Eagles Survive Spartans in Homecoming Victory

DURHAM, NC – North Carolina Central (8-1 overall and 3-0 MEAC) may have thought they had an easy win for their homecoming.

Thanks to a tough battle from the Norfolk State Spartans (2-7 overall and 0-3 MEAC), the Eagles came out victorious by the score of 38-24 in front of over 10,000 people at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

“It could’ve been better, but I’m proud of my boys for pushing through for the win,” commented Richard who finished the game with 9–16 passing attempts, 151 passing yards, four touchdowns (three passing and one rushing) and zero interceptions.

On Norfolk State’s performance, Richard reflected, “They did good. We knew that they were going to come put up a fight, no matter what the record said.” He added, “We knew that they were going to have a strong defense, but at the end of the day, we knew that we would have to be resilient.”

Grandson Wilcok, the Sophomore Punter from Ocala, Florida scored the first points, as he drilled a 41-yard field goal to give Norfolk State a 3-0 advantage. Then, Redshirt Senior Latrell Collier made a four-yard touchdown run and Davius Richard made a 38-yard touchdown reception to Durham native Devin Smith, as NCCU took a 14-3 lead in the First Quarter.

On the homecoming victory, Smith commented, “It was definitely something that we’re going to remember for a long time. We practiced and prepared properly and coach made an awesome gameplan for us to come out and do our thing.” He added, “We had to make the right plays at the right time.” The Durham native finished the game with 3-for-56 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

The second quarter was almost all NCCU, as Eagles Quarterback Davius Richard scored two touchdowns – one coming from a 31-yard touchdown pass to Miles Campbell and a 7-yard touchdown run, taking a 28-3 advantage. Norfolk State scored the last points of the Quarter, as QB Cameron Sapp made a 23-yard touchdown reception to Norfolk native TE Ikeem Wright, as the Eagles still held a 28-10 halftime advantage.

Norfolk State showed that they refused to quit in the third quarter, thanks to a one-yard touchdown run by Kevin King and Cameron Sapp’s 19-yard touchdown reception to X’Zavion Adams, as the Spartans made the game interesting, as they only trailed NCCU by a 28-24 deficit. On their resilience, Richard reflected, “I’m trying to keep the guys up, it’s easy to fall down. We were in a groove early, then got into a funk and it’s easy to give up. I’m glad we pulled through and got the W!”

The fourth quarter. Durham native Devin Smith made a 10-yard touchdown reception from Davius Richard, to make it a 35-24 score in NCCU’s favor. Adrian Olive, the Eagles kicker, booted a 27-yard field goal to give NCCU a 38-24 advantage at 1:49, which ended up being the final score.

Next week, North Carolina Central travels to Washington, DC to face the Howard Bison in a pivotal MEAC battle at 3:30 PM on ESPNU. On the other hand, Norfolk State travels to Dover, DE to face the Delaware State Hornets at Noon.