HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) – The Hampton Pirates (HU) wrapped up their spring practices Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.

Trent Boykin is entering his second season as head coach and last year he guided HU to a 5-7 record.

Despite the seven losses, the Pirates were in nearly every game as five of those losses were by one possession.

One of the points of emphasis during the spring was to fine tune those little things that can make a difference in a close game.

“We worked on a lot of situational things,” Boykin said. “Things that prevented us from converting that third down or making a third down, so being efficient in the red zone are some of the things that we stressed during camp.”

Emmanuel Baskerville is a redshirt sophomore quarterback who saw some part-time action last season.

One of the other signal callers he will compete against is Lincoln College (DII) transfer Isaiah Freeman.

Freeman is a duel-threat quarterback and a former CIAA Offensive Player of the Year.

While they will be competing for a job, their other goals remain the same.

“Still the same goal, going for a CAA championship,” Baskerville said. “We are just going to continue to work hard and be great and come together as a family and work hard.”

Isaiah Freeman might be new to campus, but he’s already feeling right at home.

“I just got here in January and the team has been nothing but showing me love. Ultimately the goal is to win the CAA championship and go to the playoffs and win a national championship.”

Hampton opens the season Aug. 30 at Jackson State, with the home opener Sept. 6 versus Elizabeth City State.