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NORFOLK, Va. – Freshman quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw for 269 yards and five touchdowns to lift host Old Dominion to a 35-18 win over Norfolk State in the first round of the Division I Football Championship on Saturday afternoon at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.

The first-ever meeting between the two Norfolk schools separated by less than five miles started off with the teams trading offensive fireworks. But the No. 19 Spartans (9-3), making their first-ever appearance in the Division I playoffs, couldn't overcome their 18 penalties and Heinicke's big day. As a result, the 10th-ranked Monarchs (10-2) advance to the second round to meet third-seeded Georgia Southern next Saturday.

NSU wasted no time getting on the board. The Spartans held ODU three-and-out on the Monarchs' first drive, but Heinicke's 64-yard punt pinned NSU at its own 4. After a false start penalty moved the Spartans back two more yards, Chris Walley delivered a strike to Derrick Demps, who snared the ball around his own 30. Two Monarch defenders collided trying to tackle Demps, who raced untouched into the end zone to complete a 98-yard pass play, the longest play from scrimmage in school history. The play is also the longest by an ODU opponent in the Monarchs' short three-year history.

But ODU answered with a seven-play, 85-yard drive to tie the game. Heinicke found Nick Mayers on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 10:52 left in the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, Heinicke capped a 10-play drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Larry Pinkard to give the Monarchs a 14-7 with 2:37 left.

Heinicke threw his third TD pass of the first half just 17 seconds into the second quarter, hitting Prentice Gill for a 24-yard score and a 21-7 ODU lead.

NSU held the Monarchs scoreless the rest of the half, but the Spartans' best scoring chance was snuffed out when Ryan Estep's 37-yard field goal was blocked by Chris Burnette with 6:04 remaining in the half.

The Spartans had another field goal blocked on their first drive of the third quarter, as Everett Goldberg's 50-yard field goal was deflected by Edmon McClam. ODU then promptly drove down the field and Heinicke hit Mayers for a 2-yard TD pass and a 28-7 Monarchs' lead.

Heinicke wasn't done, tossing an 18-yard TD pass to Gill for a 35-7 ODU edge with 5:14 left in the third quarter for his fifth touchdown pass of the day.

Goldberg broke up the string of 35 unanswered ODU points with a 48-yard field goal with 12:09 remaining in the game. Walley capped the scoring by hitting Victor Hairston for a 5-yard TD pass with 3:16 left. Walley also added the two-point conversion run to account for the final score.

The Spartans outgained ODU 406-385. Walley passed for a career-high 363 yards and completed 28-of-43 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Hairston and Reggie Garrett had seven and six catches, respectively, and both had 63 yards receiving.

Corwin Hammond led the NSU defense with 12 total tackles. Giddens and Onyemechi Anyaugo had eight apiece, with Giddens tallying 1.5 sacks.

Pete Adrian Quotes
• Overall Thoughts
“I congratulate Old Dominion for playing a solid football game on both sides of the ball. We made too many mistakes today. You can't commit 18 penalties and expect to beat a good football team. ODU was the better team today.”
• On Heinicke's Big Day
“He's tough because he can create offense by accident. When a play is breaking down, he can move around, buy time and make something happen. We missed a couple checks out there that resulted in some blown coverages, and he took advantage.”
• On his team's season
“We had a phenomenal season. This group made a lot of history for the school and I'm very proud of them. It's hard to see it end this way.”

Notes
• NSU ends the season with nine wins, most in its Division I era (since 1997) and second-most in school history behind the 1984 team that finished 10-2.
• Walley ended the 2011 season with 2,672 passing yards, third-most in school history behind Aaron Sparrow's 1995 (3,434) and 1994 (3,212) seasons.
• For his career, Walley passed for 4,531 yards, second-most in school history, also behind Sparrow 8,758. Walley surpassed third-place Robert Morris (4,263) and second-place Casey Hansen (4,277) on Saturday.
• Giddens finished the season with a team-high eight sacks, most by a Spartan player since defensive lineman Jamal Naji's 12 in 2002.
• Xavier Boyce finished the season with 68 receptions, second-most in a season behind James Roe's 77 in 1994.
• Hammond finished the season with a team-high 120 tackles, the most by a Spartan since Maguell Davis also had 120 in 2005.