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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary quarterback Jake Phillips passed for 204 yards and four touchdowns, and the Tribe capitalized on five Norfolk State turnovers en route to a 42-12 win before 10,152 fans on Saturday night at Zable Stadium.
The Spartans fall to 2-2 on the year while the Tribe improves to 2-1.
The first meeting between the schools since 1985 was close at the outset, but W&M used a special teams touchdown just before the half and three Phillips touchdown throws in the third quarter to pull away.
The Tribe wasted no time getting on the board. After holding NSU three-and-out on the game's first possession, W&M marched 74 yards in six plays. Jonathan Grimes capped the drive with a 38-yard run on a 3rd-and-2 play, and the point-after gave W&M a 7-0 lead with 11:25 left in the first quarter.
NSU answered with a career-long 45-yard Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.) field goal, capping a nine-play drive.
Later in the first, Ben Cottingham intercepted a pass by NSU quarterback Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.) in Spartan territory, and a personal foul on the Spartans set up W&M at the NSU 28-yard line. Three plays later, Phillips found Grimes for a 20-yard TD pass, giving the Tribe a 14-3 lead with 4 minutes left in the opening quarter.
NSU appeared ready to cut into its deficit late in the second quarter when Dennis Marsh (Greensboro, N.C.) forced a fumble by W&M running back Courtland Marriner, which Spartan A.J. Harris (Hampton, Va.) recovered at the Tribe 44.
But the Spartans' drive stalled, leaving Castellat to attempt a 50-yard field goal. W&M's Adrian Tracy blocked the kick, and the David Caldwell returned the loose ball 66 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Tribe a 21-3 lead with 25 seconds left before the half.
The Tribe put the game away with scores on three of its first four drives of the third quarter. Phillips finished a 71-yard drive with a 32-yard TD pass to D.J. McAulay to open the period. After an NSU fumble, Phillips hit Elliott Mack with a 10-yard TD pass for a 35-3 W&M lead with 8:59 left in the third.
NSU found the end zone to get within 35-10 on a 1-yard run by DeAngelo Branche (Norfolk, Va.) with 5:58 remaining in the third. The drive was highlighted by a 47-yard third-down run by Brown on a draw play.
NSU got more life when Anthony Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va.) intercepted a Phillips pass to give the Spartans possession at the Tribe 19. But Brown was intercepted at the Tribe 4 by David Houff to end the threat. The Tribe then salted the game away with a 92-yard, eight-play drive that Phillips capped with a 22-yard TD pass to McAulay. That made it 42-10 with 1:03 left in the third.
The Spartans scored their final points when Corwin Hammond (Louisville, Ky.) dropped Marriner in the end zone for a safety with 12:50 left in the game.
W&M out-gained NSU 337-219 in total offense. The Tribe intercepted four passes and recovered one fumble to improve to 3-0 all-time against NSU and 6-0 against the MEAC.
Brown led the NSU offense with 156 yards of total offense, 62 on the ground and 94 through the air.
NSU (1-0 MEAC) resumes conference play next Saturday at Bethune-Cookman. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Fla.
