WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 16, 2023) … The annual Battle of the Real HU turned out to be just that: a battle. Hampton (2-1) trailed Howard (1-2) by as many as 17 points and fell behind 34-21 early in the fourth quarter before rallying to post a 35-34 win over the Bison before 16,630 fans at Washington, D.C.'s Audi Field.
"Howard played hard. They are a tough team on both offense and defense," Hampton coach
Robert Prunty said. "The difference was that we were able to make plays at the end."
Howard got on the board first when Jarrett Hunter hauled in a 15-yard pass from Quinton Williams to give the Bison a 7-0 lead with 3:32 to go in the first quarter. Williams connected with Kasey Hawthorne on a 52-yard pass to boost the Howard lead to 14-0 early in the second period.
The two teams traded touchdowns just before halftime to give Howard a 21-14 advantage.
The Bison scored the first 10 points of the third when Brennan Brown caught a TD pass from Hawthorne from two-yards out and Aaron Bickerton booted a 24-yard field goal to give Howard its biggest lead, 31-14, with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
But
Elijah Burris received the ensuing kickoff for the Pirates and dashed 93 yards for the touchdown to close the gap to 31-21. A 22-yard Bickerton field goal boosted Howard's lead to 34-21 early in the fourth quarter.
Zellous hit
Paul Woods with a 12-yard pass with 8:02 to go to cut the Howard lead to 34-28. Following a defensive stand, Hampton drove 63 yards in seven plays with Zellous scoring the game-winning touchdown from one yard out with 3:02 left in the contest.
Tristan Heaton then booted the PAT to give Hampton its first lead of the game.
Howard had one last chance and moved the ball to midfield before
Jordan White intercepted a Hawthorne pass in the closing seconds to ice the win.
"I didn't say anything to the team at halftime or before the start of the fourth quarter," Prunty admitted. "When you are playing an HBCU rival like Howard, you don't have to really say much. Our players know what this game means to both teams, the fans and the alumni."
The victory marked the seventh straight win for the Pirates over their longtime rival.
Hampton returns to action in two weeks when the Pirates travel to the state capital to take on Richmond on Sept. 30.
