Corey Fox

Corey Fox was excited about his senior year at Concordia College, until it was determined by leadership at the school he wouldn’t have a senior year there.

Concordia College was shutting the football program down, Fox found out, so the former West Lauderdale High School lineman got to work trying to make sure he would have one more year of college football ahead.

“I pretty much had to make a highlight reel like I was in high school again,” Fox said with a chuckle. “I sent it out to different coaches so I could see where I wanted to go.”

Ultimately, things worked out pretty well for Fox. He was able to transfer to Belhaven University and earn team captain honors for his senior season. Recently, Fox found out he had been invited to the D1-FCS Senior Scout Bowl, which takes place at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, in Myrtle Beach.

“I found out right after Thanksgiving,” Fox explained. “I had been invited to the Aztec Bowl in Mexico, so I knew about that one, but the FCS bowl came as a surprise. To be able to play with some D1 players coming from a Division 3 school, that’s an honor.”

The journey for Fox hasn’t been seamless thanks to what happened at Concordia College. After graduating West Lauderdale in 2013, Fox signed with Concordia and spent the next three years of his football career at that program. It was a shock to find out he wouldn’t have a chance to play there again.

“It was kind of crazy at first,” Fox said. “The program was going pretty good. We had played a couple of D1 and D2 schools, and we got a new coaching staff, but then we had another losing season, and that’s when they closed it down. They said it was due to money issues.”

After coming up with a highlight reel, Fox got offers from Mississippi Valley State University and Belhaven. When he chose Belhaven, Fox made up his mind to make a good first impression on his new teammates.

“The team was young, so I knew with my veteran experience I could start right away,” Fox said. “I went into the offseason and worked my tail off. At the beginning of fall camp, I worked as hard as I could, too. The other guys looked at that and determined I was a leader based on my work ethic.”

Earning the title of team captain was recognition Fox didn’t take lightly.

“I was an honor,” Fox said. “That’s all I can say. I thought it was kind of weird at first, since I was a new guy and they had never heard of me, but they gave me an opportunity to lead the team.”

Fox and a few teammates are working out at Belhaven to get ready for the game. He said he hopes to represent both Belhaven and West Lauderdale well on such a big stage.

“It’s really a dream come true,” Fox said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was 5, when I started playing football. To be able to play in a college All-Star game is really an honor, especially with the adversity I went through to get to this point. To come from a small school like West Lauderdale, to another small school like Belhaven, it’s great to represent two small schools in a D1 football game.”

While it’s mostly a business trip, Fox admitted he would make sure to enjoy his first trip to Myrtle Beach.

“I’ll probably be sticking my toes in the sand a little bit,” Fox said.

Fox is the son of Patricia and Percy Fox.