THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410230188
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Hampton's CIAA-leading offense ran into Livingstone's CIAA-leading defense Saturday.
Make that ran through Livingstone's CIAA-leading defense Saturday.
Led by a fired-up offensive line, the Pirates played ball control and ground out a 47-7 victory over the Blue Bears at Armstrong Field to clinch at least a tie for their third straight CIAA title.
Hampton (7-1, 6-0 in the CIAA) can claim the title outright Saturday with a victory at Elizabeth City State. No team has won three in a row since Virginia Union from 1981 to 1983.
The surprising Blue Bears, regarded as the last legitimate obstacle between Hampton and another year of CIAA supremacy, fell to 5-2 overall.
The suspense seeped out of Saturday's game early. Hampton running back Malcolm Benson capped two long drives with scoring runs to put the Pirates ahead, 14-0, at the end of one quarter. By halftime, it was 28-0.
Livingstone rallied midway through the third quarter, as George Williams scored from three yards out to make it 34-7. But while Bears were still slapping fives on the sidelines, Kevin White took the kickoff 82 yards for a Hampton score.
The Livingstone defense may have been the league's best on paper, but it wasn't even the best on the field Saturday. The Pirates held the option-oriented Blue Bears to minus-1 yard rushing in the first half, and Livingstone finished with 33 rushing yards on 32 attempts.
``We wanted to prove a point,'' said Hampton linebacker John Meredith, the Pirates' defensive ringleader with 11 tackles and a recovered fumble. ``They came in here with the No. 1 defense, and people were saying we couldn't stop their option. We really wanted to shut them out, but I think we showed what we could do.''
Despite the final score, the Blue Bears also did a lot right defensively. Although he scored two touchdowns, running back Lamonte Still gained just 85 yards on the ground as the reverses and outside running plays which were so effective a week ago against Norfolk State were repeatedly strung out and stuffed.
The Blue Bears also held Matt Montgomery, the CIAA's second-leading passer, to a modest 97 yards.
But Livingstone had no answer for the brute power of Hampton linemen Roderick Briggs, Quincy Bryant, Antonio Poag, Clarence Thomas and Quincy Wynn. Hampton controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes.
``They've got some talented players,'' Briggs said. ``You don't get the top-ranked defense with a bunch of ordinary guys. So we took it as a challenge to get the running game going.'' by CNB