American football crossed a new international border on May 21 when the Drake University Bulldogs and CONADEIP All-Stars from Mexico met on a gridiron painted for the first time on African soil. The Bulldogs triumphed in the game, and worked together with their Mexican counterparts on service projects and summiting Kilimanjaro.

The Drake Football team is set to play the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl against a Mexican team, the CONADEIP All-Stars, in Tanzania on May 21. That matchup — billed as the first-ever game of collegiate American-style football on African soil — sets the stage for a series of student-hosted football clinics and volunteer opportunities at local orphanages. The trip will culminate with a group summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.