THE COURIER TRAVELS TO CANTON TO CAPTURE…The 2024 Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic

VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY CHEERLEADERS, AT THE BLACK COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASSIC IN CANTON, OHIO, SEPT. 1, 2024. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.) BLACK COLLEGE FOOTBALL—THE TRADITION, THE PAGEANTRY, THE BANDS: Virginia State upsets Benedict College, 23-7The heart and soul of Columbia, South Carolina; Benedict College, which has been around since 1870, a highly respected and valued Historically Black College, with its own “Benedict College Historic District,” which is part of the National Register of Historic Places. It’s comprised of five on-campus buildings that were built between 1895 and 1937.Their athletics nickname is the “Tigers,” and when they accepted the invitation to play in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio, Sept. 1, 2024, they brought the cheerleaders, the “Marching Tiger Band of Distinction,” tons of fans, and the heralded football team, which had won 20 regular season games in a row.But it was their opponent, Virginia State University, the Trojans, who took the 463-mile trek to Canton, with upset on their minds.Mother Nature came to play, too, throwing rain showers and storms onto Tom Benson Stadium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, delaying the game by an hour midway through the...