Classic returns to Bowie State

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Classic returns to Bowie State

by Kevin Hilgers | Staff Writer

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The Bowie State University football team will make its home debut against Lincoln University, the nation’s oldest historically black university, in the cornerstone event of the fifth annual Prince George’s Classic on Oct. 4.

The game at Bulldog Stadium is part of a long weekend of events that will include a golf tournament, battle of the bands and step show. Health and fitness also will be a theme of the weekend, with a health fair scheduled and a 5K walk as part of the 50 Million Pound Challenge, an initiative meant to address health concerns among African-Americans.

Black college football classics have special meaning for Bowie State coach Mike Lynn. The Fairmount Heights native spent much of his childhood in New York. He remembers his parents going to the Whitney M. Young Classic at Yankee Stadium. That game, in its 38th year, is now played at Giants Stadium. The event was an important rallying point for the community and alumni, Lynn said.

‘‘I think about that connection and I think the tradition of what we have in the Prince George’s Classic could be the same thing for the young people in this area,” he said.

Lincoln recently revived its football program after a 48-year hiatus and is in the process of joining NCAA Division II and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the same conference as Bowie Sate. Last year, the Tigers only could practice, but coach Olabaniji Abanishe said his program was an easy sell to recruits, even though players knew they weren’t going to play a game until this season.

Abanishe said the Tigers will start mainly freshmen and sophomores. One of the veteran leaders will be senior Andre Palmer, a Potomac High School product who has been a sprinter for the Lincoln track team. He will vie for the starting quarterback job.

Although Bowie State finished 3-7 last year, the Classic was one of its highlights. The Bulldogs erased a 15-point third-quarter deficit with four unanswered touchdowns and beat St. Paul’s (Va.), 41-30.

Bowie State is led by team MVP and senior co-captain Tristan Martin, a running back who was second on the Bulldogs in receiving yards last year. The Bulldogs have several county standouts in their incoming freshman class, including Gazette-Star First-Team selections Andre Johnson (Surrattsville High School) and defensive back James Proctor (Suitland).

E-mail Kevin Hilgers at khilgers@gazette.net.