SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Savannah State's Rashad Saxton ran for 118 yards and a touchdown, D'Vonn Gibbons threw for 79 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 99 yards, and the Tigers' defense limited Norfolk State to 206 yards of total offense en route to a 32-3 victory Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium.An SSU Homecoming crowd of 7,812, including radio host Tom Joyner of the nationally syndicated "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," watched as SSU (2-5, 1-3 MEAC) earned its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory this season.
SSU never trailed en route to beating Norfolk State (3-4, 1-3) for a third consecutive season. SSU won, 27-9, last season in Norfolk, Va., and the Tigers beat the Spartans, 31-14, in 2016 in Savannah.
BOX SCORE
"This was a really solid win for us," SSU third-year head coach Erik Raeburn said. "We dominated the line of scrimmage. Run defense, I think coming into the game they were the No. 1 rushing defense in the conference and then, defensively, we didn't let them get their run game going. They threw the ball and we were able to get the interceptions. I thought we played solid on special teams as well."
Earlier in the week, Norfolk State wide receiver Marcus Taylor, a senior who is third on the Spartans' all-time receptions list, was quoted in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper saying of SSU: "They have a nice defensive line but I think their linebackers are probably what we're gonna take advantage of."
Said SSU's Raeburn: "They made some comments about our linebacking corps and, obviously, Mulik (Simmons) wanted to prove to them that he was worthy of their attention."
Simmons, a senior linebacker from Savannah's Bible Baptist, finished with six tackles and twice intercepted Norfolk State quarterback Juwan Carter. Simmons' first interception ended the Spartans' opening possession. It also stopped the momentum Norfolk State had built after nose guard Deshaywn Middleton recovered Gibbons' fumble during SSU's opening possession.
"We wanted to get the win," Simmons said. "If the linebackers did something great that was just a plus."
During SSU's second possession, Saxton ran for a 1-yard touchdown and Giovanni Lugo kicked the first of his three extra points to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 8:24 remaining in the first quarter. Saxton's touchdown capped a 10-play, 52-yard drive that chewed 4:23 off the game clock.
Saxton, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla., finished with a game-high 118 yards rushing on 17 carries. Gibbons, a sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., finished with 97 yards on 23 carries. He was 6-of-12 passing for 79 yards and two touchdowns, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to D'Andre Snead and a 22-yard touchdown strike to Jaylen McCloud. McCloud, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., ran for 63 yards on 11 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"We knew we could win," Saxton said. "We brought it to them from the first quarter. The outcome is magnificent. It's amazing."
SSU's third possession ended when Gibbons fumbled for the second time in the game. The ball was recovered by Norfolk State's Tavien Blackwell at the Tigers' 42-yard line.
"The two fumbles to start the game, I don't know, he was wearing long sleeves and he took those off," Raeburn said of Gibbons' early struggles. "I don't know if that was the problem. Other than those two fumbles, I thought he played really well. He ran the ball great and was real efficient passing; hit some big pass-plays for us when we needed them. I thought he played really well after those two fumbles."
Norfolk State cut it to 7-3 early in the second quarter on Josh Nardone's 31-yard field goal.
SSU responded with a touchdown on its ensuing possession. McCloud ran for a 20-yard gain to Norfolk State's 45-yard line. The Spartans were penalized 15 yards for a hit out of bounds, setting up first-and-10 for the Tigers at Norfolk State's 30 yard line. Gibbons ran for 8 yards and McCloud followed with a 6-yard run to keep the chains moving. Gibbons' 10-yard run to Norfolk State's 3-yard line led to his 4-yard touchdown pass to Snead in the back of the end zone that made it 14-3 with 10:20 left before halftime. The Tigers' eight-play scoring drive covered 65 yards and took 4:23 to complete.
"We couldn't lose this Homecoming," Gibbons said. "We came off a bye week to play in this game. I was just making sure everybody was focused so we could come out with a win. Saxton played his heart out today."
Said Raeburn of Saxton: "He runs the ball hard. He's not a big guy but he has great vision. When he gets loose he's got another gear. When we do give him some space, he's got the ability to hit the home run."
SSU made it 17-3 with 4 seconds left before halftime thanks to Lugo's 44-yard field goal. Lugo's kick came after Norfolk State called two consecutive timeouts in an attempt to fluster him. It was another impressive scoring drive for SSU, which used 14 plays to cover 53 yards and chew 5:52 off the game clock.
With 5:50 left in the third quarter, SSU's Lugo attempted a 39-yard field goal but missed wide left.
Norfolk State's Carter threw his second interception (both picked off by SSU's Simmons) with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter. Two plays later, SSU's Gibbons connected with McCloud for a 22-yard touchdown that made it 24-3.
In the fourth quarter, SSU's Donald Rutledge recovered a fumble by Norfolk State's Carter with 9:36 to play in the game, giving the Tigers the ball at the Spartans' 32-yard line. Six plays later, SSU's McCloud ran for a 1-yard touchdown, his second score of the game, to make it 30-3, with 6:38 to play. A botched extra-point attempt resulted in an improbable two-point conversion when holder Chandler Williams scrambled and threw a wobbly pass toward a mass of bodies in the end zone. SSU's Cam Brown came down with the ball, giving the Tigers a 32-3 lead.
SSU finished with 293 yards on 54 carries compared to Norfolk State's 97 yards on 28 carries. Norfolk State's Dale Craig made a game-high 12 tackles and Nigel Chavis had nine tackles, including two sacks, for the Spartans. SSU's Walter Yates made a team-high 10 tackles. John Wilson added seven tackles for the Tigers.
"We feel like we play our best when we run the ball and play good defense," Raeburn said. "We felt like we played great rush defense. I haven't looked at the stats. I don't know how many they had. It wasn't many. And we ran the ball really well."
SSU will play Delaware State (1-7, 1-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Dover, Del. The Hornets beat North Carolina Central, 28-13, on Saturday.
SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY TIGERS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
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