HAMPTON, Va. – The defense turned in its best performance of 2015 as Hampton University football celebrated Senior Day on Saturday at Armstrong Stadium, blanking Florida A&M 33-0.
 
The Pirates improved to 5-5 overall and 4-3 in MEAC play this season.
 
Hampton recorded its first shutout since defeating Delaware State 23-0 last season, and the Pirates held Florida A&M to just 168 yards of total offense. It marked a season best in yards allowed for the Pirates, who held North Carolina A&T to 187 yards on Oct. 3.
 
The Rattlers (1-8, 1-5 MEAC) managed just 62 rushing yards.
 
Joshua Thorne led the Pirates defense with a season-high 12 tackles (four solo), while Miles Grooms celebrated his final home game with eight tackles – four for loss – a sack, two quarterback hurries, and a pass breakup.
 
Keith McAfee also had a sack to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss.
 
JaMari Cord forced a fumble and recovered it in the first quarter.
 
On offense, running back Dwayne Garrett carried the ball 20 times for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown – including a game-long 58-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. Christopher Dukes had 95 yards on 12 carries.
 
Both Dukes and Garrett averaged over seven yards a carry.
 
Jerrell Antoine threw two touchdown passes, while David Watford continued his streak of throwing a touchdown pass in every game he's played this season.
 
Hampton racked up 421 yards of total offense, despite the damp conditions, with a season-high 266 of those yards coming on the ground. Saturday was Hampton's first game this season in which it cracked 200 rushing yards.
 
Hampton struck first with 1:30 left in the first quarter, when Adam Brown connected on a 39-yard field goal. It was the first of two field goals for Brown on the afternoon, who also hit from 36 yards in the third quarter.
 
The first touchdown of the game came with 8:43 left in the first half, when Antoine found Twarn Mixson from 35 yards out to cap a 6-play, 80-yard drive and give the Pirates a 10-0 lead. Mixson pulled in his eighth touchdown reception of the season.
 
Antoine later hit Shakim Alonzo on a high-arching back-shoulder throw into the corner of the end zone from 16 yards out, giving Hampton a 17-0 lead with 27 seconds left in the first half.
 
The Pirates held that lead at the half.
 
Brown's second field goal of the day was the first score of the second half for the Pirates, coming at the 11:11 mark of the third quarter, and it put Hampton up 20-0.
 
Watford led the Pirates on a 7-play, 61-yard drive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before finding Kentrell Richards for a 3-yard touchdown in the corner of the endzone. Brown's PAT put the Pirates up 27-0.
 
After FAMU drove into Hampton territory and sputtered out, the Pirates marched 95 yards down the field in nine plays – six of which were rushes by Garrett. His 58-yard run was the highlight of the drive, before Garrett later scored from three yards out.
 
A bad snap on the PAT left Hampton up 33-0.
 
The Pirates close out the 2015 season on Saturday at Savannah 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.