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NORFOLK, Va. — Chris Bell (Norfolk, Va.) scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 67-yard pass from Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.) in the third quarter, and the Norfolk State defense forced five Winston-Salem State turnovers to hold off the Rams, 28-21, in the season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Dick Price Stadium.
With the win, NSU ends the season at 7-4, the program's second winning season in the last three years.
The short-handed Rams (1-10) ended the year on a four-game losing streak, but hung in the entire way until NSU cornerback Dante Barnes (Virginia Beach, Va.) intercepted a pass in Spartan territory in the final minute.
The game was tied at 14-all at halftime after the teams combined for five turnovers in the first two quarters. But NSU took the lead on the second rushing TD of the game by DeAngelo Branche (Norfolk, Va.) in the third quarter, and after the Rams tied it at 21-all, NSU took the lead for good on Bell's 13th touchdown catch of the year with 1:26 remaining in the period.
The Rams had the ball three times in the fourth quarter. The first drive ended on Landen Thayer's second missed field goal, a 30-yarder with 10:47 left in the game. The Rams got the ball back and drove 48 yards into NSU territory. But quarterback Jean Julmiste was stripped by NSU defensive lineman Tory Williams (Virginia, Beach, Va.), and the Spartans' Deon Norris (Ewing, N.J.) recovered at the NSU 33.
NSU was again forced to punt, and Julmiste drove the Rams into Spartan territory at the 46. But Julmiste's pass was picked off by Barnes with 39 seconds left to clinch NSU's fourth straight win over the Rams.
The Spartans got on the board first with a 58-yard interception return for touchdown by All-American safety Terrell Whitehead (Virginia Beach, Va.) with 9:55 left in the first quarter. It was Whitehead's fifth pick of the year and 18th in his illustrious career, but the first time he had taken an interception back for a score.
The Rams quickly tied the game up at 7-all on Omar Kizzie's 9-yard run with 6:02 left in the first quarter. Kizzie, a starting wideout who also took a number of snaps as WSSU's backup quarterback, capped the seven-play, 80-yard drive with a burst up the middle out of shotgun formation.
The Spartans' offense then got into the action on their next possession, driving 71 yards in 14 plays. Branche finished the march with a 10-yard run.
WSSU's defense matched the Spartans' defense with a score of his own. Joshua Newkirk intercepted a Brown pass and took it back 61 yards for a touchdown with 4:36 left in the half. The sent the game into the half tied at 14-all.
NSU took the opening drive of the third quarter and scored. Dwight Fluker-Berry (Miami, Fla.) returned Thayer's third-quarter kickoff 57 yards to the WSSU 29-yard line. Branche ran for 10 yards on the first play of the drive, then burst around right end for the last 19. It was his 10th rushing touchdown of the season and 11th total score of the season.
But the WSSU defense redeemed itself later in the quarter. Alex Chandler intercepted his second Brown pass of the day off a tipped ball, and ran it 54 yards to the Spartans' 27. A personal foul penalty moved the ball to NSU's 12. Two plays later, Kizzie caught a 12-yard TD pass from Julmiste, and the extra point tied it at 21 with 7:44 left in the quarter.
NSU fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but Thayer's missed field goal set the stage for Bell's heroics.
Bell finished the day with four catches for 124 yards, while Branche ran 24 times for 118 yards. Saturday marked the fifth 100-yard game of the season for each of NSU's standout juniors. Brown capped his NSU career by completing 12 of 28 passes for 260 yards. NSU finished with 388 total yards to the Rams' 223.
Linebacker Corwin Hammond (Louisville, Ky.) paced the Spartan defense with 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. Whitehead had four tackles, the interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
NOTES
• The four-year members of NSU's 13-man senior class ended with 24 wins over the last four seasons, most since the 1997 class also ended with 24.
• Brown passed for 2,228 yards this season, third-most in a single-season in school history behind Aaron Sparrow's 1994 (3,212) and 1995 (3,434) seasons.
• Brown finished the season with 2,618 yards of total offense, also third-best in school history. His two-year total of 4,626 total yards is second-most in school annals, also behind Sparrow.
• Bell finished 2009 with 958 receiving yards, third-most in school history. He trailed only James Roe's 1,454 in 1994 and 1,248 in 1995. The 13 touchdowns are also third-most behind Roe in 1994 (17) and 1995 (15).
• Branche finished his junior season with a three-year total of 2,348 rushing yards, passing Angelo Todd (2,278) for fifth place in school history during Saturday's game.
• Whitehead had 18 career interceptions, most in the schools Division I era. He entered Saturday as the active career leader in Division I FCS.
