Erskine makes history, plays first football game in 70 years — and gets the win
Due West waited 70 years for the return of Erskine College football. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the small South Carolina town was forced to wait a few more months.
Finally, on Saturday afternoon, that wait ended. Donning gold helmets, white jerseys and garnet pants, the Flying Fleet played football for the first time since the early 1950s, opening an eight-game spring schedule.
Taking two buses, the Flying Fleet traveled from Due West to Wilson, North Carolina to take on another first-year program in Barton College. The Bulldogs were playing their first football game since 1950, in a historic matchup for both Division II programs.
Erskine defeated Barton 30-28, with each team scoring 14 points in the final quarter.
Hired in November of 2018, Flying Fleet head coach Shap Boyd joked with The State that he was as exhausted as he was excited after all of the logistical hurdles Erskine has faced starting a program from scratch during the pandemic.
“I’m sure it’s gonna hit me at some point that this is really happening,” Boyd said, laughing. “We’re excited. We’re just ready to line up and play against someone else instead of practice, and then have an opportunity to kind of know where we stand.”
The school’s football program was cut in 1951. In many ways, delaying the return season until the spring has benefited the Flying Feet. COVID-19 shut down 2020’s spring practices and canceled the spring game. Players had barely spent time together — on or off the field — before returning to Erskine’s campus for the fall semester.
“If we did play in the fall, I think it would have been significantly less productive for us. We would have been scrambling a lot more,” Boyd said. “... We’re trying to get those kids to learn to compete every day. It’s just a process that we’re going through. I think that the locomotive is heading in the right direction.
“We certainly are not there yet. You could argue we’re a long way where we want to be, but I think we’re at least pointed in the right direction, I think there is a little bit of momentum starting to get going. But again, it’s going to be a process, it’s going to take a couple more recruiting classes, to be honest with you.”
Boyd, who was an assistant coach on two other start-up programs throughout his coaching career, knows that building a program takes time. But he pointed to a few players who have stood out throughout practice.
He praised quarterbacks Craig Pender and Lance Brownlee, who should battle for reps throughout the season. And Boyd likes the explosiveness and athleticism in his wide receiver room, highlighted by Columbia-area products Javian Bellamy, Senika McKie and Kevon Catoe.
“We just feel fortunate to be able to still be able to do what we love,” Boyd said. “And now we’re looking forward to an opportunity to display where we are and how much we’ve learned — and then find out how much more we need to learn.”
Erskine College spring football season schedule
Feb. 27: at Barton
March 6: at Edwards Waters
March 13: vs. Shorter
March 20: at North Greenville
March 27: vs. Edward Waters
April 3: at Newberry
April 10: vs. Fort Lauderdale
April 17: vs. Limestone
