Hampton falters in key spots during 21-13 loss to Norfolk State

HAMPTON, Virginia — To the Hampton players who were steamed at watching victorious Norfolk State Spartans celebrating on the midfield painted 'H' logo at Armstrong Stadium on Saturday, Pirates coach Connell Maynor had a simple reply:

Too late to complain about that now.

"Guys got mad, said they were disrespecting the 'H'," Maynor said after the Spartans prevailed 21-13 in the 52nd annual "Battle of the Bay." "We had 60 minutes to beat them so they couldn't disrespect the 'H'. So that's on us. If we beat them they can't disrespect the 'H'. We didn't, so hat's off to them."

The Pirates (1-6, 0-3 MEAC) were stung early by a surprisingly potent Norfolk State passing attack. The Spartans (3-5, 3-1), who came in ranked 120th of 121 FBS teams in total offense, singed Hampton for 335 passing yards — 25 more than they'd amassed through the air in their previous three games combined.

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