Hampton 48, NC A&T 14

September 16, 2006

Hampton, Va. – Making his first career start in place of an injured Alonzo Coleman, Kevin Beverly ran for 204 yards and four touchdowns to lead the 10th ranked Pirates of Hampton University to a 48-14 victory over visiting North Carolina A&T in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium. The win marked the 20th consecutive regular season victory for Hampton and the Pirates’ 13th straight conference win.

A transfer from Kent Stat University, Beverly got the Pirates (3-0, 2-0 MEAC) on the scoreboard first by capping a six-play, 47-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run on Hampton’s first possession of the day.

However, the Aggies (0-2 0-1 MEAC) and quarterback Herbert Miller responded with a scoring drive of their own on the ensuing possession. Miller began the drive with a 3-yard run and followed that with completions of 14 and 15 yards to Curtis Walls and Chaz Trusdale. A pass interference call on the Pirate defense nullified an interception by Pat Preston and kept the drive alive with Miller closing things out with a 7-yard run. Unfortunately for North Carolina A&T, that would be their last bright spot for some time.

The Pirates regained the lead early in the second quarter behind a balanced offensive attack guided by the arm of third-year starter Princeton Shepherd and Beverly. Shepherd went 3-for-3 for 22 yards and Beverly rushed for 45 of Hampton’s 72 yards on the drive, the last coming on a 1-yard plunge that gave the Pirates a 14-7 lead with 14:10 to play in the second quarter.

Hampton senior cornerback Travarous Bain picked off a Miller passand returned it 19 yards to the Aggie 27-yard line and a personal foul penalty put the Pirates in excellent scoring position at the 14. Three plays later Shepherd found Onrea Jones (6 rec, 55 yds) for a 10-yard scoring strike to push the Hampton cushion to 21-7.

The Pirates scored on their fourth straight possession when Beverly ran through the middle of the Aggies defense for a 6-yard touchdown run, setup by a 45-yard completion from Shepherd to tight end Ernie Lomax. Andrew Paterini’s extra point was good and the Pirates took a 28-7 lead into halftime.

The defending MEAC champion Pirates added three more rushing touchdowns in the second half, while the Aggies managed to score on a 1-yard run by Miller to provide the final 48-14 margin. With his 204 yards rushing Beverly became the first Pirate to surpass the 200-yard mark since Coleman ran for 209 yards in the 2004 season opener against Jackson State.

Led by Justin Durant’s 10 tackles (4 solo) and Travarous Bain’s two interceptions, Hampton held North Carolina A&T to 210 total yards, while the Pirate offense gained more than 400 total yards for the third consecutive game. The Aggie defense was guided by linebacker Davion Hemphill and Nick Clement who recorded eight and seven tackles respectively.

The Pirates travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey next week to take on the Bears of Morgan State in the New York Urban League Classic, while the Aggies head to Louisiana-Lafayette.