TOWSON, Md. ? James Madison University came into Johnny Unitas® Stadium as the number one-ranked team in NCAA FCS and the Dukes proved they were worthy of such respect as they ran to a 37-13 halftime lead en route their tenth consecutive victory, a 51-27 Colonial Athletic Association win over the Tigers (3-9, 1-7) in the regular season finale for both teams. The loss spoiled the Tigers' Senior Day celebration.

      The Dukes will advance to the NCAA FCS playoffs for the third year in a row and the ninth time in school history. The 2004 national champions, the Dukes should be the number one seed when the championship field is announced on Sunday.

      Led by senior quarterback Rodney Landers and senior tailback Eugene Holloman, the Dukes piled up 440 rushing yards en route to the win. While Landers ran for 117 yards on 14 carries and scored three touchdowns, Holloman picked up 131 yards on 15 carries.

      “It's easy to see why they're the number on team in the country,” said Towson Coach Gordy Combs. “JMU gives you so many different looks and they've got so many players who can hurt you. Their offensive line is excellent and they have a lot of veterans. We've had trouble stopping the run all season and it was our downfall again today.”

      The CAA's leading rusher, Landers also completed 9 of 12 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown.

      “Landers is an exceptional player,” says Combs.  “He has improved his passing ability and that has made him even more difficult to defend.”

      After honoring their 12 seniors in pre-game ceremonies, the Tigers took an early 7-6 lead in the first three minutes before the Dukes' offense started clicking.

      On the opening drive of the game, the Dukes marched 87 yards in four plays and grabbed a 6-0 lead when Landers scrambled 29 yards for a touchdown around left end with 13:02 left in the first period. When Dave Stannard's conversion kick was no good, the Dukes' lead was 6-0.

      On their first drive, the Tigers responded by marching 67 yards in four plays to take the lead. Playing in his final college game, senior quarterback Sean Schaefer completed his first three passes for 51 yards to move to the Dukes' 16-yard line. On first down, sophomore Damien Kinchen scored the first touchdown of his career on a 16-yard run off a draw play. When senior Mark Bencivengo made the conversion kick, the Tigers had a 7-6 lead just three minutes into the game.

      “We came out with a lot of enthusiasm and moved the ball well on our first drive,” said Schaefer. “We were fortunate to catch them in a few man coverages. But, after that, they were able to apply a lot more pressure and that made it hard to find the right receiver. They're a great defensive team so we knew it would be hard to keep matching them.”

      On the ensuing possession, the Dukes put together a time-consuming drive which used up 6:07. JMU marched 80 yards in 13 plays and took a 13-7 lead when junior tight end Mike Caussin caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Landers with 5:53 left in the first quarter as Stannard's conversion was good.

      Late in the first quarter, the Dukes got the ball at the Towson 34-yard line when freshman Jon Williams blocked a punt by Bill Shears. On the second play of the second quarter, Landers scored his second touchdown of the game on a one-yard run, giving the Dukes a 20-7 advantage.

      A 36-yard kickoff return by junior Tamba Tongu gave the Tigers good field position at their own 41-yard line. On the fifth play of the drive, Schaefer completed a 22-yard pass to senior wide receiver Marcus Lee at the Dukes' 24-yard line.

      With that reception, Lee became Towson University's career pass receiving leader, breaking the mark he shared with former All-American Jamal White. Lee, who caught six passes for 58 yards in his final college game, ended his career with 225 receptions for 2,389 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also finished his career tied for eighth place on the CAA's career pass receiving list, tied with Darren Altieri (1987-90) of Boston University.

      Lee also finished his career by catching a pass in all 45 games he played.

      Two plays after Lee's milestone reception, Schaefer cut the Tigers' deficit to 20-13 when he scored on an 8-yard TD run up the middle. However, the Tigers couldn't get any closer when Sam Daniels blocked Bencivengo's extra point attempt.

      A 36-yard kickoff return by sophomore Griff Yancey gave the Dukes excellent field position once again. JMU started its possession at the Tigers' 32-yard line. However, the Tiger defense forced the Dukes to settle for a field goal. When Stannard booted a 43-yard field goal, the Dukes settled for a 23-13 lead with 9:01 left in the second quarter.

      The Dukes extended their advantag to 30-13 midway through the second quarter, thanks to a stop by their defense. With the Tigers facing third down-and-one at their own 29-yard line, JMU held the Tigers on back-to-back plays, turning the ball over to the offense at the Towson 29. It only took two runs by Yancey for the Dukes to score. After a 25-yard run on the first play, Yancey scored on a four-yard TD run to extend the lead.

      In the final minutes of the first half, the Dukes added once more to stretch their lead to 37-13. Landers capped off a 53-yard, seven-play drive with a four-yard TD run with just 50 seconds left in the first half.

      The Dukes went into halftime after a dominating first half performance, led by Landers. In the opening half, he ran for 97 yards on 11 carries and scored three TD's. He also passed for 76 yards and another touchdown. In the first half alone, the Dukes ran for 260 yards on 32 carries.

      Midway through the third quarter, the Dukes staged another time-consuming drive. They marched 66 yards in 12 plays while using up 6:23. When Yancey scored on a two-yard run, the Dukes' lead was 44-13 with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter.

      In the final minute of the third period, the Dukes upped their lead to 51-13 when Yancey capped off a 56-yard, eight-play drive with his third touchdown of the game on a 13-yard run.

      At the start of the fourth quarter, the Tiger offense came back to life. With 13:57 left in the game, Schaefer finished off a 56-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Tommy Breaux. It was the 75th TD pass of Schaefer's career and cut the Tigers' deficit to 51-20 with 13:57 remaining in the game.

      With 8:08 left in the game, the Tigers narrowed the Dukes' lead to 51-27 when Schaefer threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 7-yard toss to Breaux.

      However, the Dukes recovered the ensuing onsides kick and the Tigers could get no closer.

      With 39 seconds left in the game, freshman Jon Rose completed the scoring when he tallied the first touchdown of his career on a ten-yard run, putting the Dukes ahead, 58-27.

      In his final college game, Schaefer completed 27 of 48 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. It was the 15th 300-yard passing game of his career and his sixth of the season.

      His 315 passing yards enabled him to move past former NFL All-Pro Neil Lomax (Portland State) and move into the eighth place on the NCAA FCS career passing list. He finished his career with 11,664 passing yards.

      In his career, Schaefer completed 1,044 passes in 1,610 attempts and threw 76 touchdown passes. With 1,044 pass completions, he has the second-highest career total in NCAA FCS history behind Ricky Santos of New Hampshire, who completed 1,182 passes in his career.

      Sophomore Hakeem Moore, Breaux and Lee were the Tigers' top receivers in the season finale. Moore caught six passes for 97 yards while Breaux had six receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns. In his record-setting finale, Lee also had six catches for 58 yards.

      “The pass receiving record doesn't mean all that much to me,” said Lee. “I'm not the type of guy who keeps a lot of records or thinks about them a lot. My teammates have been pretty excited about it so we call it our record.

      “But, it's always disappointing to lose,” he added. “JMU is a great team and I hope they do well in the playoffs.”

      Schaefer added, “James Madison can definitely win the national championship. Their team speed is amazing and they're the best team we've played. Going undefeated in the CAA is a great achievement. I can't even imagine how tough that is. Having played in the CAA for four years, it's incredible that any team can do that. Going 8-0 in the CAA says it all.”

      In the final game of his career, senior linebacker Jordan Manning led the Tigers with 14 tackles, including two for lost yardage. He led the Tigers with 105 tackles in 12 games as a senior. In his career, he led the Tigers in tackles three times.

      With 14 tackles, he finished his career with 338 tackles, third on Towson's all-time list.

      Senior strong safety Drew Mack made 11 tackles in the final game of his career. A pre-season All-CAA selection, he made 82 tackles in nine games as a senior. Mack finished his career with 205 tackles and became the 33rd player in school history with more than 200 career tackles.

      Schaefer finished the season as the CAA leader in passing yards and total offense. He completed 303 of 459 passes (.660) for 3,286 yards with 14 interceptions and 25 touchdowns. He led the CAA with 273.8 passing yards per game while topping the CAA with 274.0 yards of total offense per game.

      In addition to Bencivengo, Breaux, Lee, Mack, Manning and Schaefer, defensive tackle Scott Bullock, tight end Anthony Fair and defensive back Jeff Snow also played in their final college game. Another senior, offensive guard Austin Weibley, could not play in his final game because he had an appendectomy three days before the game.

      The Tigers, who lost five games to nationally-ranked teams, ended their season with a five-game losing streak.

      With its tenth straight win, James Madison owns the second-longest winning streak in school history.