Box Score DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman quarterback Quentin Williams passed for 386 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for a score to help the host Wildcats win a wild shootout with Norfolk State, 59-49 on Saturday evening at Municipal Stadium.

The game featured nearly 1,100 yards of offense and a slew of standout offensive performances on both sides. The difference ultimately proved to be the third quarter, when the Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 MEAC) outscored NSU (2-5, 2-2) 21-7 to gain some breathing room after the game was tied 35-all at the half.

Williams and NSU quarterback Greg Hankerson Jr. traded big play for big play much of the game. Williams accounted for 425 yards of total offense but the Spartans' junior signal-caller wasn't far behind, passing for a career-high four touchdowns and 266 yards while also running for a career-best 97 yards to tally a season-high 363 total yards. 

Bethune jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead. The Wildcats capitalized on an NSU fumble on the first drive of the game, as Anthony Jordan finished a short drive with a 3-yard TD run. After forcing a Spartan punt, the Wildcats struck quickly as Williams found Frank Brown for a 76-yard TD pass to push the lead to 14-0.

The Spartans, however, needed less than six minutes to tie the game. Hankerson finished off a 72-yard drive with a 9-yard TD pass to Isaac White – the first of their three scoring hookups – to cut the lead in half. When B-CU got the ball back, NSU linebacker Anthony Smith intercepted a pass from Williams and returned it 25 yards for the tying touchdown.

That was the first of four ties in the opening half. Michael D. Jones scored on a 75-yard run for the Wildcats, but Hankerson's 37-yard TD pass to White on fourth down tied the game at 21-all late in the first quarter.

And so it continued in the second quarter. Williams' 5-yard TD run was matched by a 2-yard scoring run by the Spartans' Quintreil Chung. A 34-yard TD pass from Williams to Jontavious Carter gave B-CU a 35-28 lead, but Chung's second 2-yard run – set up by a Raynard Revels fumble recovery – tied the game at 35-all going into the half.

The Wildcats scored the first 14 points of the third quarter to take the lead for good. Williams passed to Brown for a 31-yard TD play and Jones scored on an 8-yard run to push the B-CU lead to 49-35 with 6:55 left in the third. 

Hankerson's third TD pass of the day, a 58-yarder to Gerard Johnson, cut the Spartans' deficit in half. But Jones broke his second long TD of the day, leaking out of the backfield to catch an 89-yard TD pass from Williams, to make it 56-42 heading into the fourth.

The Wildcats' cushion appeared safe when Uriel Hernandez's 30-yard field goal made it 59-42 with 4:23 remaining. But the Spartans had one last push. Hankerson drove NSU down the field and found White for a 6-yard TD pass with 1:33 left. NSU linebacker Deon King then recovered a perfectly-executed onside kick by Bo Lomax to give the Spartans some added life. But Hankerson's pass into the end zone three plays later was intercepted by James Darby, and B-CU ran out the clock.

The 49 points NSU scored are its most against a Division I opponent since a 49-12 win over Howard in 2008. The Spartans' 489 yards of offense were their most since racking up 559 against Savannah State in 2011. Smith became the first Spartan to return an interception for a TD since King returned one 15 yards for a score against Morgan State in 2012.

White matched his career best with 10 receptions for 126 yards. He tied the single-game school record with three TD receptions. Johnson rushed for 103 yards – his second 100-yard rushing game of the year – and also had 75 receiving yards on three catches.

King paced the NSU defense with 15 tackles to go with one forced fumble. Defensive end Chris Lee had three tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup.

The Spartans are back on the road next week, when they face North Carolina Central at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Durham, N.C.