Box Score
SALISBURY, N.C. -- After falling behind 27-3 during the fourth quarter, the Elizabeth City State University football team
mounted a furious rally but fell short as the Vikings dropped their first CIAA matchup, 27-16, at the hands of the Livingstone Blue Bears on Saturday night.

Coming off of an outing where the Vikings were only able to muster 69 yards of total offense, ECSU was much improved on the offensive side of the ball as the Vikings rushed for 127 yards and quarterback Kevin Caldwell connected on ten passes for 98 yards.

On the defensive side, Christopher Little and Javon Rodriquez both registered two tackles for loss and senior Vincent Thomas registered a sack on the afternoon. BJ Harrington, Ny'saiah Allen and Lawrence Brown led the ECSU defense with seven tackles a piece. 

The contest started off on the right note for the Vikings as on their second drive of the afternoon the Vikings were able to register their first offensive points of the season as freshman kicker Johnathan Buck connected on a 37 yard field goal attempt.

However, the Blue Bears scored 27 unanswered. Livingstone quarterback Miles Hayes connected with Jaylen Askew for a 54 yard touchdown pass to give Livingstone the 7-3 advantage with 2:18 remaining in the first quarter. Livingstone added three more as Antoine Akundu connected on a 35-yard field goal attempt with 7:30 left in the second quarter.

An ECSU fumble and the recovery by Livingstone in the end zone gave the Blue Bears a 17-3 advantage after just 19 seconds in the third quarter. Akundu added three more as he connected on a 23 yard field goal with 2:56 left in the third. 

Livingstone scored their final points off of a 1-yard touchdown rush from Marquis Adams to bring the score to 27-3 with 10:24 left in the contest.

ECSU would not give up though as backup quarterback Kevin Caldwell led the Vikings on a four minute, 10 play, 59 yard touchdown drive; capped by Caldwell's 1-yard run, with 6:16 left in the contest. Caldwell entered the game in the first quarter following an injury to starting quarterback De'Abrie Smith and captained the Viking offense throughout the rest of the game.

The Vikings would notch six more points as Caldwell conducted a 11 play, 43 yard drive that resulted in Dajuan Greene notching his first touchdown catch of the season from five yards out.

ECSU will quickly turn their attention to old CIAA foe and current FCS member North Carolina Central. The Vikings will face off against the Eagles on Saturday, September 21st at 4:00 p.m. inside of O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.