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NORFOLK, Va. — James Owens and Damien Fleming combined to run for 163 yards and two touchdowns, and the Florida A&M defense held the Norfolk State offense without a score in the Rattlers' 16-6 win over the Spartans before a Homecoming crowd of 10,627 on Saturday afternoon at Dick Price Stadium.
The Rattlers (3-6, 2-3 MEAC) limited NSU (2-7, 2-3) to 217 yards of total offense and did not allow NSU an offensive point. The Spartans' lone score came on linebacker Lynden Trail's fumble recovery in the FAMU end zone in the third quarter.
The teams played a scoreless first quarter, but FAMU struck first early in the second stanza. Fleming capped a 10-play, 78-yard drive with a 27-yard touchdown run with 13:09 remaining in the half.
FAMU extended its lead to 9-0 midway through the quarter. After a sack backed NSU deep in its own end, the Spartans faced a 4th-and-21 from their own 9. Dalton Fraser came on to punt, but the snap sailed over his head and out the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Spartans came out of the halftime break with their most successful drive of the game to that point. Rolandan Finch, who ran for a season-high 151 yards, ripped off runs of 13, 10 and 32 yards and Malik Stokes completed an 18-yard pass to Derrick Demps to move the Spartans deep into FAMU territory. Brendon Riddick appeared to reach the end zone on what would have been a 4-yard TD run. But his progress was ruled to be stopped at the 1, and on 3rd-and-goal, NSU fumbled and FAMU's John Ojo recovered in the end zone.
The Rattlers weren't out of the woods just yet. Two penalties backed them up deep into their own end, and on 3rd-and-16 from the FAMU 4, Fleming attempted to pass but had the ball knocked down by Trail. The officials ruled it was a fumble, and Trail fell on the loose ball in the end zone. The Spartans missed the extra point, keeping the FAMU lead at 9-6.
The FAMU defense continued to play well and picked up two big plays from defensive back Patrick Aiken. His sack of NSU backup quarterback Omari Timmons thwarted one Spartan drive. Then on the next Spartan possession, Aiken undercut a route by Demps and picked off a pass from Stokes with 4:20 left in the game. Six plays later, Owens scored the clinching touchdown on an 8-yard run with 1:11 left to make it 16-6.
Owens finished with 18 carries for 89 yards, while Fleming ran 10 times for 74 yards. The loss, the Spartans' fourth in a row, spoiled a big game by Finch, who ran 23 times for a season-high 151 yards.
Neither team had much success passing. FAMU's two passers combined to complete 7-of-17 throws for 72 yards, while NSU's three quarterbacks combined to complete 5-of-16 passes for 66 yards.
Brandon Denmark led a strong defensive effort for the Rattlers with 10 tackles, 1.5 for loss and one of the Rattlers' five sacks.
Trail had four tackles, deflected a pass and added a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery. Fellow linebacker Marcell Coke had a team-high nine tackles for the Spartans.
The Spartans hit the road for the next two games, starting with a 4 p.m. matchup at MEAC leader Bethune-Cookman next Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
