HAMPTON, Va. (Hampton University Athletics) — Hampton (4-4, 2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak by topping longtime rival North Carolina A&T (1-7, 0-5), 26-24, before a standing-room-only Homecoming crowd of 13,811 at Armstrong Stadium.
Hampton quarterback Chris Zellous, who was injured and missed last week’s game against Delaware, returned and was the game’s leading rusher with 89 yards on 12 carries (7.4 yards per carry) and completed 11 of 19 passes for 198 yards with two touchdowns in the victory. Elijah Burris, who missed the last two games due to injury, returned to rush 18 times for 63 yards while teammate Ja’Quan Snipes had eight carries for 55 yards as the Pirates rushed for 267 yards and passed for another 198 in the contest. Hampton linebacker Qwahsin Townsel led all tackler with 10 tackles.
Aggie quarterback Kevin White completed 10 of 15 passes for 211 yards and two scores with an interception. Kenji Christian was North Carolina A&T’s leading rusher with 81 yards for the day.
It was a game matching Hampton’s methodical and efficient offense versus the quick strike Aggies. North Carolina A&T scored touchdowns on passes of 46 and 75 yards and also returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown.
North Carolina A&T came into its game at Hampton averaging just 11.9 points per game. But it took the Aggies just 1:19 to score when Taymon Cooke caught a short pass from White and dashed 46 yards for a touchdown.
A pair of field goals by Hampton’s Brian Csehoski, one from 28 yards and the second from 33 yards out, narrowed the deficit to 7-6. A juggling, acrobatic touchdown catch in the corner of the endzone by Paul Woods on a 22-yard pass from Chris Zellous with :05 left before halftime put the Pirates ahead, 12-7.
The Pirates began the third quarter by driving 64 yards on 10 plays but ran four plays inside the five-yards line before turning the ball over on downs. Hampton got the ball back and scored on a one-yard pass from Zellous to TK Paisant to up Hampton’s lead to 19-7 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
North Carolina A&T answered 12 seconds later on a 75-yard TD pass from Kevin White to Kenji Christian to cut Hampton’s lead to 19-14. But it took only another 13 seconds for Romon Copeland to dash 96 yards on the ensuing kickoff to boost Hampton’s advantage to 26-14 with 4:30 to go in the third quarter.
The Aggies opened the fourth quarter with a 33-yard field goal by Owen Daffer and five minutes later, David Laney returned an interception 82 yards to make it 26-24 with 10:01 to go.
North Carolina A&T moved the ball to midfield with five minutes left but Stanley Garner recovered an Aggie fumble at the Hampton 42-yard line with 3:35 to go to end the drive.
The Pirates held on to the ball, running eight plays for 47 yards and two first downs to run out the clock.
The win was the eighth consecutive for the Pirates over the Aggies at Armstrong Stadium dating back to 2002.
Hampton improved to 57-36-2 for Homecoming and snapped a two-game Homecoming losing streak.
The Pirates travel to Orono, Maine to take on the Maine Black Bears on Nov. 4 in a CAA match-up.