Norfolk State University won the Battle of the Bay on Saturday at Armstrong Stadium, claiming victory against Hampton University with the final score of 31-23. Their resilience pushed them to win the game, advancing their record to 1-1.

“It feels good to come off of a L that we know we should’ve won,” said wide receiver, Aaron Moore. “We had a lot of rebuilding to do and a lot of things to work on over the week, and I feel like we got that done to be able to come out and win.”

The series between the Spartans and Pirates started in 1961. Within the last 10 meetings, the Spartans won 4 of the 6 matchups. Overall, Spartans held a 16-12 record of games played at Armstrong Stadium while Pirates hold a 15-13 record at Dick Price Stadium.

The Spartans took the lead in the first quarter when Moore scored the first touchdown of the game with a 41-yard pass from quarterback Otto Kuhns.

The first quarter ended in 7-0 with Spartans leading, but Hampton started the second quarter with a 21-yard field goal by Tristan Heaten.

The Pirate’s Christopher Zellous threw a 28-yard pass to TK Paisant, leading to their first touchdown of the game. After a missed extra point attempt, the score was 9-7 with Hampton leading.

The Spartans ended the first half with a 14-9 lead after X’Zavion Evans carried twice and Mohamed Nyangamukenga covered 2-yards for a touchdown.

There was a slow start to the third quarter, but it picked up when Kuhns threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Homuth. Soon after, Pirates’ fumble was recovered by AJ Richardson, leading to a Spartans’ field goal. The quarter ended with a Pirates touchdown by Paisant from Zellous’s pass, and Spartans leading 24-16.

After a fumble recovered by Kevon King, the Spartans capitalized with many points. Tremayne Talbert received a 9-yard pass in the end zone from Kuhns. Darren Butts went on a 53-yard run, scoring for the Pirates. Spartans intercepted the Pirates ball within the last two minutes of the quarter, winning the game 31-23.

Otto Kuhns completed 15-20 passes of 199 yards with 3 touchdown passes and 1 interception. He knows how hard his team has worked and plans on continuing to push forward leading into next week.

“It feels great to put the confidence back in the team, we just showed everybody what we already knew, said Kuhns. “We have to keep the confidence going, keep the momentum going. Trust the process.”

The Spartans take on the Temple University Owls Saturday, September 16 at 2p.m. Temple has a 1-1 record and will be hosting the game at the Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field.