PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (AP) - Dozens of jubilant Prairie View A&M students savoring the unfamiliar sweetness of victory greeted the football team with whoops and cheers in the predawn darkness as the Panthers rolled up to the gym in team buses after breaking their NCAA-record 80 straight defeats.

"I always believed. I never gave up," an ecstatic Charles Sloan said yesterday morning, remembering how Prairie View had 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, joyous students at this country college had deposited a goalpost from the nearby football stadium on his otherwise manicured front lawn.

AP PHOTO Prairie View A&M players Kevin Jefferson (62) and Eian Preston (67) cry tears of joy on Saturday after snapping an NCAA-record 80-game losing streak with a 14-12 win over Langston.

His wife Veronica joined students in their cheer, "Who're you rooting for? P-V-U!"

Hundreds of students braved ravenous mosquitoes to celebrate outside the school's basketball gym in the hours after the win, though their numbers dwindled as the night wore on.

It was the Panthers' first victory since Oct. 28, 1989, when they beat Mississippi Valley 21-12. Current Prairie View coach Greg Johnson was the defensive coordinator at Langston when it unwittingly began Prairie View's streak with a 19-18 victory the following week.

Johnson accepted the decidedly uncomfortable job at Prairie View 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 kill the streak. Now they'll look to him to lead them into the win column again.

"One (win) isn't good enough for me. I don't want people to think it's a fluke," said running back Kevin Bell, whose 57-yard touchdown run turned out to be the game-winner.

Prairie View's torment stems from a numbers game. While its rivals stack their lineups with players drawn by full scholarships, Prairie View offered 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, still a far cry from most opponents' offerings.

"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 rowdy.

Weary players and coaches didn't manage any shuteye until the sun was high in the southeast Texas sky.

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 try. Craft tried a

Thank goodness! Prairie View earns first victory since 1989

09-28-98