In his first start wearing the orange and green, Florida A&M quarterback Daniel Richardson tossed three touchdowns to help lead the Rattlers to a season-opening win over the Norfolk State University Spartans in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge.
“>Coach said it’s gonna be some times where they gonna punch you in the mouth,” said Richardson. “It’s about responding. How you gonna punch them right back.”
Norfolk State scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead over the defending National Black College Football Champions. Spartans running back Kevon King exploded through a massive hole in the right side of the line and sprinted 82 yards for the first score of the 2024 season.
King rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries against the Rattlers vaunted Dark Shadow defense. The Spartans as a team gained 227 yards on the ground and another 142 yards through the air.
We can run the ball against anyone,” quipped Spartans Head Coach Dawson Odums with a look that could cut through steel.
The Spartans rushing attack looked unstoppable early with two drives of 10 or more plays. Unfortunately for Coach Odums and Norfolk State, the Rattlers defense settled in and began making plays. And without opening up the field with the passing attack, the Spartans went into a scoring drought until a field goal in the third quarter.
Jalen Daniels, also in his first start in the Spartans green and gold, threw four passes -completing three- in the first half. The success of the run and the potential for more play-action begged the question why not take more shots through the air? “if somebody can’t stop something, why would you go to something else?” responded Coach Odums. ”We literally ran the ball down the HBCU national champs throat tonight. We buzzed them up and down the field all night long in the running game. So why would we stop?”
To keep the defense guessing, perhaps?
Twice during the game, the threat of an established passing attack would have benefited the Spartans. Facing third and two at FAMUs 18-yard line in the second quarter, King was stopped a yard short of the first down. Until that point in the drive, King and Kiron Benjamin accounted for all 10 plays and 52 yards of the drive. Play-action to receivers Jacquez Jones or Kam’Ryn Thomas, who finished with four receptions for 78 yards and two receptions for 57 yards, were perfect targets with sure hands.
The stalled drive resulted in a field goal attempt that went awry. A squibbed snap short-hopped the holder and a swarming FAMU special teams group stopped the field goal attempt that would have given Norfolk State a 17-10 lead.
The second opportunity came late in the fourth quarter after the Spartans defense forced a fumble to extinguish a potential scoring drive for the Rattlers. Daniels found Jones for an 18-yard completion on third-and-seven. On the next play, Daniels sprinted right but was drilled and knocked out of bounds by defensive back Andre Powell, Jr after a 1-yard gain. King was called on for the next play and he did not disappoint busting through the Rattlers front four for his second touchdown of the game.
Norfolk State attempted to tie the game at 24-24 with a point-after kick but the ball was blocked by a FAMU defender who was flagged for being off-sides. Instead of immediately resetting for another kick, Coach Odums called a timeout.
Everybody in the stadium knew what that was about including FAMU Head Coach James Colzie. “We were off-sides and the likelihood of them going for two was going to happen,” said Colzie. “We called a defense that we thought they were going to run a QB..something with the QB and we got lucky on that one.”
For a second time in three plays, Daniels sprinted right, right into the arms of linebacker Aric Horne.
The Rattlers ate up the remaining six minutes of the game clock to win their second straight game in Atlanta and start the season 1-0.
Halftime Band Competition: The Legion hands down. They left zero crumbs on the plate.
Game Photos
All photos by Jason McDonald, JM Photography for CORE360 Sports