Courtesy of Hampton Athletics
HAMPTON, Va. – This season, Hampton hosted three nationally-ranked Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) football teams at Armstrong Stadium. And in each case, the game went down to the wire. Earlier this season, Hampton fell to No. 20-ranked Rhode Island 46-44 in double overtime and to No. 13-ranked Villanova 20-14. In the 2024 home finale, Hampton (5-6, 2-5) drove to the 28-yard line in the game’s final seconds against No. 11-ranked Richmond (9-2, 7-0) needing a field goal for a tie or a touchdown for the win but were unable to convert one last first down in a 24-21 loss to Richmond.
| Statistics | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hampton outgained the Spiders 391-322, had 24 first downs to Richmond’s 16, and ran 79 plays to Richmond’s 55.
But Hampton couldn’t quite recover from a slow start. On Richmond’s first play on the game, Zach Palmer-Smith broke loose on a 54-yard run to the Hampton 21-yard line. An 11-yard Spider pass completion followed by a Hampton penalty moved the ball to the eight. Two plays later, Palmer-Smith, who finished with 166 yards rushing and two TDs, scored from three yards out. Sean O’Haire’s PAT made it 7-0 just 1:56 into the game.
Hampton mishandled the ensuing kickoff and the opportunistic Spiders recovered the fumble at the 27-yard line. Richmond successfully gambled on fourth down and converted setting up an eight-yard pass from Camden Coleman to Landon Ellis to pad the lead to 14-0 with 9:16 left in the first quarter with the Pirates yet to run a single play from the line of scrimmage.
With Chris Zellous at the helm, Hampton drove 75 yards in 14 plays capped by Tymere Robinson’s three-yard TD run. Brian Csehoski’s extra point made the score 14-7 with 2:37 to in the first period. The Pirates converted four third-down plays in the drive and Zellous completed all six of his passes.
Offenses ruled the first period with Richmond amassing 118 yards and Hampton totaling 75 in its lone possession. Zellous was 6-for-6 passing for 48 yard and Coleman finished the quarter 6-for-7 for 47 yards a score. On a fourth-and-10 play, Richmond lined up for the game’s first punt but on a fake, Aaron Trusler rushed 12 yards for the first down. The Pirate defense held and Trusler’s 50-yard punt was downed at the one-yard line. Hampton moved the ball 73 yards to the 24-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Richmond’s O’Haire booted a 46-yard field goal to pad the Spider’s lead to 17-7 at halftime.
Both teams turned the ball over on fumbles early in the third quarter. With Mays at quarterback, the Pirates attempted a long pass to Brennan Ridley. Diving to make the catch, the ball was jarred loose for an incompletion. Following a Hampton timeout, the Pirates ran the exact play again and this time Ridley hauled in the pass from Mays from 40 yards out to trim the Spider’s lead to 17-14 with 6:31 to go in the third quarter.
But the Spiders responded with a score of their own. Richmond drove 75 yards in eight plays with Palmer-Smith carrying the ball the final yard to increase Richmond’s lead to 24-14 with 2:03 to go in the period. Mays engineered a 16-play, 75-yard drive which resulted in a touchdown with 9:58 left. Mays called his own number and bulled over from the one-yard line to slice the Richmond lead to 24-21.
The Spiders drained 7:19 off the clock on their next drive. But the Pirate defense held on a fourth-and-one play when Tre Everett stopped Palmer-Smith for a one-yard loss with 2:39 to go. Hampton moved the ball 46 yards in 13 plays moving to the Richmond 38-yard line but could get no closer and turned the ball over on downs.
Hampton quarterback duo of Mays and Zellous excelled against the Spiders. Mays passed for 107 yards and a score and rushed for 53 yards and another score while Zellous was 10-of-12 passing. Ridley hauled in five passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Terrence Lane II led the Pirates with eight tackles followed by Will Hicks and Jordan White, who had seven stops each.
Hampton will close out the regular season next Saturday when the Pirates play at Albany.