Hampton earns its first win of the season, 31-26 against North Carolina A&T

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

HAMPTON, Virginia  — After its first five games, where the defense gave up 30 or more points in each, it's only appropriate that a pair of defensive stands gave Hampton University reason to dance on homecoming.

Forced to come up with a pair of stops, the Pirates stalled two N.C. A&T drives and helped Hampton hold off the Aggies to record a 31-26 win on a misty Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Field.

"The defense needed to make a couple plays in the fourth quarter and they stood out on the last two series forcing turnovers on downs," HU coach Donovan Rose said. "I feel so good for those guys. They deserved to enjoy this on homecoming."

Hampton started true freshman Bryan Bailey at quarterback and he marched the Pirates down on a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Bailey connected on five straight passes to help get HU in gear and found Antwon Chisholm on a 12-yard scoring pass with 8:51 left to put the Pirates up 7-0.

"No question I was a little nervous on the first drive, but I knew once I could get into a rhythm it was just walking through my reads and making sure to keep things moving in the right direction," Bailey said.

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