Lewis Steals Show as Hampton Rolls

Hampton Coach Joe Taylor put all the pressure on his defense to win Saturday’s Heritage Bowl. Vincent Lewis didn’t disappoint his coach.

Lewis set up a touchdown and a field goal with two of his three interceptions and the Pirates forced three other turnovers to avenge a regular-season loss with a 24-3 victory over Southern University.

“My job was just to make sure everybody was where they were supposed to be,” Lewis said.

He said of the interceptions, “I was breaking on the ball and I was just at the right place at the right time.”

The Pirates (8-4) got two touchdowns from Adrian Wideman, first on an 11-yard halfback pass from Montrell Coley, then a seven-yard pass from Roy Johnson, in building a 17-3 lead in the third quarter.

The loss ended a two-game winning streak in the Heritage Bowl for the Jaguars (11-2), who beat Hampton, 21-6, two months ago at Indianapolis.

“For us it was a big win, a great win,” Taylor said. “We really didn’t do a whole lot different from the first game. We just did it a little bit better. It all comes down to execution.”

It was only the second loss for Southern in six Heritage Bowl appearances.

Lewis got his first interception on Southern’s first possession, picking off a long pass from Terrance Levy at the Hampton 36.

The second interception started an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive.

Two series later, Lewis intercepted another pass from Levy and returned it 22 yards to the Southern 27, setting up a 22-yard field goal by Acie Wyatt.