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NORFOLK, Va. — DeAngelo Branche (Norfolk, Va.) rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns, and the Norfolk State defense held Virginia State to 103 yards and scored nine points of its own as the Spartans recorded their most lopsided win over long-time rival Virginia State, 47-7, on Saturday at Dick Price Stadium.

The Virginia Lottery Labor Day Classic crowd of 17,132 saw the Spartans (1-0) jump out to a 19-0 halftime lead and blow the game wide open with a 21-point third quarter. The end result was a 40-point win, which eclipsed the 1969 team's 39-point win over the Trojans (39-0) as NSU's largest victory in the series.

NSU got on the board on its first possession. Connecticut transfer Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.), making his first start behind center for NSU, engineered a 60-yard, eight-play drive. Brown was 4-for-5 on the march, capping it with a 21-yard TD pass to tight end Sherron Childress (Hampton, Va.). Childress bowled over a Trojan (0-1) defender en route to his first career score.

NSU scored just more than five minutes later. VSU quarterback Edward Davis picked up an errant snap in his own end zone and was dropped by nose guard Ray Jennings (Chesapeake, Va.) for a safety and a 9-0 NSU lead with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

The Spartan defense continued its dominance in the second quarter, backing up the Trojans in their own end and creating a short field for the NSU offense. The Spartans capitalized on the short field with two second-quarter scores, a 25-yard field goal by Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.) and a 10-yard TD run by Branche.

NSU scored three touchdowns in a span of 6:02 late in the third quarter to put the game away. Branche scored on two runs, of 4 yards and 1 yard, sandwiched around a 49-yard fumble return for touchdown by linebacker Lamont Thorpe (Richmond, Va.). Thorpe scooped up the loose ball after Trojan backup quarterback Leonard Johnson was hit by safety Dwight Fluker-Berry (Miami, Fla.).

Fullback Tommy Moore (Woodbridge, Va.) capped the Spartans' night with a 4-yard touchdown run, the first of his career, with three minutes left in the game.

The Spartans substituted liberally in the fourth quarter. Johnson tossed a 29-yard scoring pass to Brian Berry against the NSU reserves with 1:34 remaining to prevent what would have been NSU's first shutout since 2001.

NSU out-gained the Trojans 382-103 in winning for a third straight time against its in-state rival. Nine different players toted the ball for the Spartans, led by Branche's 20 carries for 92 yards. Branche, who ran for 371 yards and three scores as a freshman reserve in 2006, doubled his career touchdown total in his first action after redshirting last season. Brown finished 12-for-30 with 126 yards, one TD and no interceptions in his NSU debut. Six of those passes and 63 yards went to wideout Jamar Johnson (Norfolk, Va.).

Taron Hampton had 23 carries for 122 yards for VSU. But three other Trojan ball-carriers lost 57 yards against NSU's defense, which registered six sacks and 12 total stops behind the line.

“It's always great to start the year with a win,” NSU head coach Pete Adrian said. “But it was a typical first game in that we had great effort, but lots of penalties and mistakes that we need to correct. They say the biggest improvement comes between your first and second games, so let's hope that's true.”

The Spartans play a Division I-A (FBS) opponent for the second straight year when they face Kentucky next Saturday at 6 p.m. in Lexington.