THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611030204
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 64 lines
With victories already over Bethune-Cookman and Delaware State, the Norfolk State Spartans have proved they can be competitive when they make their pending move next season to the MEAC.
But contenders?
There's still work to do.
After leading Howard University at the half, NSU gave up four second-half touchdown passes by Ted ``Sweet Flight'' White, as the Bison rolled to a 42-14 victory at Greene Stadium Saturday afternoon.
NSU (6-3) had limited the Bison to a pair of Jason Decuir field goals in the first half in jumping to a 14-6 halftime lead.
Spartans tailback John Quinerly's 33-yard touchdown run around right end in the first quarter and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Robert Morris to Darius Blount on fourth-and-13 in the second quarter had the Bison wondering if the CIAA-member Spartans had already moved from Division II to Division I-AA.
And when Travoris Carnes recovered a fumble by Aray Williams at the NSU 25 early in the third quarter, it appeared all the breaks were going the Spartans' way.
But the game quickly turned on two plays. After NSU moved to the Howard 31 on six plays, Morris was picked off by safety Billy Jenkins on a sideline pass intended for Blount.
On the following play, White found a wide-open Darian Harris 20 yards behind the NSU defense for a 75-yard touchdown pass. White then hooked up with Leonard Stevens on a two-point conversion pass, and the Spartans' lead was gone.
Three NSU defensive backs broke toward White as he scrambled to his right on the touchdown pass.
``We're taught to break on the quarterback once he breaks the line of scrimmage,'' said Robert Weaver, who had picked off a White pass in the first half. ``Evidently, he didn't break that line and found somebody deep.''
The Bison (6-2) defense held and forced NSU to punt on its next two possessions. White marched Howard down the field both times, finishing drives with a 4-yard pass to Desmond Wise and an 11-yard pass to MacArthur Johnson.
White added a 24-yard touchdown pass to Stefan Cameron. His backup, Pep Hamilton, also threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Stuart Broome in the closing minutes for the final count.
White, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound sophomore, completed 18 of 32 passes for 291 yards.
``He adjusted real well after the half,'' said NSU defensive tackle John Green. ``And they threw some things at us in that second half that we hadn't seen in the first.''
Howard, which is 3-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, amassed 543 total yards in handing NSU its worst loss since a 54-6 setback to Virginia State to open the 1994 season.
``We just didn't get the stops we needed in the second half,'' Spartans head coach Darnell Moore said. ``And there's no way that (75-yard) play should have happened. We were supposed to be doubling them deep.''
In the end, it became a record day for the Bison. Decuir broke Howard's career record for field goals with his 35th. White broke the Bison single-season record for touchdown passes and now has 25. And Johnson's 10th scoring reception of the season tied a record.
But until the Spartans, trailing 28-14, turned the ball over on downs at the Howard 19 with 7:51 remaining, it was still a game.
``We didn't play 60 minutes of football,'' said Blount. ``It just didn't happen in the second half.'' by CNB