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HAMPTON, Va. -- Not 100 yards past the south end zone at Hampton University’s Armstrong Stadium lies a U.S. Veterans Administration complex and a military cemetery. The orderly rows of white crosses are appropriate for visiting teams, which have often found the location to be a burial ground for their MEAC title hopes.

Saturday, however, it was South Carolina State which planted the Pirates in the turf with a 28-24 victory that almost certainly ends Hampton’s run of consecutive conference titles at three. The Bulldogs won here for the first time in six visits since 1997 and still hope to fulfill the potential that led voters to select them as the preseason conference title favorites.

SCSU quarterback Cleveland McCoy was magical, rushing 19 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 31-yard sprint for the winning points with seven minutes to play on which he broke three tackles after faking a handoff to Will Ford.

"I told myself ’I’m going to get in the end zone"’ McCoy said. "It’s the will and if you tell yourself you can do it, you can do it. I guess they were terrified of Will’s speed and that opened things up for me."

South Carolina State has beaten Hampton each of the last two seasons, its home effort last year snapping the Pirates’ 24-game regular season and 17-game MEAC winning streaks. Hampton, however, leads the all time series between the teams, 11-3.

Saturday’s initial scoring was sparked by a Markee Hamlin interception of a pass by Hampton’s T. J. Mitchell a little less than five minutes after kickoff. The Bulldogs then embarked on a 6-play, 45-yard drive that was capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cleveland McCoy to Spencer Miller in the left, back corner of the end zone.

Hampton answered with a long drive, moving from its 18-yard line to the Bulldogs’ 37. The march came up short, however, when an attempted fake punt on fourth-and-11 gained only four yards.

South Carolina State punted on its next possession and this time, couldn’t keep the Pirates out of the end zone. The hosts embarked on a 9-play, 81-yard drive with a mixture of run and pass, scoring when Mitchell threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Teel, who beat defensive back Phillip Adams less than a minute into the second quarter.

The 7-7 tie lasted until there were two minutes remaining in the half and Hampton’s Carlo Turavani kicked a 33-yard field goal. His Bulldogs counterpart, Stephen Grantham, missed a 23-yard field goal attempt with seven minutes remaining in the half.

The third quarter began with a bang on one of the strangest plays you’ll ever see in a football game. Hampton received the kickoff and drove to the Bulldogs’ 33-yard line before lining up as if to attempt a 50-yard field goal.

Instead, holder Daniel Brooks, a reserve quarterback, picked the ball off the ground and tossed it back and over his head without looking. Kicker Turavani was circling behind him but collided with South Carolina State’s Rafael Bush as the two reached for the airborne ball at the same time.

Bush shouldered Turavani aside and caught the ball in one motion, racing 58 yards for a touchdown and leaving the crowd and both teams in shock.

"It was crucial," Taylor said of the play’s outcome on the game’s result. "It was an aggressive play but the whole idea isn’t to pitch it in the air. It’s supposed to be like an option pitch that goes sideways.

"Last week (in a loss to Norfolk State) we tried some 4th-and-ones and didn’t make it, so the object today was to give the impression we were going to try that again. But it didn’t work."

Said McCoy: "I’ve never seen anything like that a day in my life. I saw that and I knew it was meant for us to win this game."

There was still plenty of football to be played, however, and Jeremy Gilchrist put Hampton back ahead at 17-14 when he returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs answered three minutes into the fourth quarter. McCoy faked a handoff to Ford heading right and scooted left into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown run. The extra point made the score 21-17 for the visitors.

The see-saw battle continued when Hampton punted soon thereafter and the kick bounced off Tre Young’s hands and into those of the Pirates’ Jimari Jones, who recovered at the visitors’ 46-yard line. Two pass interference calls on the Bulldogs helped the subsequent drive that was capped when Kevin Beverly ran for a 21-yard touchdown. Hampton led 24-21 with nine minutes to play.

McCoy wasn’t finished, however, again faking to Ford and embarking on his deciding, 31-yard touchdown run at the end of a six-play, 55-yard drive.

"McCoy, we let him get away and do some things and that was definitely a big factor," Taylor said. "He’s big and strong but we had missed tackles, too. It’s not like we weren’t aware of him."

South Carolina State forced Hampton to punt on its next possession and although it lost a fumble with three minutes left, turned around to force and recover one by the Pirates with two minutes left on the clock.

Asked where the victory ranked among his career highlights, McCoy grinned broadly.

"It ranks right up there at the top," said the senior. "I had a comeback against Bethune two years ago but this one is big because we’re still in the hunt for the MEAC title."

Notes

South Carolina State’s marching band paraded into the stadium with five minutes left in the first quarter after a combination of bus malfunctions and thick, homecoming traffic on and around Interstate 64 conspired to delay its arrival… The game was televised for tape-delay by ESPNU… Redshirt freshman defensive back Jeff Brooks got some unwanted attention late in the third quarter. Seated on the back of an aluminum bench at one end of the SCSU sideline, he suddenly toppled backwards onto the track, drawing hoots and applause from the crowd… Markus James, a sophomore defensive lineman from Hampton and nearby Bethel High, had his day ended early by a right leg injury. He returned to the Bulldogs’ sideline on crutches and wearing a full-length brace

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