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HAMPTON, Va. – David Watford and Twarn Mixson provided most of the offense for the Hampton University football team on Saturday evening at Armstrong Stadium, leading the Pirates to a 35-20 win over Kentucky State.
 
Watford completed 22 of 37 passes for 335 yards and five touchdowns in his Pirates debut – and four of those touchdown passes went to Mixson, who also caught a team-high seven passes for a career-high 135 yards.
 
Rashawn Proctor caught five passes for 77 yards.
 
Watford's performance marked the second time in the last three games, dating back to last season, that a Pirates quarterback had five touchdown passes in a game (Jerrell Antoine vs. Bethune-Cookman last season).
 
His 335 passing yards are tied for the ninth-most in a single game in program history.
 
The Pirates (1-0) won their first season opener since 2011, when they defeated Alabama A&M 21-20 in Chicago, Ill.
 
After Kentucky State missed a 45-yard field goal on the game's opening drive, the kick falling short, the Pirates took over and went 72 yards in six plays before Watford hit Mixson for a 15-yard score with 10:39 left in the first quarter.
 
After the Thorobreds opened the second quarter with a three-and-out – and Darius Banks gave Hampton prime field position with a good punt return – the Pirates went 36 yards in seven plays to take a 14-0 lead when Watford hit Dwayne Garrett on a dump pass and Garrett took it 18 yards for the score.
 
Hampton then forced another three-and-out before Watford capped off a 5-play, 48-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Mixson.
 
The Pirates led 21-0 with 7:17 left in the first half.
 
Kentucky State had a 15-play, 67-yard drive toward the end of the half, cutting Hampton's lead to 21-3 with 1:00 left in the second quarter following a 30-yard field goal from Turner Warren.
 
That field goal kicked off a string of 17 unanswered points for the Thorobreds, as the momentum carried into the third quarter. Hampton went scoreless on its first two drives of the half, while Kentucky State scored touchdowns on each of its first two drives in the quarter.
 
With 7:14 left in the third quarter, the Thorobreds (0-1) had cut Hampton's lead to 21-17.
 
But the Pirates responded on the ensuing drive, going 68 yards in nine plays – including a 28-yard strike from Watford to Proctor. After the Pirates drove into Kentucky State territory, and the Thorobreds committed penalties on three straight plays, Watford found Mixson on a slant that ended 25 yards later in the endzone.

That score put Hampton up 28-17 with 3:49 left in the third quarter.
 
Warren hit a 33-yard field goal with 12:07 left in the game to cut the lead to 28-20, before the two teams traded three-and-outs.
 
Hampton's big strike came with 8:29 remaining; after the Pirates recovered their own fumble just shy of midfield, Watford threw a high-arching spiral down the middle of the field and right into Mixson's hands. Fifty-five yards later, the Pirates led 35-20.
 
Watford and Mixson were a big reason why the Pirates racked up 402 yards of total offense, while Hampton's defense racked up six sacks on a night where the pressure on Kentucky State quarterback Ora Johnson was almost constant.
 
Keith McAfee and Tyrone Ward each had a team-high nine tackles, while McAfee and Miles Grooms each had 2.0 tackles for loss. Grooms had 1.5 of the team's six total sacks, and he also had four of the Pirates' seven quarterback hurries.
 
Jaston George had an interception.
 
The Pirates will return to Armstrong Stadium on Saturday to take on Richmond at 12 p.m. For more information on Hampton University football, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

HEAD COACH CONNELL MAYNOR
On how he felt about the game:
"We felt we could have played a lot better, but we have to tip our hats off to them, they played tough. We made some plays and but we made some mistakes. We turned the ball over I think three times and we didn't tackle very well. So we have some work to do on both sides of the football. We're very pleased to come out with a win against a good opponent tonight."
 
On the offensive plays produced by Watford and Mixson:
"They threw for 350 yards, I think. TJ had like 137 yards receiving. So those guys really connected well, and that's a good sign for us for the year as well."
 
On what the defenses strong and weak-points are after the game:
"I think we covered him pretty well, because the quarterback kept having to pull down and scramble. We were getting pressure, but he was elusive. The defensive line looked good, and the secondary looked good, but we didn't tackle very well. We didn't contain the quarterback that well, so we have some work to do."