GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Hampton football team played an ESPNU-televised Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest on Thursday night and fell 31-9 to North Carolina A&T.
 
The Aggies got the only score in the first quarter with an assist from their special teams unit. Jerome Beatty recovered a Twarn Mixson fumbled punt return on the Hampton three-yard line and punched it in on its first play. Lamar Raynard connected with Denzel Keys on a scoring pass to put the hosts up 7-0 with 13:10 left in the opening quarter. 
 
Midway through the second quarter Cody Jones hit a 32-yard field goal for the Aggies to push the advantage to 10-0 with 7:38 left in the half.
 
Hampton got on the board on its next possession starting on its 12-yardline. Jaylian Williamson connected with Rayshawn Proctor on an 83-yard completion taking the Pirates down to the Aggie two-yard line. The hosts stiffened on defense forcing a 26-yard Adam Brown field goal with 4:43 left in the half as Hampton trailed 10-3.
 
The second half saw the Aggies standout running back Tarik Cohen score all three of his touchdowns and go for 203 of his game-high 256 yards in the final 30 minutes.  He capped a 98-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard run for a 17-3 lead with 4:01 left in the third. In the fourth quarter, Cohen scored on a 30-yard run and then with 2:35 left broke off a 94-yard scoring jaunt to push the Aggies advantage to 31-3.
 
Hampton closed out the scoring with a five-play, 75-yard drive that took 90 seconds. Williamson threw a 59-yard scoring strike to Shakim Alonzo to get the Pirates on the board. The extra-point attempt was blocked as Hampton trailed 31-9 with 1:05 left.
 
For the game, Williamson tied a school record with 32 completions as he was 32-of-54 for a season-high 388 yards with two interceptions.  Proctor had career highs in receptions (12) and yards (188) topping his previous highs set against Old Dominion earlier this month.
 
Hampton outgained North Carolina A&T 464-405 but was hurt by four fumbles, compared to one turnover from the Aggies.  Owen Obasuyi lead Hampton on defense with six tackles, while Steven Smith had five tackles, two for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble.
 
The Pirates return to action on October 8 when they travel to Dover, Del. to take face the Hornets of Delaware State for a 2 pm kickoff.
 
For more information on Hampton University football, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.