HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Host Marshall amassed 612 yards of total offense and scored on six straight possessions spanning the second and third quarters en route to a 55-3 win over Norfolk State in the season-opener for both teams on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
The Thundering Herd ran for 380 yards – 215 by the pair of Ethan Payne and Khalan Laborn – while holding the Spartans to 30 rushing yards and 114 yards of total offense in the teams' second-ever meeting.
The Spartans showed promising signs early, forcing a Marshall punt after the game's first drive and gaining a first down on NSU's first offensive snap, a 28-yard completion from
Otto Kuhns to
Chris Butler. But Marshall's Micah Abraham intercepted Kuhns on the next play, leading to a Rece Verhoff 30-yard field goal.
Payne scored on a 45-yard run on the Herd's next possession. After forcing another punt, the Herd were on the move again and appeared headed for another score when NSU linebacker
Tyler Long intercepted Marshall quarterback Henry Colombi in the end zone, keeping the Herd's lead at 10-0 after one quarter.
Marshall scored on all three of its second-quarter drives and also found paydirt on a fumble return for touchdown by Owen Porter in a 28-0 period that sent the Herd into halftime with a 38-0 lead.
Marshall scored 17 more points in the third, including a 23-yard TD run by Laborn and a 12-yard pass from Cam Fancher to Toby Payne.
The Spartans scored their first points of the game and the 2022 season at the end of the third quarter. NSU engineered a nine-play, 56-yard drive, which included completions of 11 and 39 yards from
Jaylan Adams to freshman
Jason Wonodi. Freshman
Grandin Willcox capped the drive with his first collegiate field goal, a 25-yarder with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter. That marked the game's final points.
Wonodi caught two passes for a team-high 50 yards for NSU. The Spartan defense got a career-high 12 tackles from
R.J. Coles and 11 from Long.
Marquis Hall and
T.J. Stevenson both registered sacks on the day for NSU.
The Spartans are on the road again next Saturday against another new Sun Belt Conference opponent, James Madison. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
