Notre Dame College got a huge game from D.J. Greene as the Falcons were able to run away with a 47-35 victory over West Virginia State on Saturday afternoon at Dickerson Stadium.
Greene carried the ball 26 times and set a school record with 286 rushing yards while his four touchdowns tied another. All four of his scores came in the second and third quarters as Notre Dame (2-1) scored at least 20 points in both of those quarters to take a big advantage over the Yellow Jackets.
"They ran inside zone really well and they're huge up front. We knew that could be a big problem for us," West Virginia State coach John Pennington said. "We had a hard time figuring it out, because we knew if we collapsed too hard we'd get hurt by the quarterback [Malik Grove], but we knew that Greene could do a great job on dives like he did all day too."
West Virginia State (1-2) led for the majority of the first half, thanks to a quick start by the WVSU offense and quarterback Matt Kinnick.
The senior got the game started by completing 8 of 8 passes on the opening drive to set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Calil Wilkins. After Notre Dame answered with a score of its own, before missing the extra point attempt, Kinnick came back down the field and scored on a 1-yard run.
Things began to go downhill for the Yellow Jackets after an Aaron Ball field goal gave WVSU a 17-13 lead. The Falcons used their run game to march down the field quickly, covering 68 yards on six plays and finishing the drive with a 10-yard run from Greene to give NDC its first lead of the game.
The Falcons quickly added to that momentum on the following kickoff when Quinton Gray's fumble was recovered by Keshun Horton and returned to the 2-yard line, setting Greene up for another score on the next play.
"Our coaches did a great job with the game plan early on," Pennington said. "They made some adjustments and got some stops and then we had to adjust back. We thought we knew what they were going to do, but one of the things we wanted to do was start fast.
"This is one of the best teams in the conference, and I loved the way our guys played with them. When we give up those kind of plays, we aren't going to win. To me, that's what it boiled down to."
That success carried over quickly into the second half for the Falcons, who scored on their first play from scrimmage in the third quarter on a 58-yard run by Greene. Then, following a touchdown run for Grove and a West Virginia State touchdown run for Dionta Brown, Greene made it a 20-point game by scoring on a run of 65 yards.
Notre Dame averaged 8.2 yards per carry against the Yellow Jackets - showing enough consistency that Grove, who entered the game with solid passing numbers and has completed better than 66 percent of his passes, only had to throw the ball nine times for the game.
But West Virginia State would show a little bit of life in the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets came down the field early in the final period and scored on a diving catch in the end zone by Gray as he connected with Kinnick for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
WVSU was able to force Notre Dame to punt a couple of times, giving the offense a chance to make it a one-possession game, but the Yellow Jackets failed to get over the hump and keep the comeback attempt alive.
"We kept fighting, and that's what I love about this team," Pennington said. "I'm disappointed in myself and some of the calls I made at the end of the game. We've all got to get better, and that begins with me. I just loved that we kept battling and we picked a little momentum up, but I was disappointed I didn't call a better game to get us in the end zone again."
Gray caught 12 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown to lead WVSU while Kinnick completed 38 of 52 passes for 372 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
Grove carried the ball 17 times for 96 yards to form a difficult duo to stop in the Notre Dame backfield with Greene's record-setting day.
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.