The NC State football team won in a barnburner against Old Dominion Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium. Junior running back Shadrach Thornton’s three touchdowns propelled the Wolfpack to a 46-34 victory over the Monarchs.
Old Dominion struck first and wasted no time in doing so, orchestrating a 10-play, 75-yard drive in only 2:24. The drive concluded with senior quarterback Taylor Heinicke delivering a strike to sophomore David Washington in the back of the endzone.
State responded with a big drive of its own. The team worked its way to the ODU 13-yard line, but was stopped short and was forced to settle for a 33-yard field goal. With the field goal, senior placekicker Niklas Sade became the second-highest scorer in NCSU history with 260 points.
On the ensuing drive, Heinicke was picked off across the middle by senior linebacker Rodman Noel. Noel returned the catch 21 yards to the Monarchs 16, and Thornton punched the ball into the end zone five plays later to give State the lead, 10-7.
The Pack didn’t hold that lead for long, as the Monarchs put together a grueling 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. The drive concluded with a daring fourth-and-goal conversion from the one-yard line.
Old Dominion did not take its foot of the gas and took the Pack 91 yards for another touchdown on its next possession. With 11:10 remaining in the first half, the Monarchs led, 21-10.
On the team’s final possession of the first half, the Pack took the ball 80 yards for a touchdown, wasting all but 32 ticks of the clock. Sophomore running back Matt Dayes caught a pass and dove for the 13-yard touchdown, and sophomore wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling capped off the drive with a two-point conversion reception.
State trailed, 21-18, entering the locker room.
The Pack received the ball to start the second half and took full advantage, using over six minutes to drive 59 yards for a Thornton touchdown. The Hinesville, Georgia native’s second score gave State the lead, 25-21.
The back-and-forth battle continued on the following possession, as the Monarchs scored a touchdown on a 75-yard drive, regaining the lead, 28-25.
After scoring another touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Brissett to freshman tight end Stephen Louis, State forced the Monarchs to punt for the first time in the contest.
80 yards and less than three minutes later, Dayes took a direct snap 10 yards into the end zone, increasing the Pack’s lead, 39-28.
With just under six minutes remaining, ODU used 15 plays to score another touchdown, but came up short on the two-point conversion. The Monarchs attempted an onside kick, but the ball failed to travel 10 yards, and State took over at the ODU 37.
Thornton sealed the game for the Pack with his third touchdown of the night off of a direct snap. With 3:59 remaining, State led, 46-34.
ODU turned the ball over on downs on its final possession, and the Pack ran the clock out to secure its second win of the season.