Billy Ray Vickers

Forest City native Billy Ray Vickers was a force on the football field for the CHASE Trojans on both sides

of the ball during his high school playing career from 1972-76. He went on to have a productive four seasons at NC State before an injury cut a promising NFL career short. Vickers, who grew up working on his grandparents' cotton farm, played at CHASE under fellow RCSHOF member Coach John Keeter.

In 1974 asa junior, Vickers rushed for 632 yards and two touchdowns, as the Trojans finished at 4-4-1 in the Southwestern Conference. Vickers came into his own during his senior season of 1975. He and teammate Ray Harris formed a fearsome backfield tandem with each crossing the 1,000-yard mark, the first pair of teammates to reach that milestone during the same season in CHASE history. In all, Vickers rushed for 1,241 yards and 19 touchdowns in 1975, helping CHASE to an undefeated regular season and a conference title. In CHASE'S first round playoff win versus Watauga, held at Gardner-Webb's Spangler Stadium, Vickers rushed for four touchdowns in the Trojans' 45-0 victory. He was also the team's leading tackler that day. As a result of his outstanding senior season, Vickers was selected to play in the 1975 Shrine Bowl where he was named Defensive Player of the Game. Vickers was recruited to NC State (where he majored in Animal Science) by legendary coach Lou Holtz and played for Bo Rein.

As a sophomore, Vickers rushed for a career-best 726 yards, helping NCSU earn a 24-14 Peach Bowl victory over lowa State. Vickers was featured in a Sports Illustrated preview of that game. As a junior, he scored eight touchdowns, and even though he was hampered by injuries in 1979 as a senior, Vickers averaged 4.6 yards per carry for a Wolfpack team that won the ACC Title. In all, Vickers garnered 2,375 All-Purpose yards and 12 touchdowns during his college career.

Vickers was drafted by the Washington Redskins and later signed by the Baltimore Colts, but a knee injury cut his NFL career short. Vickers turned his efforts to other endeavors, mainly the manufacturing

industry. Through the years, he has built several successful businesses and now he is the founder,

owner and CEO of seven companies. One of those companies is Modular Assembly Innovations (MAI), a $1.2 billion automotive component manufacturing enterprise based in Dublin, Ohio. It employs more than

350 workers in four states and is ranked in the top five on the Black Enterprise List of 100 Top Black-owned companies in the nation as of 2019.