Receiver Casey Cegles imagined himself playing baseball in college. But one visit to his high school from Towson coach Gordy Combs, and he was ready to trade in his mitt for shoulder pads.
“My brother actually got picked up by the Washington Nationals organization not too long ago,” Cegles said. “Coach Combs came in and I talked to him. I came to [visit Baltimore from New Jersey] and just fell in love with it.”
The decision already has paid dividends for the redshirt junior , who is poised to start in the season opener against Navy on Aug. 30 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. It will be Towson’s firs game against a team from the larger Football Bowl Subdivision in school history.
But if Towson is to upset the Midshipmen, it must get improved play from an offense that struggled with injuries and inconstancy last season en route to a 3-8 season. Cegles, at 5-foot-10, 187-pounds, was one of the players who took advantage of the increased playing time, finishing with 21 catches for 317 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s what we are known for, coming out here and throwing the ball 50 times, and when you aren’t passing well [our receivers] are partially to blame,” Cegles said. “We realize we really need to focus up. We are going to have wide receiver dinners before games and understand what we need to do. We are the playmakers of the team. We can run the ball too, but we need to step up.”
Towson’s offense averaged just 15.5 points and 304 yards of offense per game Standout senior quarterback Sean Schaefer especially struggled with numerous injuries to an inconsistent offensive line, as he completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,553 yards with 12 touchdowns against 19 interceptions.
But the offense proved it could be dynamic at times, including a 67-yard, four-play drive against then-No. 14 Richmond that culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass with no time left to pull out a 23-21 win.
Another of Schaefer’s scoring passes went to Cegles during the game, where he snagged a pass at about the 10-yard line, evaded a defender and walked untouched into the end zone for a 17-yard scoring play.
“Everyone characterizes him as slow, or not the guy who will break the sound barrier, but even in the Richmond game, he faked that guy and ran it in for the touchdown,” Combs said. “I don’t think people give him credit until you see him on the field. He’s one of those guys who, when it is time for us to replace, it will be very hard for us to replace.”
