DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997             TAG: 9709070255

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   49 lines

SPARTANS REBOUND TO HAMMER VA. UNION

How thorough was Norfolk State's early domination in the Spartans' 26-0 blitz of Virginia Union Saturday night? Let us count the ways:

All but six of the game's first 62 plays were snapped in Union territory;

Spartans quarterback Robert Morris, a career 48-percent passer, completed 12 of his 15 first-half passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions;

The Panthers were held without a first down until they were down 20-0 at the 5:09 mark of the second quarter.

So have the Spartans found top form a mere week after their humbling 36-7 season-opening defeat to Virginia State? Or are these Panthers (0-2, losers of eight in a row) simply not too tough to tame?

``We can do better,'' Norfolk State coach Darnell Moore said after his team won before an estimated crowd of 7,000 at Hovey Field. ``We cut out some of the mistakes we made in the first game and the defense made stops when they had to make stops. But people need to look at the fact that we're still an inexperienced team.''

Norfolk State's first-half blitz was more than enough to propel the Spartans (1-1) to their fifth straight victory over the Panthers and second in a row by shutout. Virginia Union is the only team a Moore-coached Spartans team has held scoreless.

Morris finished with 242 yards on 22-of-30 passing in what Moore acknowledged was the senior's finest performance in his 12 games as a Spartan.

``We knew some people were going to doubt us,'' Morris said. ``We just had to not listen to all the hype around campus and in the community and just go out and do what we had to do.''

Morris' six-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Sellers late in the first quarter got things started for the Spartans.

Norfolk State struck again on its next possession, as Morris' option pitch to newly eligible running back Christian Williams resulted in a five-yard touchdown run. Kicker Greg Howell, who was wide-right on his first extra-point attempt, converted this time from 32 yards out after a Norfolk State holding penalty.

After the Spartans' defense forced the Panthers' fifth-straight punt, Morris and Co. went to work again. A drive that began on the Panthers' 42 resulted in Norfolk State's third touchdown when a Morris' 10-yard pass tipped off Charles Burnette's hands and into the arms of tight end Marlos Thomas in the end zone.

Deangelo Hodges' six-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter closed out the scoring.

Norfolk State's defense held the Panthers to just 63 yards total offense in the first half, 175 for the game. The Spartans amassed 351 total yards.

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