Howard University Bison erupted for 35 unanswered points in the second half to come from behind and defeat the Delaware State Hornets, 41-34, in a thrilling Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Nov. 17 at Greene Stadium in Washington, D.C.
With the win, the Bison (7-4 overall, 6-2 MEAC) captured second place in the conference. Delaware State was tied with Howard coming into the game, as was North Carolina Central, which lost to North Carolina A&T.
The Hornets (6-5 overall, 5-3 MEAC) drew first blood with a 32-yard field goal at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. With Howard unable to get on track, Delaware State’s highly efficient offense made it 10-0 as senior quarterback Nick Elko engineered a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped off with an 18-yard pass to senior Justin Wilson.
Howard was able to finally get something going when freshman John Fleck nailed a 41-yard field goal to make it 10-3. But Elko came right back, finishing another drive with 3-yard toss to Wilson to give Delaware State a 17-3 halftime lead.
The Hornets upped the margin to 24-3 when Nick Williams returned a pass 79 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Howard finally woke up and began to change the flow of the game, as senior running back Terrence Leffall capped off a short drive with a 9-yard run to get to make it 24-10.
Following a Delaware State turnover, Howard cashed in again, going 22 yards in three plays. Sophomore Greg McGhee connected with freshman receiver Matthew Colvin on a 20-yard pass to narrow the deficit to 24-17 at 8:12 of the third quarter.
Howard got the ball back and scored again on an 18-yard McGhee pass to sophomore Stewart Hartman, tying the score at 24 going into the fourth quarter.
