ANNAPOLIS, Md. ? Playing before a crowd of 31,613 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, senior quarterback Sean Schaefer put on an impressive passing display in the first half as Towson University (0-1) tried to keep pace with Navy's prolific ground game in the season opener for both teams. But, the Mids (1-0) wore down Towson in the second half to post a 41-13 victory in the first-ever meeting between the schools.

      Schaefer, the NCAA FCS active leader in career passing yards, tried to keep the Tigers in the game by completing 29 of 47 passes for 330 and a pair of touchdowns.

      However, even the 10th 300-yard passing game of his career couldn't match the record-setting performance by Navy running back Shun White.

      White ran for 348 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns as he turned in the most impressive rushing performance in the 128-year history of Navy football.

      “We had some difficulties with Shun White,” said Coach Gordy Combs. “Navy did a great job blocking on the perimeter and that's all he needed to run by our defensive backs. We came into the game very conscious of trying to stop their inside running game. Then, they went outside and we couldn't stop them.”

      The Tigers opened their 40th season of college football with a very impressive drive. Schaefer guided the Tiger offense on an 11-play march that put Towson on the Navy 25-yard line. On the drive, Schaefer converted three first downs to keep the Navy offense off the field. However, on the 11th play of the drive, Rashawn King stepped in front of the Tigers' Marcus Lee and intercepted a pass at the Mids' 23-yard line.

      “I wish I had that pass back,” said Schaefer. “I didn't put the ball outside enough and their guy made a good play. We were moving the ball on the opening drive and I think it may have been a different game if we could have scored a touchdown there.”

      With a first down on their own 23-yard line, the Mids wasted no time in establishing their ground game. Navy marched 77 yards on nine running plays and grabbed a 7-0 lead on a 20-yard TD run by quarterback Jarod Bryant.

      On their second possession, the Tigers couldn't come up with a first down and Navy had great field position after a short punt by Bill Shears. The Mids took only four plays to drive 43 yards for another touchdown. White capped off the drive by scoring his first touchdown on a 33-yard run.

      Trailing by 14-0 in the second quarter, the Tigers went to a no-huddle offense and drove from their own 18-yard line. When Schaefer threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Casey Cegles, the Tigers were on the scoreboard as they completed an 82-yard drive in 11 plays. However, senior Mark Bencivengo missed the conversion kick as Navy owned a 14-6 lead.

      It didn't take Navy very long to answer the Tigers' touchdown. On the first offensive play from the Navy 13-yard line, White took a pitch from Bryant on the left side and turned on his speed as he raced 87 yards for touchdown that gave Navy a 21-6 lead.

      A 32-yard kickoff return by freshman Nick Oates gave the Tigers excellent field position at their own 39-yard line. For the second consecutive possession, the Tigers put together another touchdown drive. After a 17-yard pass from Schaefer to sophomore Steve Holmes gave the Tigers the ball at the Navy one-yard line, the Tigers lost three yards on two running plays. On third down, Schaefer found Lee in the end zone for a touchdown. Bencivengo converted the extra point and Towson trailed by 21-13.

      With the four-yard touchdown reception, Lee caught a pass in the 34th straight game of his college career.

      The Mids took over at their own 35-yard line with 2:56 left in the half after Bencivengo's kickoff went out of bounds. Navy proceeded to drive to the Towson 14-yard line where senior place kicker Matt Harmon booted a 31-yard field goal to give the Mids a 24-13 lead at halftime.

      “When they scored right before halftime, that really hurt us,” said Combs. “Psychologically, there is a big difference in being down by 11 points at the half instead of eight points.”

      On the opening drive of the second half, the Mids stunned the Tigers when Bryant capped off a 60-yard drive by throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass to a wide open junior Bobby Doyle to give Navy a 31-13 lead. It was one of only five passes that the Mids threw in the game.

      Meanwhile, the Navy defense rose to the occasion and shut out the Tigers in the second half. They sacked Schaefer three times and put more pressure on him.

      “We got ourselves into too many negative situations,” said Schaefer. “We just didn't score enough points. We came into the game knowing that Navy was going to score so we needed to score.”

      Leading by 31-13 with 8:40 remaining, White put the game out of reach and put his name in the Navy record books when he scampered 73 yards for his third TD of the game.

      With his 73-yard run, he broke the school record of 298 rushing yards set by Eddie Meyers against Syracuse in 1981.

      “We had some good opportunities but we just couldn't cash in,” lamented Coach Combs. “We were pleased with the play of our offensive line. The protection for Sean was much better than last year.”

      Navy, which has led NCAA FBS in rushing yardage the last three years, opened their bid for a fourth straight title by piling up 558 rushing yards on 58 attempts, the third most ever by the Midshipmen. Those were the most rushing yards ever surrendered by Towson in a single game.               Junior David Newsom, in his first appearance in a Towson uniform following a two-year career at Nassau Community College, snagged seven passes for 84 yards. Cegles was the top receiver on the field with a career high six receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.

      Holmes also had a big game for the Tigers with five catches for 69 yards while senior Tommy Breaux had four receptions for 42 yards.

      While the Tigers were playing in front of the largest crowd ever, Schaefer didn't feel that was a factor. He said, “The pre-game atmosphere was great with the fly-over and everything. But once the game started, we didn't really notice the crowd.”

      Senior linebacker Jordan Manning led the Tiger defense by making 11 tackles and recovering a fumble. Senior Drew Mack added eight tackles while junior linebacker Alex Butt made seven tackles in the first start of his career.

      The Tigers return to action next Saturday night when they host Morgan State at 6:00 p.m. in their home opener at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.