Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Old Dominion knocks off NC Central 42-28

NORFOLK, Va. -- Thomas DeMarco rushed for 225 yards and four touchdowns, and threw for another one, to lead Old Dominion to a 42-28 victory over North Carolina Central on Saturday.

DeMarco scored on runs of 38, 25, 20 and 16 yards as the Monarchs (8-2) won their fifth straight game. His first three touchdown runs gave Old Dominion a 21-0 lead with 8:45 left in the second quarter.

Mario Crawford's 9-yard run helped the Monarchs take a 28-0 lead with 8:11 left in the third quarter before North Carolina Central (2-7) scored on Michael Johnson's 13-yard pass to Earthan Ward.

It was the first of four consecutive touchdowns for the Eagles, who tied the score at 28 on Tim Shankle's 3-yard run with 10:41 left in the game.

Thomas broke the tie with a 34-yard pass to Nick Mayers with 9:12 left in the game and then added his final rushing score, a 16-yard run for the final margin.