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Monday, September 28, 1998
It's over! Prairie View's losing streak stops
at 80
By MARK BABINECK Associated Press Writer
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (AP) - The buses rolled up to the gym in
the predawn darkness.
Prairie View A&M's football team had made this trip back
to the campus many times over the years. Only now whoops and cheers
from dozens of students broke the silence.
On this day, when not even buzzing, ravenous mosquitoes could
keep students away, Prairie View A&M had every right to call
itself that strangest of things - a winner.
Its 80-game losing streak, an NCAA record that began nine years
ago, was finally, mercifully, over.
"I always believed. I never gave up," Charles Sloan
said Sunday, recalling how Prairie View lost all 67 games while
he pursued his undergraduate and master's degrees.
The frustration ended Saturday night with a 14-12 victory over
Langston in Oklahoma City.
By the time school president Charles Hines got wind of the
victory, students had deposited a goalpost from the nearby football
stadium on his otherwise manicured front lawn.
"The dog started barking," he said Sunday. "I
looked out and there they were."
His wife, Veronica, joined students in their cheer, "Who're
you rooting for? P-V-U!"
As usual, many of the school's 6,000 students on this campus
45 miles northwest of Houston had left for the weekend. But some
hastened back across the cattle pastures and row crops to join
the party.
Hundreds of students, many swatting mosquitoes from their legs
in the muggy air, celebrated outside the basketball gym in the
hours after the victory, though their numbers dwindled as the
night wore on.
City police reported three misdemeanor theft arrests. Campus
police reported no arrests or injuries related to the celebration.
This was the Panthers' first victory since Oct. 28, 1989, when
they beat Mississippi Valley 21-12. Greg Johnson, the current
coach, was the defensive coordinator at Langston when it began
Prairie View's streak with a 19-18 victory the following week.
Saying he'd fallen into a "comfort zone" at Langston
after taking over and reviving its program, Johnson took the Prairie
View job two years ago. The skid consumed three coaches before
him.
Johnson's players, prohibited from talking to reporters until
the streak was over, credit him for helping them end the streak.
"One (win) isn't good enough for me. I don't want people
to think it's a fluke," said running back Kevin Bell, who
had a 57-yard touchdown run in the second half.
Prairie View's torment stems from a numbers game. Its rivals
stack their rosters with players on full scholarships. Prairie
View offers none after a financial scandal wiped out the 1990
season.
Students and alumni decided in 1996 to support 15 full scholarships
to be spread among a few players, a far cry from what most opponents
provide.
"This is a credit to all those players who were here when
there were no scholarships and virtually no hope," Hines
said.
The jubilation aboard the offensive unit's bus toned down about
a third of the way into the six-hour ride home, Bell said. Defensive
coordinator Rory Barnett admitted his bus stayed rowdier a bit
longer.
Weary players and coaches didn't manage any shuteye until the
sun was high in the southeast Texas sky. While coaches took the
day off, players were required to attend a 7 p.m. study hall.
The victory was especially welcome, following a halftime brawl
a week earlier between the marching bands of Prairie View and
Southern University. The Southwestern Athletic Conference banned
both units for two games.
Thus, Prairie View's proudest moment came without a soundtrack.
"It's always unfortunate when you can't bring your band
along with you, strictly from a support standpoint," Barnett
said.
Langston didn't go quietly into the night, closing Prairie
View's lead to 14-12 with 34 seconds left when Archie Craft threw
a 51-yard touchdown pass to Ted Roberts.
Prairie View players held hands on the sideline as Langston
broke the huddle for its 2-point conversion. Craft tried a sneak
up the middle.
It took the officials about 15 seconds to get to the bottom
of the pile and make a call. Linebacker Steven "Mighty"
Garner managed to stop Craft just short.
"The only thing that went through my mind was, it was
over. It was over," Garner said. "All the blood, sweat
and tears, and now it was over."
Prairie View players swarmed the field. Moments later, they
recovered Langston's desperation onside kick, ending the streak
for good.
"I'm really happy tonight," said Bell, the running
back who didn't let academic problems back at Dickinson High School
and the birth of a daughter two years ago deter him from college
football.
"A lot of people (at home) ask, where's Kevin now?"
he said, eyes alight with pride. "He's at Prairie View. Starting
tailback."
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