Washington, DC—John Fleck nailed a 17-yard field goal with 21 seconds to go to give Howard University a 30-29 win over Hampton University in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season finale at Greene Stadium.  The Bison (5-7, 3-5 MEAC) closed out the season with a four-game win streak.
 
Howard got on the board early when William Parker scored on an eight-yard run following an interception by Craig Johnson.
 
Hampton (3-9, 2-6 MEAC) found its groove two possessions later when Christopher Dukes capped off a 61-yard drive with a two-yard run to tie the game at 7 to start the second quarter.
                 
The Pirates defense began to take control and turned a Greg McGhee interception into a 34-yard pass from Jerrell Antoine to Twam Mixson on the first play from scrimmage.  There was a bad snap on the PAT attempt, but Hampton led, 13-7 at the 13:23 mark.
                 
The Bison offense continued to sputter and Hampton took advantage, putting together a 13-play, 95-yard drive that took almost four minutes off the clock.  Antoine tossed his second TD of the day, this time to SeQuan Gooding from 14 yards to give the Pirates a 19-7 halftime advantage.
                 
"I just don't know why we have to come out in the second half and try to win ballgames," said a perplexed Howard Coach Gary Harrell. "I guess you can call us the cardiac kids. We have a pattern of coming out early and then falling flat in the second quarter."
                 
Things appeared to be bleak for Howard when Hampton put together a nice drive of 51 yards that was capped off by a Dukes' two-yard TD run, his second of the day.
                 
That is when the Bison woke up.  McGhee, the all-time MEAC and school leader in total offense, who eclipsed the 10,000-yard plateau in career total offense, got his team going, putting together a 56- yard drive that was aided by some nice running and pass receiving from red-shirt junior reserve running back Aquanius Freeman.  It was McGhee who went the final 24 yards on a twisting run that cut the deficit to 26-13 with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
                 
On the ensuing possession, it was the defense's turn to make a play.  Kenneth Russ picked off an Antoine pass that gave the Bison possession at their own 49-yard line.  Again, it was McGhee and Freeman who moved the ball.  Freeman scored from two yards out behind a crushing block from right offensive tackle Toree Boyd.  The conversion failed, but the Bison trailed 26-20.
                 
Howard used the momentum and on its next possession, McGhee took his team 80 yards in only eight plays, with Freeman taking it the final six yards at the 7:04 mark of the fourth quarter.  Fleck's kick gave Howard the lead at 27-26.
                 
Said Harrell, "Greg McGhee came out and did a great job of facilitating the offense and the ball to the players who made key plays."
                 
The Pirates, who were coming off a big upset win over nationally ranked Bethune Cookman, would not fold.  They put together a 51-yard drive, led by the hard running of Eric Carter, Jr.  The bend-but-don't-break defense of Howard, kept the Pirates out of the end zone, however, so they had to settle for 25-yard Anthony Prevost field goal that made it, Hampton, 29-27 with 3:38 remaining in regulation.
                 
The unflappable McGhee, who led his from a 25-7 deficit in last week's win over Central Connecticut State, combined some nice short passes and the running of Freeman to cooly move his team 71 yards in 13 plays.  That set up Fleck's game-winning field goal.  It was the junior's first time hitting a game winner.
                 
"John Fleck has ice water in his veins," said Howard Coach Gary Harrell.  "As we were driving, I knew we needed a field goal.  So I went to kicking coach Mike Andrews and asked where do we need to position it.  He told me the middle of the field, so I knew once we reached the middle of the 20-yard line, we were within his range.  I was confident he would make the kick."
 
"We were confident on that last drive," said McGhee, who now has 10,168 yards of total offense in his career.  "We have been here before.  Once we started to execute and cut out the mistakes, we were able score touchdowns."
                 
Hampton got the ball with no timeouts left.  They somehow managed to get the ball down to the Howard 37-yard line.  Prevost's 54-yard attempt fell way short as time ran out and the Bison celebration began.
                 
Carter led all rushers with 103 yards on 23 carries while Jerrell completed 19 of 39 passes for 240 yards, two TDs and three interceptions.  The talented freshman also rushed 66 yards on 15 carries.
                 
Freeman ran for a season-high 102 yards and two TDs and grabbed seven passes for 52 yards while McGhee ran for 97 on 16 carries and a TD and completed 20 of 26 for 157 yards.
                 
"Today, it was just that my number was called and the team needed me to step up," explained Freeman, who was subbing for William Parker, who went out with an injury following his first quarter TD and did not return.  "I really wasn't worried about snaps.  I just wanted to get out there and do what I can to send the seniors out on a good note.  This was a good win."
                 
Devin Rollins, who is emerging as one of the top linebackers in the MEAC, collected a career-high 19 while Khari Brown tallied 15.  Russ, who has come on strong of late, had five tackles and two pass breakups to go with his career-best two interceptions.
                 
"Inside, I think Khari Brown and Devin Rollins did a good job as far as making tackles and communicating," said Harrell.  "Devin Rollins is the quarterback of the defense and he does a great job for us in that area.  Kari Brown played solid.  He's a senior and he wanted to go out on top."
 
He continued, "But Kenneth Russ has really come into his own.  He plays with a lot of confidence.  He's making big plays.  He had two interceptions and one of them helped us get momentum."

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