Box Score
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Sophomore DeAngelo Branche (Norfolk, Va.) ran 21 times for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown to help the Norfolk State football team rally for a 17-14 win over Winston-Salem State in the season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Branche ripped off runs of 49 and 53 yards in the second half, the two longest of his career, to surpass 1,000 yards for the season. His 4-yard TD run, his 10th score of the season, gave NSU the lead for good at 17-14 with 13:43 left in the game and the Spartans held on to beat WSSU for the third straight year.
The Rams (3-8) were stopped on both of their fourth-quarter drives. NSU forced a punt on the first when Hasan Craig (Rocky Mountain, Va.) and Ray Jennings (Chesapeake, Va.) sacked Rams' quarterback Jarrett Dunston at midfield on third down. On the next WSSU drive, the Rams drove to the NSU 28 before Josh Anderson (Chesapeake, Va.) registered a third-down sack of Dunston. On 4th-and-18, Dunston's pass to the end zone was incomplete.
After the change of possession, Branche gained three first downs to help NSU run out the final 5:27.
The Spartans played from behind most of the game. WSSU was held three-and-out on its first possession of the game, but the Rams' defense struck on NSU's first possession. Spartan receiver Nigel McCowan (Mechanicsville, Va.) fumbled at the end of a 10-yard reception, and WSSU defensive back Alex Chandler returned it 52 yards for a touchdown with 12:08 left in the first quarter.
The Spartans' defense kept it close with two stops in NSU territory in the second quarter. Craig stopped the first with a sack and forced fumble of Dunston. The next Rams' drive was stopped when Dunston threw incomplete on 4th-and-7 from the Spartan 27.
NSU rode the momentum of that second change of possession to its first points of the game. The Spartans drove 55 yards in 10 plays, aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on WSSU defensive back David Irizarry. Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.) capped the march with a 36-yard field goal with 47 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Spartans finally took their first lead of the game on their second possession of the third quarter. Darryl Dickerson (Richmond, Va.) snared his first career touchdown catch, on an 11-yard pass from Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.), on 3rd-and-goal. Castellat's extra point gave NSU a 10-7 lead with 6:36 left in the third quarter.
WSSU quickly regained the lead at 14-10 on Nic Cooper's 30-yard TD run with 4:50 left in the quarter. The Rams were aided by two 15-yard penalties against NSU on the drive.
Then it was NSU's turn. The Spartans went on an eight-play, 92-yard drive. Branche's 49-yard run set up his own 4-yard TD with 13:43 remaining in the game.
Branche rolled off a 53-yard run on the next possession, but Castellat ended up missing a 27-yard field goal as the NSU lead remained at three points.
NSU outgained the Rams 357-196. Craig was a big part of that, finishing with seven tackles, including a career-best 4.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Craig and Jennings each had 1.5 of the Spartans' five sacks.
Cooper had 11 rushes for 111 yards for the Rams.
The win capped a strong finish to 2008 for NSU, which won three of its final four games of the season. The victory gives NSU's 21-member senior class 21 wins over the last four seasons, the most at NSU since the 1997 class won 24 games.
