in higher education and have greater graduation rates than mainstream colleges and universities. Over half of all African-American professionals are graduates of HBCUs.
The Mississippi Valley football team is led by head coach Willie Totten. Totten is best known as the quarterback who threw all those passes to NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice during their days together at Mississippi Valley, when they were the most prolific tandem in college football.
The Delta Devils finished a disappointing season with three wins and eight losses in 2008 in SWAC play. They will be hoping to avenge a 47-7 loss to Alabama State last year. True to Totten’s “Satellite” heritage, the Delta Devils averaged only 72 yards rushing last year, but 243 yards passing.
Heading up that air attack will be returning senior quarterback Paul Roberts, who was named SWAC Offensive Player of the Week last year after leading the Delta Devils to a 58- 44 win over the Tigers of Texas Southern University.
A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Totten is entering his eighth year at the helm of the Delta Devils football program. A 1986 graduate of Mississippi Valley State, the former offensive coordinator was named to the post Dec. 21, 2001 and became the 14th coach in the history of the storied program.
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In photo: Chicago Football Classic’s Everett Rand with (from left) Lisa Newman and Doris House, aboard the Patron Tequila Express train.
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