By KRISTIAN POPE, The News JournalAttendance: 7,195
Hornets honor victims of shooting
HAMPTON, Va. -- One special gesture in one sacred place would happen Saturday only if Delaware State was victorious in the one football game it knew it had to win.
On a picture-perfect afternoon at Hampton's Armstrong Stadium, Delaware State helped soothe the pain from the recent shooting of two students on campus by defeating the 13th-ranked Pirates, 24-17, in a game that could help determine the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.
In the wake of the shooting in the early morning hours Sept. 21 that left students Shalita Middleton and Nathaniel Pugh wounded, the Hornets football team found solace in the end zone.
"We thought it was incredibly important to put into context, and that starts with our student-athletes," said DSU coach Al Lavan, who asked band director H. Wade Johnson to have his unit and the DSU cheerleaders join the team in the end zone. "The end zone is a sacred place for us.
"When we came back [the day after the shooting], we all talked about our success and failures as a society. They came back and practiced well [that day]."
Following the game, the Hornets somberly shook hands with Hampton players and then met in the end zone. There, they dedicated the game ball to the shooting victims, the first time under Lavan that someone other than a player received the game ball.
DSU, pursuing its first league championship since winning a share of the 1991 title, finally beat a championship contender on the road.
Photo: Kareem Jones fights his way past Hampton's Henti Baird. Jones rushed for a game-high 135 yards.
The win over Hampton, just the Hornets' second in the past 13 meetings with the Pirates, placed DSU (3-1 overall, 2-0 MEAC) atop the league standings.
It was the first loss for Hampton (3-1, 3-1) this season, and the first against a league opponent since Oct. 21, 2006, against South Carolina State.
The Pirates, looking every bit the team vying for its fourth straight championship, drove 75 yards to open the game, and took a 7-0 lead on Jerry Cummings' 15-yard run with 12:50 to go.
But DSU regrouped and began playing like a contender in the second quarter.
Hornets quarterback Vashon Winton found the end zone on a 1-yard carry early in the second quarter to tie it 7-7 with 11:45 left.
After a Hampton touchdown and a DSU field goal, Winton led a 90-yard drive and capped it with an 11-yard run with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
Winton, looking to pass, instead found space through the front line, changed direction and scooted to the end zone, just squeaking between a defender and the pylon. The play gave DSU a 17-14 lead.
Winton finished 10-of-16 passing for 131 yards and rushed for 59 yards.
"That changed the game dramatically," Lavan said. "We simply couldn't do enough to make a difference early on."
HAMPTON, Va. -- One special gesture in one sacred place would happen Saturday only if Delaware State was victorious in the one football game it knew it had to win.
On a picture-perfect afternoon at Hampton's Armstrong Stadium, Delaware State helped soothe the pain from the recent shooting of two students on campus by defeating the 13th-ranked Pirates, 24-17, in a game that could help determine the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.
In the wake of the shooting in the early morning hours Sept. 21 that left students Shalita Middleton and Nathaniel Pugh wounded, the Hornets football team found solace in the end zone.
"We thought it was incredibly important to put into context, and that starts with our student-athletes," said DSU coach Al Lavan, who asked band director H. Wade Johnson to have his unit and the DSU cheerleaders join the team in the end zone. "The end zone is a sacred place for us.
"When we came back [the day after the shooting], we all talked about our success and failures as a society. They came back and practiced well [that day]."
Following the game, the Hornets somberly shook hands with Hampton players and then met in the end zone. There, they dedicated the game ball to the shooting victims, the first time under Lavan that someone other than a player received the game ball.
DSU, pursuing its first league championship since winning a share of the 1991 title, finally beat a championship contender on the road.
Photo: Kareem Jones fights his way past Hampton's Henti Baird. Jones rushed for a game-high 135 yards.The win over Hampton, just the Hornets' second in the past 13 meetings with the Pirates, placed DSU (3-1 overall, 2-0 MEAC) atop the league standings.
It was the first loss for Hampton (3-1, 3-1) this season, and the first against a league opponent since Oct. 21, 2006, against South Carolina State.
The Pirates, looking every bit the team vying for its fourth straight championship, drove 75 yards to open the game, and took a 7-0 lead on Jerry Cummings' 15-yard run with 12:50 to go.
But DSU regrouped and began playing like a contender in the second quarter.
Hornets quarterback Vashon Winton found the end zone on a 1-yard carry early in the second quarter to tie it 7-7 with 11:45 left.
After a Hampton touchdown and a DSU field goal, Winton led a 90-yard drive and capped it with an 11-yard run with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
Winton, looking to pass, instead found space through the front line, changed direction and scooted to the end zone, just squeaking between a defender and the pylon. The play gave DSU a 17-14 lead.
Winton finished 10-of-16 passing for 131 yards and rushed for 59 yards.
"That changed the game dramatically," Lavan said. "We simply couldn't do enough to make a difference early on."
Photo:The Hampton defense slows down Delaware State quarterback Vashon Winton in the first quarter Saturday. Winton threw for one TD and ran for two more as the Hornets improved to 2-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Hampton tied it 17-17 on Carlo Turavani's 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. DSU scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on junior tight end Jeff Postell's 5-yard catch with 11:39 remaining. Postell leaped in the middle of several Hampton defenders but still brought down the ball. He was mauled afterward by teammates.
"I think the [shooting] incident made us more focused to get our goal," Postell said. "And that goal is to win a championship."
Junior running back Kareem Jones, starting his first game since the season opener, rushed for a game-high 135 yards.
Jones said he wasn't certain how his teammates would respond in this game, particularly after a bye week and against a team like Hampton.
"I wasn't sure how the team would react after an incident like this," Jones
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