HAMPTON, Va. – The Pirates defense held Winston-Salem State to 268 yards of total offense, but it wasn’t enough as the Rams went on to win by a score of 35-30. With the win, the Rams improve to just 2-6 on the season while the Pirates fall to 5-3 on the year and remain at 4-1 in MEAC play.

 

“Motivated - any time we have that much talent, there's no way they should beat us. We got speed, we got guys up front - there's no way. There's no way they should have beat us,” said head coach Jerry Holmes.

 

In the first half, the Pirates would get on the board first off a 32-yard field goal by Carlo Turavani (Ontario, Canada), which capped a 7-play, 39-yard drive. The Rams would then answer back with a 16-yard touchdown run by Roderick Fluellen, which gave the Rams a 7-3 lead. WSSU would add to its lead after David Irizarry returned a missed field goal 100 yards to give Winston-Salem State the lead for the reminder of the game.

 

The Pirates would get on the board once more in the second quarter off a one-yard run by quarterback Hebert Bynes (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), while the Rams scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter to go into the half with the score 28-10.

 

“They've still got to earn their scholarship, and if they still love the game, they're going to continue to come out here and work out. Coaches still have jobs and are still going to get paid, so they got to come out here and motivate and get these kids going,” Holmes said.

 

The Pirates defense would hold the Rams to only one score in the second half, which came off a 20-yard run by Jarrett Dunston, which placed the Rams up 35-10. The Pirates were not going out without a fight as they scored 20 points in the second half. Senior Justin Brown (Dover, N.J.) scored two touchdowns for the Pirates – one from 6 yards out and the other from 3 yards. The other touchdown came on the ground from Gerard Griffin (Charlotte, N.C.) on a 9-yard run.

 

“I feel like we just didn’t get the job done as coaches,” said Holmes.

 

The Pirates finished the game with 450 yards of total offense, while Bynes threw for 348 yards on the day. Hampton’s defense was led by Wakeem Goode (Cleveland, Ohio), who finished the day with 15 tackles total and 2 tackles for a loss of 6 yards. The Pirates defense was able to hold Winston-Salem State to just 74 yards passing and 194 rushing on the day.

 

The Rams were led by Dunston, the quarterback, who ran for three touchdowns on the day as he finished the game with 26 yards rushing and 74 yards passing. Marcus Coates led the Rams with 8 tackles on the day.

 

The Pirates will be back in action next weekend as they play host to Bethune-Cookman University. The Wildcats come into the contest with a 6-2 overall mark and a 3-2 mark in conference play. The game will be played on ESPNU taped-delayed, with a kickoff time of 2 p.m.

 

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.