Hampton, VA - The Monarch special teams unit blocked two punts and rushed Pirate punter Jordan Stoval to start a drive on Hampton's own one-yard line all by halftime in ODU's 28-14 win in its 15-mile road trip to Hampton Saturday afternoon. The win ups ODU's overall mark to 5-3 overall and 6-1 all-time on the road. The Pirates meanwhile drop to 5-3 on the season.
Quarterback Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) passed for 182 yards and ran for a pair of touchdowns, while Prentice Gill (Los Angles, Calif.) led the receiving corps with 67 yards, seven receptions, and a score.
ODU wins Round 1 of start-up rivalry with Hampton
Hampton's offense had just put together its first cohesive drive to pull within two scores with an entire fourth quarter to play, and Ricardo Silva's interception gave it the ball right back for what could be a game-changing possession. "I thought so," Silva said. "But it didn't happen."
Three straight incompletions forced the Pirates' ninth punt and personified their continuing offensive struggles in a 28-14 loss to Old Dominion in the first meeting of a home-and-away series between the nearby rivals on Saturday in front of 8,605 fans at Armstrong Stadium.
ODU victory will help it win recruiting battles
HAMPTON, VA - Old Dominion won a football game Saturday afternoon at Hampton University. But in addition to prevailing over its cross-the-water neighbors, the Monarchs also won a recruiting battle. That's one of the reasons Bobby Wilder characterized his team's 28-14 victory as "a very big win for our program." For now and the immediate future.
Winning the favor of impressionable, fickle high school athletes is how a successful football program is established and maintained. Now, when dealing with recruits from the Peninsula who are on the radar of both ODU and Hampton, the Monarchs should have a leg up.
Attendance: 8,605
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