NSU hangs on for Homecoming win

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Junior quarterback Nico Flores accounted for 329 yards of total offense and freshman fullback Conley Smith scored on three short touchdown runs as Norfolk State celebrated Homecoming with a 33-21 win over Savannah State on Saturday afternoon at Dick Price Stadium.

The loss snaps the Spartans’ seven-game skid and moves their record to 3-7 overall, 1-6 in the MEAC. SSU fell to 1-8, 0-6.

Flores passed for 213 yards and a score and also ran 14 times for a career-high 116 yards. Senior tailback Randy Maynes also ran for a career-high 116 yards on 32 carries, while Xavier Boyce caught six passes for a season-high 101 yards and a momentum-changing TD at the end of the first half.

NSU started off quickly, outscoring the Tigers 17-0 in the first quarter. After forcing a punt by Savannah State after the game’s first possession, the Spartans took their first drive into the end zone. Smith scored on a 1-yard TD run to finish a nine-play, 61-yard drive.

A short SSU punt into a stiff wind set up NSU at the Tigers’ 34 on the Spartans’ next possession. Five plays later, Smith darted into the end zone on a 3-yard run to put the Spartans ahead 14-0.

The Spartan defense set up NSU’s next score. Marcell Coke forced Tiger running back Sheldon Barnes to fumble, and NSU defensive back Marcus Cooperwood pounced on the ball at the SSU 21. Four plays later, Everett Goldberg made a 34-yard field goal to extend NSU’s lead to 17-0.

Momentum quickly changed sides in the second quarter. Cooperwood muffed a punt, which SSU’s Taylor Thompson recovered at the NSU 30. Antonio Bostick then found Simon Heyward for a 25-yard TD pass to get the Tigers on the board just 24 seconds into the quarter.

Later in quarter, the Tigers drew even closer thanks to a 15-play, 71-yard scoring march. Juhwan Smith-Arnold capped the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge on 4th-and goal, getting the Tigers within 17-14 with 6:15 left in the half.

After the ensuing kickoff, NSU drove to midfield and was faced with a 3rd-and-4. Flores’ pass into the flat was intercepted by Javon Moore, who returned it 49 yards for a score and a 21-17 Tigers’ advantage.

It appeared that would be the score going into halftime. NSU’s next possession stalled at the Tigers’ 35, and the Spartans called timeout with four seconds left in the half facing a 4th-and-10. Rather than punt, Flores lobbed a high-arcing pass toward the end zone. An SSU player batted the ball out of the air, but Boyce caught the ricochet for a “Hail Mary” touchdown as the half expired. Goldberg’s PAT gave NSU the 24-21 halftime lead.

The second half was all NSU thanks to a swarming defensive effort. On the Tigers’ first possession of the third quarter, Spartan linebacker Lynden Trail stopped Bostick in the backfield. But before Bostick was dragged to the ground, he attempted a left-handed shovel pass that NSU lineman George Riddick intercepted at the SSU 33. Six plays later, Smith bulled in from the 2 on a 4th-and-goal play. The extra point was blocked, but the Spartans lead was 30-21.

Goldberg tacked on a 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the final scoring.

The Spartans held the Tigers to just 88 yards of offense in the second half and 220 for the game. Five of NSU’s season-high eight sacks came after halftime. Riddick had the most productive game of his career, finishing with six tackles, three sacks and his first career interception. Coke, who did not play last week due to injury, had seven tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.