After losing back-to-back conference games by a combined score of 63-7, the Towson football team needed a spark and a win.
The return to health and game action of sophomore quarterback Sean Schaefer provided both Saturday as the Tigers beat Villanova, 21-13, in an Atlantic 10 game before 8,111 fans at Villanova Stadium.
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Schaefer missed last week?s 35-0 homecoming loss to UMass and most of practice last week with an illness that had him quarantined. Tiger officials would not identify his illness, but said he practiced Friday and he played the entire game against theWildcats.
Schaefer, in just his 17th career start, went over 300 yards passing for the fifth time as he hit on 35-of-45 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns. He entered leading all of Division I-AA in completions per game and is 6th in the nation and first in the A-10, in total offense.
“I knew by Tuesday or Wednesday that he would start,” Tiger coach Gordy Combs said. “We had to wait until Thursday to get through his isolation period.
“I can?t say more about the illness because of the privacy thing. It wasn?t anything bad. We had to notify the state department of health and we got test results back and they were negative.”
Senior receiver Eric Yancey was again the Tigers? big-play receiver with 8 catches for 131 yards, including an 18-yard score. Fellow receiver Ryan Meehan caught a second quarter, two-yard touchdown.
The Tiger defense limited Villanova to 166 yards on the day. Quarterback Marvin Burroughs completed just 11-of-26 passes for 71 yards.
With the win, Towson is 5-2 overall, and 2-2 in the A-10. The Tigers have moved into a three-way tie for second place in the A-10 South with Richmond and Delaware.
“This was a huge game for us coming off two losses,” Yancey said. “We lost our homecoming game last week and knew this was their homecoming. We had ours spoiled and wanted to do it to them.”
Schaefer showed no signs that he had been ill and said his stamina for the game was fine. His teammates and head coach said his return lifted the squad and gave everyone confidence.
“I?m not surprised he played so well,” Combs said. “He?s such a good quarterback on third down and it?s amazing what he can do in pressure situations. He?s got great poise.”
Towson will travel to Delaware Saturday at 1 p.m. The Blue Hens upset Richmond, 28-24, this weekend.
“It?s becoming a huge rivalry,” Combs said. “The players know each other well. We had a great win versus them last year.”
The Tigers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns last October to beat then fifth-rated Delaware, 35-31, in front of a record crowd of 10,788 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
TIGER TALES
» Towson overcame 10 penalties with 24 first downs and out-gained the Wildcats, 425-166, in total yardage.
» Redshirt freshman Matt Castor gave Towson?s sluggish running game a boost, with 10 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
» Sophomore linebacker Jordan Manning came up with his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
