NCCU Rallies to Beat Norfolk State, 19-14

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  The Eagles of North Carolina Central University came back from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Spartans of Norfolk State, 19-14, with the game-winning touchdown courtesy of a blocked punt and recovery in the end zone by senior defensive back C.J. Moore with less than six minutes left in the contest.

"I am so proud of this football team," said NCCU head football coach Jerry Mack following the comeback victory. "These guys came out and they played with all their heart tonight."

The Eagles appeared to be on their way to a productive day on offense, even with redshirt sophomore quarterback Malcolm Bell out due to injury, as junior signal caller Quinn Billerman led the charge for the Eagles' offense.

NCCU scored on its second drive of the day with a rushing touchdown coming from senior Andre Clarke, putting him at 14 on the year and 29 in his career. Clarke has now moved past Joe Simmons for sole possession of second place on the career rushing touchdown list.

However, the NCCU offense was unable to find its way back to the end zone after that drive.

After a one-play, 53-yard drive for Norfolk State tied the game at 7-7, the Eagles had a field goal attempt from 44 yards blocked.

NCCU added three more points to its total before right halftime, as a 44-yard pass from Billerman to Anas Hasic set up a career-long 47-yard field goal by freshman kicker Eric Fenton to make the score 10-7 heading into the locker room.

At the 5:21 mark of the third quarter, the Eagles settled for an 18-yard field goal by Fenton after having first-and-goal from the 1-yard line to increase the lead to 13-7.

On the very next drive, Norfolk State found the end zone to go up one point, 14-13, with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

The Eagles appeared to be in danger of losing their third conference game of the year as the defense of Norfolk State began to tighten up, making it harder for NCCU to move the ball.

Defense was a deciding factor in Saturday's game as NCCU had four sacks, 12 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, and two interceptions to hold the offense of Norfolk State to just 53 rushing yards on 34 attempts.

Despite the role the defense played in the game, the deciding play of the game came from special teams, with Moore's blocked punt and recovery for a touchdown at 5:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. The failed two-point conversation put the score at 19-14.

"Coach (Mike) Mendenhall was telling me all game long how close I was getting (to a punt block), and he was coaching me up on the little mistakes I was making," said Moore. "I just made up my mind that I was going to go there and try to make a play for us, and the ball just bounced the correct way. Everything happened right."

The Eagles sealed their victory on defense as Norfolk State's final three drives resulted in an interception from sophomore cornerback Michael Jones (his fifth pick of the season), a fumble recovery by senior safety Sayyid Muhammad, and a game-saving interception in the end zone by junior safety Theo Livingston on the Spartans' final play.

"The entire night, defense came up with some big turnovers, and some big plays," said Mack. 

NCCU (6-5, 5-2 MEAC) amassed 250 yards of total offense. Billerman threw for 151 yards, while completing 12 of his 22 passes, without a touchdown or an interception on the day. Clarke led all runners with 67 yards on 19 carries, and junior wide receiver Quentin Atkinson had a game-high six receptions for 66 yards.

Along with the game-winning blocked punt for a touchdown, Moore amassed a team-high 11 tackles, including 2.0 hits for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass break-up.

NCCU senior defensive ends Ty Brown and Felix Small spent most of the chilly afternoon heating up the NSU backfield. Brown had eight tackles, including 3.0 stops behind the line of scrimmage with a sack. Small, who entered the game ranked third in the nation with five forced fumbles, caused two more fumbles on Saturday to go along with six takedowns with 2.5 sacks and a pass deflection.

Before the Eagles began their rally, an announcement was made over the stadium loud speaker that the South Carolina State Bulldogs fell to the Morgan State Bears, putting SC State in the group of MEAC teams with two conference losses.

"I think you saw those guys kind of come to life a little bit when they made that announcement," said Mack. The announcement was significant, because now North Carolina A&T is the only school left in the MEAC with one conference loss.

Next week (Nov. 22, 2 p.m., O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, Durham, N.C.), NCCU hosts the rival Aggies of NC A&T. If the Eagles beat the Aggies, they will win a share of the MEAC regular-season championship.

 BOX SCORE

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION