ORANGEBURG, S.C.  – South Carolina State moved into the driver’s seat for the race to the MEAC Championship after scoring five touchdowns on the ground in the second half on its way to a 35-13 victory over Hampton University. The Bulldogs improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play, while the Pirates suffered their first conference loss and fell to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in MEAC play.

 

The Bulldogs running backs Travil Jamison and William Ford rushed for over 100 yards on the day. Jamison scored four the Bulldogs’ five touchdowns and three came in the third quarter alone, while Ford scored the final for South Carolina State.

 

“If we don’t tackle well and don’t execute on the defensive front we, knew that someone was going to have a big game and it just so happened that both of their running backs were able to rush for over 100 yards today,” said Pirates head coach Jerry Holmes.

 

In the first half it was all about the defense, as neither team’s would give up. There were 11 punts in the first half and one turnover on downs by the Pirates. Hampton controlled the time of possession, as they had the ball for over 18 minutes in the first half and the Bulldogs only had it for over 10.

 

“S.C. State’s defense did a great job and we knew coming into the game that they had a very good front seven, and that made it harder for us to convert the third downs,” said Holmes.

 

The second half was a tale of two cities as the Bulldogs came out and scored a quick 21 points off the legs of Jackson. The Pirates would not go gently into that good night, as Herbert Bynes (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) connected with Damon McDaniel (Virginia Beach, Va.) on a 43-yard pass for

 

Hampton’s first score in the third quarter. It seemed every time the Pirates made a move, the Bulldogs made two. Jackson got his fourth touchdown in the half off a 28-yard run to put South Carolina State up 28-7.

Hampton would go on to score once more when Bynes connected with LaMarcus Coker (Nashville, Tenn.) for a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-13 Bulldogs.  

 

Hampton finished the day with 372 yards of total offense with 100 yards on the ground and only 272 in the air. Coker recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 109 yards on the day. Bynes threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Wakeem Goode (Cleveland, Ohio) led the Pirates defense with nine tackles with 1 for a loss of 3 yards.

The Bulldogs were led by Ford, who had 182 yards rushing and a touchdown and Jackson, who had 151 and four touchdowns, while quarterback Malcolm Long threw for 115 yards

 

South Carolina State was led on defense by Rafael Bush, who led both teams with 10 tackles on the day with 0.5 sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss of 5 yards.  

 

“The season is not over yet and we just have to go back and continue to get better. This is a loss that we have to learn from and use as we move forward on the season,” said Holmes.

 

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 1 as they travel to Dover, Del. to face the Hornets of Delaware State University and that game is set to get started at 1 p.m.

 

The Pirates will be back at home as they welcome back alumni, friends, and fans back to Armstrong Stadium for Homecoming 2008 as Hampton will take on the Rams of Winston-Salem State with a 2 p.m. kick-off time.

 

For more information on Hampton University football, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.