Hampton’s late comeback attempt falls short in home loss to Campbell

HAMPTON — Hampton University’s brief football win streak came to an end Saturday with a 30-27 loss to Campbell at Armstrong Stadium. The Pirates slipped to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in Coastal Athletic Association play. Coach Robert Prunty and the Pirates were never out of the game and nearly pulled off a comeback.

After going down 30-14 early in the fourth quarter, Hampton scored 13 unanswered points late to pull make it a three-point game. “It says a lot that we don’t quit, we keep fighting,” Prunty said. “I tell the guys that it’s coming down just to staying mentally tough.

I’m really proud of this football team and the way they’re working. They gotta get it done. … Just got to finish and we got to eliminate turnovers.

” Unfortunately for the Pirates, an onside kick with just less than a minute left was unsuccessful and Campbell iced the game. “We had two chances, it just didn’t go our way,” Prunty said. “… Like I told the players, sometimes the ball don’t bounce your way.

I’ve been here long enough to see that. It just didn’t bounce our way today. ” Hampton’s defense was able to put a rare blemish on Campbell quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams’ stat line early in the game.

Omar Ibrahim intercepted Williams on Campbell’s first drive of the game. The pick was Williams’ third of the year. Hampton’s initial drive seemed to be stalling, but a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Camels on third down bailed the Pirates out.

Two plays later, Elijah Burris scampered for a 45-yard touchdown run to give Hampton a 7-0 lead. Burris finished the game with 113 yards and an average of 7. 5 yards per carry.

The Pirates’ remaining two first-quarter drives went nowhere. HU went three-and-out twice for a combination of minus-12 yards. The latter of those two drives ended with Tristian Heaton punting from the back of the end zone and into a strong wind, resulting in Campbell taking over in Pirates territory.

Campbell took advantage of both three-and-outs, scoring on its next two drives and going up 14-7. Former Portsmouth Christian star NaQuari Rogers was responsible for the first score on a 2-yard touchdown run, and Williams found Ezeriah Anderson on a 7-yard touchdown pass for the second score. Hampton only had one drive in the second quarter and, for a moment, it appeared it might get on the board.

The Pirates drove into the red zone, but turned the ball over after a quarterback keeper by Christopher Zellous came up short on fourth down. The ensuing Campbell drive took up all but two seconds of the remaining 7:46 left before halftime. The Camels drove 80 yards to the goal line, but the Pirates’ defense stood tall, halting Rogers and getting a goal-line stand to keep the score at 14-7 going into the half.

“At that point in the game, it was a huge momentum-changer,” HU linebacker Qwahsin Townsel said. “When we get down in the red zone, I just keep telling my guys, ‘threes not sevens, threes not sevens,’ and they tried to take a chance on fourth down, we made the stop and got them off the field. It felt good in the moment, for sure.

” Townsel was one of several Pirates who got in on the stop. He led Hampton with a career-high 17 tackles. “I just kept trying to fly to the ball,” Townsel.

“My goal is to get the guy with the ball, so I just was out there trying to play hard and be the best I can for my team. The chips will fall where they may. ” Hampton started the scoring in the second half when Zellous found a diving Evan King for a 22-yard touchdown pass that tied it at 14.

The next drive, Campbell had to settle for a field-goal attempt after a successful fourth-down conversion was brought back by a false-start penalty. Caleb Dowden’s 54-yard attempt came up short, giving the Pirates the ball in good field position. Unfortunately for the Pirates, another errant throw by Zellous was picked off.

The interception set up a touchdown by Campbell and extended the Camels’ lead to 21-14. Hampton’s next drive didn’t go any better, as a snap on fourth down sailed over Heaton’s head and resulted in a safety and a 23-14 Campbell lead. The Camels quickly added more after a 7-yard touchdown run from Chris McKay made it 30-14.

McKay finished with 97 rushing yards. Darran Butts called his own number for the Pirates on the next drive. Butts zipped through the Camels’ defense for a 47-yard run and, two plays later, he found the end zone on a 4-yard run to make it a 30-20 game.

Butts finished with 124 yards on the ground. Another missed field goal by Dowden, this time from 38 yards, gave Hampton the ball back, but a few plays later, Zellous threw his second interception. After the pick, the game seemingly was Campbell’s to lose, but Hampton’s defense once again stood strong.

The Pirates forced the Camels to punt after a three-and-out, giving the ball back to Zellous and the offense with just more than three minutes to go. Zellous led a 78-yard scoring drive, 71 yards of which came on the ground, and capped it with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Wimberly that made it 30-27. Zellous finished 14 for 28 with 147 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions.

“What happens here is it gives us an idea of what level that we can play at,” Prunty said. “We just need to be consistent playing there and finish. I think if we get there, we’ll have a better grasp of this team.

We’re learning, but we got to continue to get better. ”.