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NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State defense posted a season-high seven sacks and kept the Aggies out of the end zone on three pass attempts in the final minute to preserve a 14-10 homecoming win in a battle of one-loss MEAC teams on Saturday afternoon at Dick Price Stadium.
The win keeps the Spartans (7-2, 5-1 MEAC) in first place in the MEAC, just ahead of Morgan State (5-3, 4-1), which also won on Saturday.
The MEAC's top two defensive teams lived up to their billing on Saturday on a cold, damp day where winds topped 20 miles per hour and gusted over 30 mph. All the scoring came in the east end zone, with the wind at the offense's back. But NSU get the Aggies (4-4, 3-2) from scoring at that end of the field when it mattered most, at the end of the game.
The Spartans won the toss and took the wind to start the game. They were rewarded when A&T had to punt from its 9-yard line and Skyler Thomas' kick traveled 1 yard, setting up the Spartans at the Aggie 10. Three plays later, Chris Walley hit Joe Hawkins for a 4-yard touchdown pass to give NSU a 7-0 lead.
But the Aggies scored 10 points in the second quarter, heading in the same direction. Ricky Lewis capped a four-play, 34-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run with 6:38 left in the second quarter to tie the game. Then just before the half, Jose Garcia-Camacho finished a seven-play, 39-yard march with a 20-yard field goal to give A&T a 10-7 lead going into the half.
With the win in their favor in the third quarter, the Spartans took the lead for good with a five-play, 36-yard drive. Randy Maynes finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown run to put the Spartans ahead, 14-10, with 7:12 left in the quarter.
The NSU defense did the rest. The Aggies' last five possessions of the game ended in NSU territory, but resulted in no points. The first two, in the third quarter, ended on downs and a sack by Hasan Craig, respectively. Early in the fourth, Garcia-Camacho had a 44-yard field goal blocked by Jamal Giddens.
A&T opted to punt on its next possession, and the Spartans succeeded in running 3:38 off the clock with their next drive. But A&T had two timeouts and 2:19 left with which to work, and took over at its own 33. Three runs by quarterback Lewis Kindle moved the ball into NSU territory. Kindle then converted a fourth-and-6 flip pass to Mike Mayhew covering 16 yards to the Spartan 13 with 45 seconds left.
A&T spiked the ball on first down, but Kindle's next three passes, all into the end zone, fell incomplete, including a fourth-down pass to Torrian Warren that just squirted out of the wideout's grasp.
A&T outgained NSU 288-265, but the story of the game was the Spartan defense. NSU had a season-high 14 tackles for loss, and its seven sacks are also a season best. Linebacker Corwin Hammond, one of 20 seniors playing in his final home game, had 12 tackles and a career-high five tackles for loss. He also forced a fumble, had one sack and broke up a pass. Terrence Pugh had eight tackles, three for loss, one sack and two QB pressures. Giddens and Hasan Craig also had a pair of sacks each.
NSU's defense also limited Mayhew, the MEAC's leading rusher, to 83 yards on 25 carries (3.3 per rush). Kindle was 13-for-30 for 154 yards, 109 of which went to Wallace Miles.
Walley was 18-of-29 for 103 yards and a touchdown for NSU. Xavier Boyce made six receptions. Maynes led the ground attack with 15 rushes for 68 yards.
The Spartans hit the road for their final two games, beginning with a 5 p.m. contest next Saturday at Savannah State.
