Hampton 29, Delaware State 14

September 30, 3006

Dover, DE – It was a game that lived up to all of the pre-game hype for one half for the Delaware State University Hornets, but it was the Pirates of Hampton University that got the upper hand in the second half for a 29-14 win.

In front of a near capacity Alumni Stadium crowd of 5,449, the Hornets held the Pirates to 82 total offensive yards in the first half and managed to hold a 14-9 lead after two quarters.

It was a defensive battle in the first quarter and the Pirates made the first mistake of the game, when Marquay McDaniel fumbled and Ryan Robinson recovered, giving DSU a first and ten at the HU 11. Three plays later, Vashon McBride connected with Shaheer McBride for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 14:57 left in the first half.

The Pirates answered with a six play 37 yard drive when Kevin Beverly scored from seven yards out, but Andrew Paterini missed the extra point and the lead was cut to one 7-6.

Special team miscues by HU were the big factor in the first half when DSU’s Robinson recovered his second fumble of the game at the Hampton 41, setting up Emmanuel Marc’s 15 yard touchdown run with 1:24 left in the half. It was McDaniel’s second punt return fumble of the game.

The opening kickoff of the second half turned the game completely around when HU’s Kevin Teel took it back 92 yards, which was the first six of 20 unanswered points in the second half.

The win improved the Pirates to 5-0 and 4-0 in the MEAC, while the Hornets dropped to 2-2 and 1-1 in the conference. The loss snapped a six game Alumni Field win streak for the Hornets.

POST GAME “QUOTES”
DSU – Head Coach Al Lavan (On the defensive effort)
“Well, we played some defense. We didn’t meet the challenge not nearly enough to win this game, we were entirely too inconsistent to have defeated the reigning champion Hampton Pirates tonight.”

HU – Head Coach Joe Taylor (Teams first half effort)
“We knew they were not just going to lie down, so we came prepared to fight. For the last two games we were out played in the first half, first at Morgan last week and now here, this is proof that the MEAC is becoming more competitive and we must be prepared to fight week in and week out.”