Prairie View Ends 80-Game Skid

Prairie View A&M ended its record 80-game losing streak that covered nine years of frustration, embarrassment and shame Saturday night by holding on for a 14-12 victory over Langston -- the team that started it.

Prairie View coach Gregory Johnson needed only 13 games to break the slide, beating the school that he coached six seasons before taking over the Panthers. The monumental triumph came a week after the school's band was suspended for two weeks as a result of a brawl with Southern University's band in Beaumont, Texas.

The Panthers were outscored 3,408-626 and shut out 19 times during the streak, which included a one-year shutting down of the program and allegations that the school used ineligible players.

Langston provided seven of the defeats with a 222-66 edge on the scoreboard. The first was a 19-18 decision Nov. 4, 1989 and Langston provided losses 16, 26, 38, 52, 63 and 70.

During the slide, the program was dismantled for the 1990 school year and later faced allegations that it used ineligible players. Those accusations came under Hensley Sapenter Jr., who had been an interim coach the two seasons before Johnson took over. Sapenter served a seven-week suspension during his tenure.

The school's last win was on Oct. 28, 1989, a 21-12 victory over Mississippi Valley State.

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