Princeton, NJ – In only the second time since 1984, an Ivy League team has faced an HBCU or MEAC school in football. In 1984, Yale defeated Morgan State 41-0, but this time it was different as the Pirates of Hampton University (4-1; 3-1 MEAC), under head coach Joe Taylor, made history with a 48-27 win over the Princeton Tigers (2-2, 1-0 Ivy League), becoming the first team from an HBCU school to ever beat an Ivy League school in football.  This record-setting victory was witnessed in front of more than 15,000 fans, Princeton’s largest home crowd of the season

 

Hampton got on the scoreboard first as Van Morgan capped a six-play 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run, but the Tigers would answer back with a 19-yard pass reception from Bill Foran to Jake Staser which ended a seven-play 68-yard drive for the Tigers to tie it all up at seven. The Pirates would score once more on a four-yard run by Kevin Beverly to go into the second quarter ahead 14-7.

 

The second quarter belonged to Princeton as the Tigers scored 20 points and held Hampton scoreless.  The Tigers kicked two field goals and Foran rushed for two touchdowns to put his team ahead 27-14 going into the half.

 

At the half, Hampton had accumulated only 212 yards of total offence on 43 plays while Princeton had 273 yards on 38 plays. Foran had 113 yards passing with a touchdown and led the team with 59 yards rushing.

 

The Pirates came out in the second half looking like the “Real HU” as they scored 34 unanswered points and held the Tigers scoreless. Two of Hampton’s five touchdowns in the second half came from the defense. The first came when Charles Robinson ran an interception back 80 yards for the opening touchdown which made the score 21-27 in favor of the Tigers. The game-changing performance came during the start of the fourth quarter when it was fourth-and-goal for the Tigers with the ball on the one-yard line.  Marcus Dixon broke through the line of scrimmage and forced the quarterback to pitch the ball, which resulted in a turnover on downs. 

 

“That fourth-and-goal play is what changed the whole course of the game,” said Taylor. “I think that after the defense made such a great stand the offence knew what they had to do.”

 

After the turnover on downs, the Pirates went on to score four more touchdowns. Morgan scored on a one-yard play that finished a 15-play 96-yard drive by Hampton. Beverly would score two touchdowns, one which capped a 10-play 43-yard drive, and the other came off an interception by Sam Pope (his first of two on the night), which was four plays for 23 yards. The touchdown that sealed the deal for the Tigers was a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pope, which placed the Pirates ahead at 48-27 with 1:00 reminding in the game.

 

The Pirates finished the game with 353 yards of total offense,  229 of those yards coming on passing. TJ Mitchell went 28-18-1 with a 43-yard pass being his longest. (Note: This is the first game this season that Mitchell has not thrown for a touchdown.) HU also had 166 yards rushing with the return of Beverly. The Tigers had 484 yards of total offense, with 280 passing and 204 rushing on the night.

 

The Pirates’ defense was led by Vaughn Mansfield, who led both teams with 12 tackles (4 solo, 8 asst.), but several other players were also impressive, including Robinson, who had an interception return for an 80-yard touchdown, Pope who had two interceptions with one returned for a 65-yard touchdown, and Tobin Lyons, who a an interception return for 23 yards, which led to a touchdown. It would seem as if the Pirates’ defense showed up in the second half as they held the Tigers scoreless.

 

The Pirates will be back in action on Saturday, October 13^th, as they travel across the Bay to face the Spartans of Norfolk State for the Annual Battle of the Bay.  For more information, contact the HU Office of Sports Information at maurice.williams@hamptonu.edu or go to www.hamptonpirates.com