WASHINGTON, D.C.-Greg Hankerson Jr. capped a frenetic Norfolk State rally with a 6-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Sangster with 41 seconds left to lift the Spartans over Howard 15-12 on a soggy Saturday afternoon at Greene Stadium. Hankerson directed NSU (2-3, 2-0 MEAC) on an eight-play, 76-yard drive in the game's final two minutes. NSU took over trailing 12-7 with 1:51 left and no timeouts remaining, but rode the arm of the junior signal-caller and some clutch receptions by his receivers to rally for their second win in a row.
After Hankerson found Sangster for the go-ahead score, Hankerson also hit Isaac White for a two-point conversion to put the Spartans into the lead for the first time, at 15-12. Howard (0-5, 0-3) got the ball back with 41 seconds and one timeout left and reached the Spartans' 49. But Jamie Cunningham's deep pass inside the Spartan 10 was intercepted by cornerback Sandy Chapman with one second left, preserving the win for NSU.
NSU trailed 12-0 following a 6-yard Donnell Pleasant touchdown run with 8:01 left in the third quarter. The run came after the second of two errant punt snaps by NSU and capped a 16-yard Bison drive. NSU answered on its next possession as Hankerson went 5-for-5 for 91 yards on the march. The last play was a 49-yard TD pass to White, bringing NSU within 12-7 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans drove deep into Bison territory late in the fourth quarter. But NSU was stopped on 4th-and-6 from the Bison 15 as Hankerson was sacked by Craig Johnson, turning the ball back over to Howard with 5:41 remaining. Howard picked up one first down before the NSU defense forced a punt, setting the stage for the game-winning drive. Hankerson completed a key 4th-and-4 pass of 21 yards to White to keep the drive alive. A 12-yard completion to Marcus Taylor took NSU down to the Howard 21. White then drew a pass interference penalty on the next play to move the ball down to the 6. Two plays later, Hankerson found Sangster in the flat dragging across the defense for the winning score.
Neither team could much offense going for the first half on a wind-swept, rain-soaked day at Greene Stadium. The only scoring in the first half came with 9:42 left in the second quarter when a high punt snap went over the head of Spartan punter Bo Lomax, resulting in a Howard safety. The Bison took that 2-0 lead into the locker room.
White fumbled after a reception on NSU's first drive of the third quarter, and Howard's recovered at the Spartan 38. Seven plays later, John Fleck kicked a 40-yard field goal to make it 5-0 with 11:09 left in the third quarter. Another high punt snap resulted in a 17-yard loss on another fourth down for NSU later in the third, which led to the Bison's only touchdown of the day and a 12-0 NSU deficit.
But NSU rallied behind the arm of Hankerson, who completed 17 of his first 21 passes. He ended the day with season highs in completions (24), attempts (36) and passing yards (294), throwing two touchdowns without an interception in poor weather conditions. White finished with nine catches for 145 yards, just shy of his career highs (10-150). Sangster had a career-high eight catches for 91 yards and a score. Linebacker Kyle Archie led the Spartan defense with a career-best 10 tackles, 3.5 for loss and one sack. Deon King also had two tackles for loss. They were part of a defensive effort that held the Bison to 185 total yards.
