Rattlers, Pulley outclass Spartans 34-20

Senior quarterback Curtis Pulley turned in another star performance Saturday, leading the FAMU Rattler Football team to a 34-20 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Norfolk State University in the 2009 Homecoming Game in Bragg Memorial Stadium.

FAMU (5-2, 3-1 in MEAC) piled up 402 yards of offense, highlighted by Pulley’s 358 total yards, which featured 185 yards rushing (on 17 carries) and one TD, plus 173 passing yards (13 of 22) and two TDs

The talented youngster from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, tossed a one-yard scoring pass to Mykel Benson capping the game’s opening drive with 10:47 in the first quarter, then later extended the Rattler lead to 31-13 with 4:16 left in the second period on his scintillating 51-yard TD run, the longest run of his FAMU career.

Norfolk State (3-4, 2-3 in MEAC) hung tough against the Rattlers, tying the score at 7-7 on their first possession of the game on a one-yard plunge by halfback Josh Alford with 8:10 left.

Pulley led another FAMU drive in the opening stanza, a 55-yard march, that ended with a 22-yard field goal by Trevor Scott with 2:59 to play, putting the Rattlers ahead for good at 10-7.

Junior tailback Philip Sylvester, who has been slowly recovering from an ankle injury, raced into the end zone from 22 yards out with 14:51 left in the second quarter, boosting the Rattler edge to 17-7, before fullback Mykel Benson snared a Pulley pass and rumbled 30 yards for a score with 6:56 left to extend the FAMU lead to 24-7.

Pulley’s 51-yard TD gallop right before the half closed the Rattlers’ scoring for the first half at 31-13.

The action slowed down considerably in the second half, with the Spartans breaking the ice as P.J. Hayden caught a 17-yard pass from Dennis Brown to slice the Rattler lead to 31-20 with 14:50 left in the game, before Trevor Scott’s 30-yard field goal with 9:33 to play added the game’s final points for a 34-20 count.