Camels cap spring football practice, check out new locker room

by Dunn Area Sports Staff | Mar 14, 2021 | Campbell, News & Features

Hajj-Malik Williams directs the Campbell offense.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)

BUIES CREEK — Campbell held its annual spring football game on Saturday morning and dedicated its newly renovated football locker room, which is named for Louisa Alliene Taylor (Class of 1989).

Saturday’s scrimmage concluded the Camels’ spring practice season, which began in mid-February.

Playing in front of a limited number of Campbell students and faculty/staff, as well as football parents, the game kicked off at 9:30 a.m. at Barker-Lane Stadium, featuring 15 minute quarters and a running game clock, pitting the CU offense against the defense.

The state-of-the-art locker room was made possible by a naming gift from Louisa Taylor and Troy Lumber
Company in Troy. It was constructed by Longhorn Lockers, which is responsible for locker rooms at several major Football Bowl Subdivision programs such as LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Texas, as well as the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, plus a few NHL and MLS teams.

The new locker room will become a key recruiting tool for a program coming off its most challenging season since its return to the gridiron 12 years ago. Campbell finished its COVID-shortened season 0-4, but all four games came against FBS opponents on the road, and all four opponents would go on to qualify for bowl games in 2020.

Three of the four games were nationally televised, and Campbell’s tilt against Georgia Southern — a team that beat Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl, 28-3 this year — came down to the wire, with Campbell coming up short on a go-ahead two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds.

The Camels are scheduled to begin the 2021 season at Liberty on Sept. 4. The first home game is Sept. 11 against Elon and will be the first game at Barker-Lane Stadium since Nov. 16, 2019.

making its 2021 home debut on September 11 against Elon, 665 days since last hosting a
football game at Barker-Lane Stadium (vs. No. 15 Monmouth, November 16, 2019).
CU returns a bevy of talent to its roster, including all six of its 2020 preseason All-Big South Conference selections, led by quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams.

(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)