FAMU Rattlers will get shot at MEAC title

The football season has come to this for Florida A&M. Sudden death against Bethune-Cookman for at least a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

The Rattlers got this far after sputtering early in the season, but for the second game behind redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Trainor they live for one more chance to stay in the league championship race. Hampton kept threatening to deny FAMU, but in the end the Rattlers' defense was too stingy, securing a 17-13 victory in front 10,306 at Bragg Stadium.

It was FAMU's fifth straight win after ...

Defense steps up, punches ticket for championship game

Florida A&M's defense made plays when it mattered and took advantage of Hampton's eighth-ranked scoring offense en route to a 17-12 victory at Bragg Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The Hampton University Pirates (5-5, 4-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) turned up the defense pressure in the second half but could not overcome the pressure from the Rattlers' defense. The Pirates only managed six points in the second half, and couldn't erase an 11-point halftime deficit.

FAMU receivers focus more after dropped passes

The first two throws of the game could not have been tighter spirals. Yet both of them still ended up on the turf as Rattler wide receivers let the ball hit them in the hands before it fell incomplete. But trust is built on the practice field, not on Saturdays. So FAMU quarterback Austin Trainor kept firing away to his receivers.

Kevin Elliot, Isaac West and tight end Max Purcell combined for five drops on the afternoon, but each made a contribution to the team that bailed out their freshman quarterback. West and Elliot led FAMU with four receptions and accounted for 104 of the team's 156 passing yards.

Hampton U falls to .500 with 17-12 loss at Florida A&M

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — — Dyrii McCain sat in the back of the end zone with his hands on his head, panting, in part amazement and mostly frustration as yet another game slipped away from his Hampton football team. McCain and Donte Davis were the targets of a last-second heave from quarterback David Legree as the Pirates tried to ruin the Florida A&M football season for the second straight season.

But before either could come down with the football, the ball was intercepted and the Pirates dropped a fourth straight game, falling 17-12 in a tightly contested Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game that dropped them to .500.

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ATTENDANCE: 10,306


Videographer: mad1sir