From Sunday DAILY PRESS sports - November 24, 2013
HAMPTON –
HAMPTON –
Hampton’s remarkable second half season turnaround ended on a crazy and
bittersweet note Saturday. In a penalty filled contest, the Pirates spotted
Howard a 19 point lead before rambling back to tie the game, but losing 42-39
to the Bison in double overtime.
Howard got on the board first, as halfback Anthony Philyaw found the soft
spot in the defensive line and busted over the goal line from three yards out.
The seven-play, 48 yard drive was escalated by Greg McGhee’s lob screen pass to
Clayton Gidron, which netted 20 yards on third-and-seven from the Pirate 45.
The Bison (6-6, 4-4 MEAC) had an immediate opportunity to pad another
touchdown to the lead, but couldn’t convert from first-and-goal at the nine,
settling for a 33-yard field goal by John Fleck, which completed the first
quarter scoring.
The Pirates rallied to open the second quarter, as freshman quarterback
Bryan Bailey, enjoying some time in the pocket, found Y-back Antwon Chisholm
open over the middle from 18 yards out, to give Hampton its first touchdown of
the afternoon.
Leading 10-7, the Bison marched back, capping a ten-play, 68 yard drive
with a two yard plunge into the end zone by Philyaw, who finished the game with
104 yards on 32 carries.
Penalties plagued both teams throughout the game, as the two squads
combined for 30 flags for almost 280 yards/.
But it was the Bison who played with more urgency in the first half, even
employing a fake punt on fourth-and-one from their own 22, which succeeded, as
Fleck found a gap in the seam for 15 yards, and the first down.
Philyaw found the end zone for a third time, finding room around the
right end and scampering in from the nine yard line. A Fleck field goal at the
end of the half gave the visitors a 26-7 lead going into the locker room.
Hampton found their first boost early in the third quarter, with Rayshad
Riddick overcoming tight coverage to pull down a 20 yard pass from Bailey in
the left corner of the end zone, closing the gap to 26-14.
Pirate coach Donovan Rose was optimistic about his team’s chances, even
as they faced a 19-point deficit at halftime.
“I knew we were going to come back,” said Rose. “We showed some
resiliency. Even today, we had opportunities. It feels bad because we had a
chance to cement this. (In the future) we have to learn how to finish and learn
how to close.”
The Pirates got back in the game late in the third quarter. Bailey,
facing a strong rush, lofted a ball forty yards down the left sideline, in the
direction of Twarn Mixson. The ball was underthrown, but Mixson came back, made
contact with the defender, and caught the ball, galloping the remaining twenty
yards for an unlikely score. The lead, once close to insurmountable, was cut to
26-21 after the Fleck extra point.
But the damage wasn’t done. Howard’s next drive for the end zone was
stopped suddenly as Pirate safety Justin Blake picked off McGhee’s end zone
bound pass at the 2-yard line, and returned the ball 43 yards. Offsetting
penalties gave Hampton the ball at the Bison 45.
Bailey’s first pass down the left sideline was dropped, as was the
second. But on the second, an attempt to Riddick, pass interference was called
on Howard, giving Hampton a 16 yard gain and first-and-ten from the 28. Two
plays later, Bailey’s quarterback keeper from the 18 gave the Pirates their
first lead of the day, 27-26 with 10:29 remaining. Marcus Hampton rushed into
the end zone for the two point conversion, giving the Pirates a three point
edge with 10:22 remaining.
Pirate cornerback Khambrel McGee intercepted McGhee on Howard’s next
possession, but Jorrian Washington was stripped of the ball at the Bison 29 and
Howard recovered the fumble with just less than nine minutes to play. The Bison
drove to the Hampton 3, but on third-and-goal were forced to use their least
timeout with 3:29 remaining, rather than face a delay of game penalty. McGhee’s
pass into the left corner of the end zone was dropped as the receiver hit the
ground. But Fleck’s third field goal of the afternoon, this one from 20 yards,
evened the score at 29.
After several running plays, Hampton opted to run out the clock, forcing
overtime.
The Pirates won the coin toss, and elected to defend first. As overtime
rules dictate, the Bison started from 25 yards outside the goal line with four
downs. While the Hampton defense held tough, McGhee drilled a pass to Brandon
Flanagan from the three for a touchdown.
Down by seven with the ball on the 25, the Pirates needed only two plays
to score, a 20-yard pass to Mixson, followed by a five yard touchdown run by
Marcus Hampton, and Prevost’s extra point evened the score at 36.
On the second round, Hampton received the ball first, but only gained one
yard on the first two plays. However, a Bison offside penalty gave the Pirates
five yards, which turned out to be costly as a three yard run was followed by a
two yard gain on fourth-and-one, extending the Hampton drive. Two more penalties
left the Pirates with second-and-20 at the 25. Bailey’s quarterback keeper made
up 14 of the yards, but the ensuing pass went incomplete. Prevost’s 29 yard
field goal attempt was good, and the Pirate lead went to 39-36.
On the next Bison possession, McGhee found Philyaw in the left flat and
the true freshman sprinted down to the six. Two plays later, Philyaw broke
around the left corner and found the end zone for the game winning score, his
fourth.
After starting the season 0-5, the Pirates battled back into contention
for a possible third place finish in the MEAC by winning four of their next
five contests. The loss concluded their season with a 4-8 record (4-4 MEAC).
The fifth place finish, tied with North Carolina A&T and Howard, is still
better than the ninth place finish predicted for the Pirates in the pre-season
MEAC rankings.
And Rose remains optimistic about his team’s future.
“We saw some positive things today. A lot of our guys are going to get
better as they get another year (of experience). We just need to learn how to
dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s.”
HOWARD 42, HAMPTON 39
HOWARD -- 10. 16, 0, 3, 7, 6 -- 42
HAMPTON -- 0, 7, 13, 9, 7, 3 -- 39
How – Philyaw 3 run (Fleck kick)
How – Fleck 33 FG
Hamp – Chisholm 18 pass from Bailey (Prevost kick)
How – Philyaw 2 run (Fleck kick)
How – Philyaw 9 run (kick failed)
How – Fleck 29 FG
Hamp – Riddick 20 pass from Bailey (Prevost kick)
Hamp – Mixson 56 pass from Bailey (Prevost kick)
Hamp – Bailey 18 run (M. Hampton run)
How – Fleck 20 FG
How – Flanagan 2 pass from McGhee (Fleck kick)
Ham – M. Hampton 5 run (Prevost kick)
Ham – Prevost 29 FG
How – Philyaw 4 run
Howard Hampton
First downs; 33, 17
Rushes-yards; 58-277, 39-178
Passing yards; 254, 180
Comp-att-int; 25-47-2, 12-17-0
Penalties-yards; 15-119, 15-159
Punts-avg; 3-43.3, 5-40.0
Fumbles-lost; 1-0, 1-1
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