HAMPTON, Va. (Nov. 11, 2023) … A year ago, William & Mary eked out a 20-14 win over Hampton. The 2023 meeting between the two teams looked like a repeat as the score was tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter of a defensive struggle.
But the opportunistic William & Mary (6-4, 4-3) returned back-to-back interceptions for touchdowns and turned a third interception fourth-quarter interception into another score as the Tribe beat Hampton (5-5, 3-4), 31-10, before 5,168 fans at Armstrong Stadium. William & Mary has won all nine meeting between the two teams.
Tied 10-10 midway through the final quarter, Hampton moved inside the redzone looking to take the lead. But an errant pitch on a running play was picked off and returned for a touchdown leading to the turn of events. In all, Hampton turned the ball over five times, three times in the final minutes of the contest.
The game pitted William & Mary, the top defensive unit in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) yielding just 18.6 points per game, against Hampton's rushing attack, the best in the league averaging 236.7 yards per outing.
With
Elijah Burris, the league's second-leading rusher, sidelined with injury, Hampton ran a balanced attack, finishing with 187 yards on the ground and 159 through the air.
After a back-and-forth first quarter in which neither team was able to mount a drive, William & Mary drove 99-yards on nine-plays after an interception at the goal line for a score. Tyler Hughes completed a 10-yard pass to Trey McDonald and Caden Bonoffski added the extra point to give the Tribe a 7-0 lead with :11 left.
Hampton got on the scoreboard with a 29-yard field goal by
Brian Csehoski, who has made all six of his field goal attempts this season, making the score 7-3 with 4:05 left in the half. The Pirates recovered a fumble with 2:27 to go in the half, setting up their lone touchdown.
Chris Zellous scrambled out of the pocket and found
Romon Copeland along the sideline who dashed 45 yards for a touchdown with 2:08 left in the half to boost the Pirates to a 10-7 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, William & Mary tied the score, 10-10, with 12:56 left in the game with a 40-yard field goal by Bonoffski.
Hampton drove to the 19-yard line but a trick play gone awry resulting in a turnover with 7:06 to go. On the first play from scrimmage Hughes connected with a wide-open JT Mayo for a 76-yard touchdown giving the Tribe a 17-10 advantage with 6:53 to go. Kevin Jarrell intercepted a Hampton pass on the very next play from scrimmage and returned it 40 yards for another score. After intercepting another Hampton pass, Hughes ran six yards for the game's final tally, giving the Tribe a 31-10 victory.
Hampton closes out the 2023 campaign on Nov. 18 when the Pirates play at Elon.
