HAMPTON — What began as Hampton’s cleanest start of the season unraveled in stunning fashion.
Hampton dropped its fifth straight game Saturday, a 55-14 loss to William & Mary at Armstrong Stadium, despite racing out to a two-touchdown lead. The 55 points were the Pirates’ second-most allowed this season, trailing only the 56 points surrendered to Villanova on Oct. 18.
The Pirates (2-9, 0-7 CAA) opened with a 14-play, 75-yard march capped by a 3-yard scoring run from freshman Gracen Goldsmith, their first opening-drive touchdown this season. On the next possession, Hampton picked off W&M quarterback Tyler Hughes, snapping his school-record streak of 266 passes without an interception.
The Pirates cashed in again as quarterback Braden Davis hit Maxwell Moss for 36 yards to set up Goldsmith’s second score, making it 14-0 late in the first quarter.
“We started off strong, but again it goes back to discipline in all phases,” Hampton coach Trent Boykin said. “Penalties at the wrong time, a one-play touchdown, then a blocked punt — it just snowballed from there.”
Then everything flipped.
William & Mary’s Stephon Hicks (39) blocks a punt by Hampton’s Brett Starling on Saturday. (Peter Casey/For The Virginian-Pilot)
As Boykin alluded to, William & Mary (7-4, 6-2 CAA) responded with 21 points in five dizzying minutes, starting with a blown special-teams coverage that preceded Rashad Raymond’s untouched 50-yard touchdown run. After a Hampton three-and-out, Stephon Hicks blocked a punt and returned it for the tying score — his fourth blocked punt of the season, the most in the nation. Moments later, Hughes connected with Deven Thompson for a 54-yard strike to give the Tribe a 21-14 lead.
“After settling down, we started to play the kind of football I know this team can play,” W&M coach Mike London said. “Once we got back to making the right reads and taking advantage of matchups, we started seeing explosive plays.”
Hughes kept rolling. He added touchdown passes to Tariq Sims and Trey McDonald, and Keegan Shackford’s 36-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer stretched the lead to 38-14. In the second half, Hughes hit Haven Mullins, then found Thompson again on a spectacular contested grab to push the margin to 52-14.
After totaling 134 yards on its first two drives, Hampton managed just 28 yards on its next six possessions, including five three-and-outs. The Pirates did not cross midfield in the final three quarters.
“We’d get something going, then it was a holding call, a face mask, a ball knocked down — it was always one guy here or one guy there,” Boykin said. “The little details keep hurting us, and we have to finish drives.”
He also emphasized that special teams, amongst all three phases of the game, was costly.
“We’ve sky-kicked all year, and today a guy who’s never gone inside suddenly goes inside,” Boykin said, referring to the blown coverage that kicked off the Tribe’s run. “Those things are frustrating because they’re not new concepts — you just have to execute them the same way every time.”
Hughes finished nearly flawless, completing 17 of 20 passes for 207 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Raymond added 114 yards and a score on 13 carries. Davis went 11 of 18 for 117 yards and an interception, while Goldsmith carried 10 times for 34 yards and two touchdowns.
William & Mary improved to 11-0 all-time against Hampton.
Hampton closes its season Saturday at Rhode Island at 1 p.m. William & Mary hosts Richmond on Saturday for Senior Day at 1 p.m.
