ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – The Elizabeth City State University Viking football team will close out the 2018 campaign with a trip north to Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association foe Bowie State University on Saturday. The game will start at 1:00 p.m. inside Bulldog Stadium on the campus of Bowie State.
 
ECSU has the opportunity to garner their first victory in CIAA play as well as play spoilers to Bowie State's conference championship hopes with a win. The Bulldogs will lock up a CIAA Football Championship berth with a victory against the Vikings.
 
ECSU is coming off of a tough loss to Virginia Union University on Saturday in the Vikings home finale and Homecoming 2018. Bowie State is coming off of a 35-14 win at conference foe Lincoln University last week.
 
Here are a few short notes about the contest:
 
One More Bridge(s) to Cross: Junior Shawn Bridges has been one of the highlights for the Viking defense in 2018. The Elizabeth City native leads the defense in tackles for loss with 13 and sacks with 6.5. The junior also leads the team in loss yardage as his stops have accounted for 81 yards of loss for ECSU opponents. Bridges has been named conference player of the week and national defensive player of the week this season.
 
That Cooper Boy Is At It Again: Senior Miacah Cooper has continued his strong junior effort into his last season in a Viking uniform. Cooper leads the team in tackles with 59 and is second on the team in tackles for loss with nine and sacks with three. Cooper was honored with being selected CIAA defensive player of the week during this campaign as well.
 
Riddick Continues to Impress: Freshman wideout Zion Riddick (Ahoskie, NC) provided the first scoring for ECSU against Lincoln in the form of an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown. This is the second time this season that the Hertford County product has notched a touchdown via kickoff return as he did the same thing against Central State. Against St. Augustine's Riddick broke loose for another return TD but was called back for a penalty.
 
Bryan Running Away: Junior running back Gregory Bryan is doing some fantastic things on the offensive side of the ball during the 2018 ECSU football campaign. The Washington, D.C. product is leading ECSU in net yards gained, 282, and has recorded the longest gain for the ECSU rushing attack this season with a 71-yard run.
 
Freshman Impact Being Made: Freshman quarterback Kedrick Patterson has been having a positive first year in action at the helm of the ECSU offense as he has thrown for 793 yards and seven touchdowns. The Winston-Salem native has an efficiency rating of 89.3 which is the highest for a freshman quarterback in 23 years.
 
Special Teams Being Truly Special: ECSU has led its opponents in kick return yard average with over 20.2 per kickoff while limiting opponents to just 15 per kickoff.