Pirates' slide continues

HAMPTON, VA - Hampton University got inside the Bethune-Cookman 4-yard line on three series Saturday, inside the 20 another time and inside the 25 another. The Pirates netted only two field goals. The wasted scoring opportunities were decisive in the Pirates' 17-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference loss to the visiting Wildcats. And a 2008 season that looked so promising three games ago, when the Pirates were 5-1 and ranked No. 22 in the nation, is sliding precariously toward the program's first losing season in more than a decade.

The Pirates (5-4 overall, 4-2 MEAC) can secure their 12th consecutive winning season by winning on the road at Florida A&M or Morgan State. But the freefall will continue if the Pirates continue to squander their scoring chances. "We've lost three in a row and the same thing happened over and over," Pirates coach Jerry Holmes said. "It was 0-0 against South Carolina State at halftime and we had missed a bunch of scoring opportunities, and it was the same last week against Winston-Salem State.

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