Monarchs stay focused through a 35-18 victory over city rival Norfolk State
Written By: Matthew McCracken
Sports Editor
Behind true freshman Taylor Heinicke’s arm, who threw for five touchdowns, the Old Dominion Monarchs (10-2) defeated Norfolk State Spartans (9-3) in the first round of NCAA FCS Championships 35-18. The sold-out crowd of 19,818 witnessed Heinicke go 21 of 30 with 269 yards passing and 38 yards rushing.
“I thought [Heinicke] was very poised, and made some very good decisions. Some of his throws today were just outstanding,” Monarchs’ head coach Bobby Wilder said.
Behind center for the Spartans was redshirt senior Chris Walley, who finished with 363 yards on 28 of 43 passing. He threw for two touchdowns, but also had two costly interceptions. Interceptions by Monarch defensive backs’ Carvin Powell and Eriq Lewis gave Old Dominion favorable field position. Both turnovers turned into Monarch scores by receivers Prentice Gill and Larry Pinkard.
Monarch receivers Nick Mayers and Gill both had two touchdowns on the day. Gill finished with four catches for 95 yards while Mayers finished with six catches for 65 yards. Mayers, a First-team All-CAA player, was all over the field picking his spots against the Spartans secondary.
“He can explode on you and run quick. He’s so little that you can’t find him,” Spartans’ head coach Pete Adrian said.
Despite Monarch domination throughout majority of the game, Norfolk State struck first at Foreman Field on Saturday with a 98-yard touchdown pass from Walley to redshirt sophomore receiver Derrick Demps. Having the ball for only 17 seconds on offense, the Spartans third down pass became the longest given up by the Monarchs.
“It happens. Things happen. We got to bounce back from it. That’s what a resilient team does. Don’t let one play define the rest of the game,” Monarchs’ senior defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron said.
Fumbling the ensuing kick return, the Monarchs shook off the post-season jitters with a seven play, 85 yard drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown catch by Mayers with 10:52 remaining in the first quarter.
The Monarchs went on to score two more times in the first half, bringing the halftime lead to 21-7. Changes made by the Spartans in the locker room proved to not be a factor in the second half, as the Monarchs scored 14 in the third quarter.
The Spartans could not stay poised as they committed eighteen penalties resulting in 135 yards lost. Majority of these penalties were false starts on the offensive line and illegal substitutions on the offense.
“I think the noise had an effect on them. There was a lot of miscommunication going on on that side of the ball and we benefitted from it,” Cameron said.
The Spartans were held to 43 yards rushing on 28 attempts. Only ten of those yards were recorded in the first half.
“Up front, we had a mentality that we are going to stop the run first and foremost. Get off the ball and create a new line of scrimmage,” Cameron said.
“The game plan was to try to force them to run the ball. We played more perimeter defense to force them to run the ball,” coach Wilder said.
The Spartans were one of three on field goal attempts, with both misses being blocked by the Monarchs’ defensive front line. Chris Burnette recorded his third block of the season while senior Eddie McClam blocked the other attempt in the third quarter.
Having a 28 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the 10 points scored by the Spartans late did not affect Old Dominion as they seemed more focused on running the clock. The Monarchs only rushed for 103 yards on 40 attempts, but stayed loyal to the ground game, milking the clock.
The Monarchs are now 27-7 in their first three years as a program, 1-0 in post-season play.
“You got to win to go on. You lose, you go home. We know exactly who Georgia Southern is, it’s going to be a major challenge,” coach Wilder said.
Old Dominion travels to Georgia Southern University on Saturday, Dec. 3 to face the No. 3 ranked Eagles at 1 p.m. Eastern in the second round of the NCAA FCS Tournament.
Photo By Elaina Ellis || Evoking Photography
