Alabama’s Magic City Classic felt different, but still the Classic
Alabama A&M quarterback Aqeel Glass, Offensive MVP for the spring 2021 Magic City Classic, throws a screen pass during the game. After a slow start, Glass amassed more than 400 total yards in the Bulldogs' 38-14 victory. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)
Comedian Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson can usually be found in the stands of Legion Field as the Magic City Classic is played. He’s the hype man, the fellow who walks among the people, sharing stories and giving away prizes.
Saturday, FunnyMaine was separated from the fans, stationed just beyond the south end zone. His in-game giveaways and comments came via a display on the videoboard.
“The energy is there,” Johnson said. “It’s the Magic City Classic, so whether I’m here or right in their face, they’re ready to party. At halftime with DJ Traci Steele, we’re going to give them what they want.
“Everybody had to adjust and I think they’ve adjusted well,” FunnyMaine said. “So have I. And it’s an excellent game.”
It was yet another example of how the 79th McDonald’s Magic City Classic presented by Coca-Cola was unlike any of the 78 that preceded it. But the game went on, with Alabama A&M pulling away in the second half to down Alabama State 38-14.
The win punched the Bulldogs’ ticket in the Cricket Wireless SWAC Football Championship presented by Pepsi Zero on May 1 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Games this week will determine the host of that contest.
While Saturday’s Magic City Classic felt different, it came as no surprise with the COVID-19-prompted protocols that were in place. The crowd was capped at 15,000 and announced ticket sales were 13,872.
This Classic also sounded different from others, and not just because tens of thousands of fans were absent. Normally, the bands of the schools add to the atmosphere by playing throughout the game and turning in show-stopping performances at halftime.
But neither band was on hand this time. Cheerleaders for State and A&M chanted throughout the game, with ASU’s cheerleaders sometimes using recordings of their band as they did in-stand routines.
A tightly contested first half kept fans interested in what was happening on the field. The score was knotted at 14-all in the second quarter before the block of an ASU punt yielded a momentum-swinging 46-yard field goal by the Bulldogs’ Spencer Corey.
The team from the Rocket City blasted off after intermission, outscoring the squad from the state capital 21-0. Quarterback Aqeel Glass, the offensive MVP, amassed more than 400 yards through the air and on the ground.
Coach Connell Maynor said his senior signal-caller “just had to get settled down” after a slow start. Once he did, Glass went on to complete 25 of 40 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns and had five carries for 45 yards.
Hornets coach Donald Hill-Eley said it was a “tough day at the office” for his team, which lost three offensive linemen to injury during the contest. “It was a rough day all around,” he said.
While the game was played in the stadium, some people did what they normally do. Organizers canceled tailgating in the park around Legion Field, but some tailgated on private lots across the street.
Pleasant Grove’s La-Tanya Dunham hosted friends on a family lot just across Eighth Avenue West. The president of ASU’s Jefferson-Shelby Alumni Chapter said this Classic didn’t compare with others before.
“It’s just a game,” she said. “We’re glad to be playing football today.”
Two of her guests – Dr. Cheryl Law and her husband, Rodney Bey – were in their annual celebratory mood when the Hornets and Bulldogs meet on the gridiron.
The two were paired when they were ASU students and she was part of the Classic court. She said she “wasn’t bomb enough” to be Miss ASU but was second in court and he was the Air Force ROTC student who was picked to be her escort.
“And we have been in love ever since,” he said of his wife of seven years.
“Since that time, I survived breast and brain cancer with the love of my husband,” Law said. “We are extremely blessed with three kids.”
Despite the changes, Bey said this Classic is just as good.
“We are here to celebrate ASU,” he said. “We love it. We have all shared our own tales about Alabama State, and how we hate those dreaded dirty Bulldogs.”
Fairfield’s Harold Dennard Sr. didn’t attend either school but has been attending the Classic since he was brought to his first as a 4-year-old. He admitted this was the quietest Classic he’s experienced.
“It is, (but) it’s good to see this many people out here and have the Classic,” he said. “It is a good Classic. Look at the number of people and the camaraderie that you’ve got out here. It’s a good Classic for the people that are here.”
Samuel A. Moore Jr. is a 1983 alumnus of Alabama State, where he studied political science and English. He said the Classic is key to the growth of both schools.
“It’s really a family affair, a rivalry, but it’s more than a rivalry,” he said. “This is how we perpetuate the enrollment of each institution for the little kids that come as high school students and stay around the stadium and one day they grow up to go to Alabama State and Alabama A&M. This is how we recruit, how we bring kids to further their education and it keeps the continuation of enrollment up.”
