HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University football team held a late lead on Saturday in a cold and windy Armstrong Stadium, but Morgan State used a late comeback to steal a 38-35 win in the Pirates' annual Homecoming.
 
The Pirates dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in MEAC play.
 
Freshman quarterback Jerrell Antoine (Orlando, Fla.), making his second career start, completed 15 of 26 passes for a season-high 164 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore wideout Twarn Mixson (Charlotte, N.C.) caught six passes for a team-high 83 yards and a score.
 
Freshman running back Eric Carter Jr. (Fayetteville, N.C.) rushed for a team-high 87 yards.
 
The Pirates had 381 yards of total offense.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Bears (5-4, 4-1 MEAC) led 31-20, but the Pirates began the comeback trail when Antoine scored on a 9-yard run with 6:20 left to play and sophomore punter Christian Faber-Kinney (Williamsburg, Va.) pulled off a PAT fake for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 31-28.
 
Morgan State fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to the Pirates at the Bears' 37-yard line. Ten plays later, junior running back Christopher Dukes (Mobile, Ala.) scored on a 5-yard run to give the Pirates a 35-31 lead.
 
But the Bears answered with 1:13 left, when Moses Skillon connected with Herb Walker Jr. on a 17-yard pass to give Morgan State the 38-35 win.
 
Skillon threw for 252 yards, while Walker had 109 receiving and 67 rushing yards.
 
Morgan State got off to a quick start, scoring on the game's opening drive on a 12-yard run from Walker. The Bears recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, then went 23 yards on six plays before Skillon ran in from two yards out to put Morgan State up 14-0.
 
The Pirates got on the board in the second quarter, capping off a 14-play, 89-yard drive with a 5-yard run from senior running back Jorrian Washington (Los Angeles, Calif.) with 6:59 left in the half, cutting the Bears' lead to 14-7.
 
Hampton tied the game at 14-14 on the opening possession of the second half, when Antoine capped off a 9-play, 71-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to a diving Rayshad Riddick (Portsmouth, Va.).
 
Chris Moller put Morgan State up 17-14 with a 24-yard field goal with 2:29 left in the third quarter, but the Pirates answered with a strong kickoff return, when freshman wideout Darius Banks (Newport News, Va.) returned the ball 51 yards to give Hampton great field position.
 
On the next play, Antoine hit Mixson for a 34-yard touchdown, giving the Pirates a 20-17 lead with 2:10 left in the third quarter.
 
The Bears answered with 14 unanswered points, starting with a 9-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown run from Walker that put Morgan State up 24-20 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
Walker added a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:47 left to give the Bears a 31-20 lead.
 
Junior linebacker Tyrone Ward (Oakland, Calif.) led the Pirates defense with 10 tackles, while junior linebacker Joshua Thorne (Oxon Hill, Md.) had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
 
Junior defensive end Miles Grooms (Richmond, Va.) had two quarterback hurries.
 
The Pirates will head to Durham, N.C. on Saturday to take on North Carolina Central at 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.