NORFOLK, Va. – Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.) connected with Jamar Johnson (Norfolk, Va.) on a 30-yard touchdown pass and Terrell Whitehead (Virginia Beach, Va.) returned an interception 97 yards for a score to lead the NSU Green team to a 14-9 win over the Gold team on Saturday night in the Spartans’ spring football game at William “Dick” Price Stadium.

Brown, a transfer from the University of Connecticut, was 3-for-5 for 65 yards on the first drive of the night, his only series of the game. All the completions went to Johnson, who was a second-team All-MEAC performer in 2007. They capped the drive with a fade route down the right sideline, which Johnson caught despite defensive pass interference.

The spring game consisted of two 15-minute halves. The Green team controlled much of the first, but the Gold rallied with nine points in the second. Another All-MEAC second-team pick in 2007, kicker Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.), connected on a 46-yard field goal for the Gold’s first points.

Then on the last play of the scrimmage, Gold quarterback Brian Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.) lofted a ‘Hail Mary’ pass which was tipped and caught for a 45-yard TD by Jamie Short (Virginia Beach, Va.) to cap the scoring and the scrimmage.

The Gold team moved the ball effectively, out-gaining the Green 251-82. But the Green had three takeaways: the interception by Whitehead, a third-team All-American last season, and a fumble recovery and interception by redshirt freshman linebacker Corwin Hammond (Louisville, Ky.).

Jackson led the Gold by going 4-of-9 for 129 yards. Dexter Merritt (Chesapeake, Va.) was 4-of-6 for 23 yards. Other offensive highlights for the Gold included Jackson’s 47-yard completion on a rollout pass to Darryl Dickerson (Richmond, Va.), and a 42-yard run by Victor Hairston (Martinsville, Va.).

Defensively, defensive back Josh Anderson (Chesapeake, Va.) had 1.5 sacks for the Gold, while linebacker Shawn Childress (Hampton, Va.) led the Green with seven total tackles.

“I was very pleased with how tonight went,” NSU head coach Pete Adrian said. “Both teams moved the ball pretty well, there was a lot of enthusiasm among our players, and we avoided any serious injuries.”

Saturday’s scrimmage concluded spring drills for NSU. The Spartans open the 2008 season at Dick Price Stadium at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30 against Virginia State in the Virginia Lottery Labor Day Classic.