Despite suffering a lightning delay totaling one hour and 22 minutes, the Old Dominion Monarchs defeated Norfolk State, 24-10, on Saturday night at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Ray Lawry rushed for 215 yards on a school record 31 carries as the Monarch defense pitched a second half shutout of Norfolk State, scoring the final 17 points of the game.
Leading 14-10 late in the third quarter, ODU drove 64 yards in seven plays, the big play a 25-yard pass from Shuler Bentley to Vincent Lowe, as Kesean Strong dove in from two yards out to score the first touchdown of his career and give Old Dominion a 21-10 advantage.
ODU made the lead 24-10 midway through the fourth quarter with a 25-yard field goal by Ricky Segers. The big play of the drive was a 47-yard run from Lawry.
The following drive Norfolk State drove to the ODU two, but Oshane Ximines stood up Gerard Johnson, allowing Kohl Adams-Hurd to force a fumble that Marvin Branch recovered. The Monarchs ran out the clock to finish the game.
ODU got on the board first in the opening quarter with a nine play, 72-yard drive capped off by a four-yard run by Ray Lawry. All nine plays were run plays, including three for 35 yards for Zach Pascal. Norfolk State countered with 10 unanswered points in the first 1:36 of the second quarter to take the lead from the Monarchs (10-7). Cameron Marouf put NSU on the board after converting on a 27-yard field goal attempt, while Hadji Gaylord scored the only NSU touchdown of the game after blocking a punt that he then recovered and ran 32 yards for the score.
The Monarchs regained the lead that they would never relinquish at the end of the quarter after Lawry powered through a defender at the one yard line to score for the second time. ODU would enter halftime with a 14-10 lead over Norfolk State.
Shuler Bentley went 12-for-22 for 122 yards and threw one interception. Lawry had another stand out game on the ground, rushing for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Vincent Lowe led ODU’s receivers with four catches for 41 yards. Aaron Young recorded seven tackles, including five unassisted, while Justice Davila and TJ Ricks each had five tackles.
Greg Hankerson went 16-for-36 for 163 yards, with his longest pass being 51 yards. Quinta Funderburk led all receivers with six receptions for 92 yards, while Hankerson tallied 78 yards to lead NSU in rushing. Deon King paced the defense with 21 tackles.
Game Notes – The game start was delayed until 7:23 p.m. due to lightning … Halftime was one hour and 12 minutes due to a lghtning delay … Game captains were TJ Ricks, Fellonte Misher, Bunmi Rotimi and Tyler Compton … Zach Pascal’s 16 yard run to open the game was the first carry of his career … Ray Lawry rushed for 106 yards in the first half for the Monarchs … Kesean Strong’s third quarter touchdown was the first of his career … The 215 yards for Lawry is the third most in school history … His back-to-back 200-yard rushing games puts him at 438 for the season, the highest two-game total in school history … Denzel Williams, Pat Toal and Devon Brown saw their first action for the Monarchs … The 12 completions for ODU is the third fewest in school history and fewest since seven completions against Georgetown in 2009 … ODU’s 59 rushing attempts is a school record … The 338 rushing yards is just two shy of the scool record set against Georgetown in 2009 … The nine pass breakups is tied for the second most in school history .
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