WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hampton University football team lost the Battle for the Real HU for the second straight season on Saturday, as rival Howard took a 20-10 win at Greene Stadium.

The Bison have now won back-to-back games against the Pirates, after Hampton had won 14 straight in the series. The Pirates fell to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in MEAC play, while Howard improved to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

Defense took over at the start of the game, before Howard scored first with 50 seconds left in the opening quarter. The Bison capped off an 11-play, 74-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run from Randy Liggins.

The two-point conversion failed to give Howard a 6-0 lead.

The defenses took over again for much of the second quarter, until the Bison forced and recovered a fumble deep in Hampton territory with 5:36 left in the half. Terrence LeFall then ran 18 yards for the touchdown with 4:23 left in the half to put Howard up 13-0.

The Pirates finally got on the board as the half expired, after senior Taurean Durham (Uniondale, N.Y.) hit a 23-yard field goal to cap off a 10-play, 69-yard drive.

Howard took a 13-3 lead into the half.

After the Bison failed to score on their first possession of the second half, the Pirates answered with a five-play, 70-yard drive, finding the endzone with 9:09 left in the third quarter after a 33-yard run from freshman Brian Swain (Laredo, Texas).

That score cut Howard's lead to 13-10.

Howard put the game away for good with 12:12 left in the fourth quarter, after LeFall ran into the endzone from eight yards out to cap a 12-play, 72-yard drive. A John Fleck PAT gave the Bison a 20-10 lead.

Hampton had two more chances to answer back, and the Pirates drove to the Howard 27-yard line with less than two minutes to play, but they could not convert.

The Pirates held Howard to just 88 yards through the air, though the Bison had 221 rushing yards for the afternoon. Hampton had 179 yards on the ground – 105 of which came from Swain on 14 carries.

Swain averaged 7.5 yards per carry, while also completing 13 of his 23 passes for 91 yards.

LeFall had 182 rushing yards for the Bison.

Freshman Keith McAfee (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Pirates on defense with 12 tackles – including seven solo stops – while junior Delbert Tyler (Monroeville, Pa.) added 10 tackles.

McAfee also had 1.5 tackles for a loss of five yards.

The Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Dover, Del. to take on Delaware State at 1 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.