Tallahassee, Fla. – Alonzo Coleman rushed for 181 yards and four touchdowns to lead the 11th ranked Pirates of Hampton University to at least a share of their third consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs with a 59-7 win over Florida A&M in the Pirates’ regular season finale.
The victory was the first in Tallahassee for Hampton (10-1, 7-1 MEAC) since 1998 and the most lopsided win in the history of the series. In addition, it also gave the Pirates the distinction of being the first MEAC team since South Carolina State (1980-83) to win three straight league titles, their fifth under coach Joe Taylor (1997-98, 2004-06).
After Florida A&M’s (6-4, 4-3 MEAC) Roosevelt Kiser recovered a fumble in the end zone to knot the score at seven early in the second quarter, Hampton turned to its bruising ground game to score 17 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead into the half.
Kevin Beverly scored on a 10-yard touchdown run and Coleman went in from 46 yards out on his way to 106 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries in the first half. Andrew Paterini added a 25-yard field goal to provide the 24-7 halftime margin.
The second half proved to be much of the same as Hampton came out and continued to abuse a Rattler defense that came in ranked eighth in the MEAC against the run, surrendering 221 yards per game. Coleman went in untouched on scoring runs of 44 and 31 yards less than two minutes apart, taking advantage of a Florida A&M turnover to put the Pirates ahead 38-7 with 12:07 remaining in the third.
The Hampton defense added to the scoring column as well by taking advantage of Florida A&M reserve quarterback Leon Camel who replaced starter Albert Chester after he was knocked out of the game by a blitzing Marlon Fair. Sophomore linebacker Charles Robinson stepped in front of a Camel pass intended for Willie Hayward and raced untouched 45 yards down the Rattler sideline to increase the Pirate lead to 45-7.
After taking over for Coleman in the third quarter, Kevin Beverly went on to finish the night with 63 yards rushing and three scores, two coming in the fourth quarter on runs of eight and three yards.
Defensively the Pirates played one of their best games this season, allowing just 157 yards of total offense, forcing four turnovers and recording nine tackles for loss. Led by seniors Justin Durant and Joey Dayton totaled eight tackles apiece, Hampton limited the Rattlers to a meager 2.5 yards per play on offense.
