HU, Legree pull out 21-20 win in Chicago vs. Alabama A&M

CHICAGO, Ill.

Hampton senior quarterback David Legree clutched the team trophy tightly in his left arm, walking through the locker room congratulating nearly every player. Legree enjoyed the postgame revelry after spearheading Hampton to a 21-20 comeback victory over Alabama A&M Saturday in the 14th Annual Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field^[1] before an announced attendance of 35,653 fans.

"I'm not letting it (the trophy) go," Legree said. "I'm sleeping on the plane (with it). I might take a shower with it, we'll see how it holds up." The Syracuse transfer enjoyed the spoils of victory after erasing a porous first-half performance, directing three straight touchdown drives to open the second half.

The Pirates (1-0) put up ghastly first-half numbers, amassing five first downs, 153 yards of total offense, turning the ball over twice and converting three of nine third-down attempts.

Getting solid protection from the offensive line, Legree finally displayed some of his vast athletic talents after halftime, finishing 9-of-20 passing for 99 yards and one touchdown and gaining 104 yards on the ground and scoring a touchdown. Hampton sophomore Antwon Chisholm, who carried the ball 25 times for a game-high 141 yards, was named the Most Valuable Player. Chisholm capped a 17-point comeback with a game-winning 4-yard touchdown run with 9:53 left in regulation.

"We made a lot of mental mistakes and could easily have come out at the bottom of this," Legree said. "We did a lot of good things in the second half and our defense played great."

The Pirates' defense was a minor concern entering the season after losing their top five tacklers from last season. Hampton's defense was a key factor in the Pirates withstanding a rocky season by the offense in 2010, ranking third in the country by allowing 271.5 total yards per game.

In the first half, Alabama A&M exposed the holes in Hampton's defense, seizing a 17-0 lead behind a balanced, big-play attack en route to racking up 263 yards.

The Pirates, though, awoke from their slumber a different team after halftime.

Hampton limited the Bulldogs to three second-half points, while forcing a fumble on an attempted punt and blocking a field goal.

"We were not playing to our standard in the first half," said Hampton linebacker Matthew Davis, who had a pair of pivotal sacks on the Bulldogs' final drive. "We finally woke up and started making plays and stopping their run."

Hampton limited Alabama A&M's offense to 26 yards in the third quarter, opening the door for Legree's late heroics.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Legree engineered a 16-play, 86-yard march down the field, drilling a 22-yard scoring toss to Javaris Brown to slice the deficit to 17-6 with 6:19 left in the third.

Starting at Alabama A&M's 30-yard line on their next possession, the Pirates wasted little time getting into the end zone. Legree scrambled untouched for an 8-yard touchdown to lower the gap to 17-14 late in the third.

Trailing 20-14, the Pirates took the lead for the first time following Chisholm's lone touchdown of the game to cap a 60-yard drive.

"Antwon played great and opened the offense up for us," Legree said.

Despite struggling to move the ball against Hampton's suddenly aggressive defense, the Bulldogs had an opportunity to pull out the victory, but Hampton senior Ian Davidson blocked Alabama A&M kicker Chance Wilson's 34-yard field goal on the final play of regulation. Alabama A&M had two time-outs, but failed to stop the clock leading up to Wilson's attempt.

"I was trying to call timeout, but they (the refs) didn't hear me," Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "I was screaming at them."

Notes

Hampton displayed new uniforms in its opener. The uniforms featured all royal blue pants with white on the non-numbered shoulder tops, while the helmets didn't have stripes. The game was marred by several operational issues in the first half. The Chicago Football Classic organizers failed to hire a clock operator, chain crew and ball crew, leading to confusion and the loss of the game clock. The start of the game was delayed a few minutes due to lightning in the area.

References

1. ^{^} Soldier Field (www.dailypress.com)