DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman quarterback Quentin Williams passed for four touchdowns and also ran for a score to help the host Wildcats win a wild shootout with Norfolk State, 59-49 on Saturday evening at Municipal Stadium.
The game featured more than 1,000 yards of offense and a slew of standout offensive performances on both sides. The difference ultimately proved to be the third quarter, when the Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 MEAC) outscored NSU (2-5, 2-2) 21-7 to gain some breathing room after the game was tied 35-all at the half.
Williams and NSU quarterback Greg Hankerson Jr. traded blow for blow, big play for big play much of the game. The Spartans’ junior signal-caller passed for a career-high four touchdowns, three to Isaac White.
With the game tied at 35, the Wildcats scored the first 14 points of the third quarter to take the lead for good. Williams passed to Brown for a 31-yard TD play and Jones scored on a 7-yard run to push the B-CU lead to 49-35 with 6:55 left in the third.
Hankerson’s third TD pass of the day, a 58-yarder to Gerard Johnson, cut the Spartans’ deficit in half. But Jones broke his second long TD of the day, leaking out of the backfield to catch an 89-yard TD pass from Williams, to make it 56-42 heading into the fourth.
The Wildcats’ cushion appeared safe when Uriel Hernandez’s 30-yard field goal made it 59-42 with 4:23 remaining. But the Spartans had one last push. Hankerson drove NSU down the field and found White for a 6-yard TD pass with 1:33 left. NSU linebacker Deon King then recovered a perfectly-executed onside kick by Bo Lomax to give the Spartans some added life. But Hankerson’s pass into the end zone three plays later was intercepted by James Darby, and B-CU ran out the clock.
NSU returns to action at North Carolina Central next Saturday at 2 p.m.
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