TOWSON, Md. ? En route to becoming Towson University's career passing leader, senior quarterback Sean Schaefer rallied the Tigers (1-1) from a 16-7 halftime deficit and led them to a 21-16 non-conference victory over local rival Morgan State University (0-1) in the 21st meeting between the schools at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium on Saturday night.

      In a game of very contrasting halves, the Tiger defense shut out the Bears in the second half while the Tiger offense staged three long drives after intermission.

      After the Tigers took a 21-16 lead on Schaefer's four-yard touchdown pass to senior Marcus Lee with 1:59 left in the third quarter, the Tiger defense staged a game-changing goal line stand early in the fourth quarter.

      Making his first start for the Bears, junior quarterback Carlton Jackson drove the Bears to the Tiger nine-yard line. After junior Devan James picked up eight yards to the Tiger one, fullback Justin Lawrence was stopped for no gain on second down. On third down, Jackson fumbled the snap and fell on the ball for no gain. On fourth down, James tried to go up the middle for the touchdown but the Tiger defense, led by senior Scott Bullock and freshman Marcus Valentine stopped him short of the goal line and the Tiger offense took over with 9:21 remaining in the game.

      Then, Schaefer directed a time-consuming drive on which he converted two third down passes. On the biggest play of the drive, Schaefer completed a 40-yard screen pass to sophomore Hakeem Moore. The 40-yard pass play enabled the Tigers to get a first down at the Morgan 31-yard line and made Schaefer the all-time passing yardage leader in school history.

      Schaefer, who finished the game with 243 passing yards, passed former All-American Dan Crowley, '94, who threw for 8,900 yards in his career.

      After the 40-yard pass play, the Tigers proceeded to drive to the Morgan 10-yard line as they ran out the clock. The Tigers controlled the clock for the final 9:21 of the game.

      “Our team showed a tremendous amount of growth tonight,” said Towson Coach Gordy Combs, who earned the 90th victory of his coaching career. “I really liked the way we responded in the second half. After giving up a lot of yardage in the first half, our defense played great in the second half and shut them out.”

      Trailing by 16-7 at the start of the second half, the Tiger defense forced a punt on the Bears' opening possession of the third quarter. The Tiger offense responded with a very efficient 54-yard drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Schaefer to sophomore wide receiver Steve Holmes on a crossing pattern. It was the first touchdown of his career for Holmes, who caught five passes for 55 yards. The Tigers trailed by just 16-14 after the TD pass to Holmes.

      Morgan State responded with an impressive drive of its own. A 46-yard pass to Robert Surratt on 3rd down-and-31 gave the Bears a first down at the Tiger 30-yard line. After the Tiger defense stopped the Bears inside the 20-yard line, senior place kicker James Meade missed a 30-yard field goal attempt, his second miss of the game.

      Schaefer then gave the Tigers the lead by taking them 80 yards on 10 plays to give Towson a 21-16 lead. Schaefer completed five of six passes on the drive for 61 yards. He capped off the drive by tossing a four-yard TD pass to senior Marcus Lee, who caught a pass for the 35th game in a row.

      “This is a great boost in confidence for us,” said Schaefer. “Breaking the passing record in a win makes it very enjoyable. But it's really a team record. I've been very fortunate to have some great teammates here at Towson. I've had some really good offensive lineman and receivers. It's their record as much as it's my record.

      “It was really great to meet Dan Crowley,” he added. “I had never met him before and I appreciate that he was here tonight.”

      After the Tigers scored on the opening possession of the game, Morgan State dominated the rest of the first half and took a 16-7 lead at intermission. In the first half, the Bears rolled up 218 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for 22:40.

      On the opening possession of the game, the Tigers took a quick 7-0 lead when Schaefer fired a 55-yard touchdown pass to junior Casey Cegles with 12:51 left in the quarter. The touchdown pass capped off an 85-yard, five-play drive for the Tigers.

      However, the Bears dominated the rest of the first half. Morgan State cut its deficit to 7-2 with 4:36 left in the quarter when the center snap on a Tiger punt sailed out of the end zone.

      Led by James, the Bears capped off a 52-yard drive and grabbed a 9-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter. James, who rushed for 138 yards on 19 carries in the first half, set up a five-yard TD pass from Jackson to Surratt to give Morgan the lead.

      Midway through the second quarter, the Bears marched 80 yards on 15 plays and chewed up 7:18 before Lawrence scored on a one-yard run on fourth down with four seconds to put Morgan State up by 16-7.

      James led the Morgan offense by running for 178 yards on 33 carries. Jackson, who rushed for 46 yards on nine carries, passed for 102 yards, completing 11 of 16 passes.

      The Bears won the statistical battle as they piled up 374 yards of total offense while Towson had 275 total yards. Morgan also had the ball for 37:16 and converted 11 of 17 third downs.

      “I've never seen us play so well as a unit for 99 yards,” said Morgan Coach Donald Hill-Eley. “But I think we had a lot of first game woes. We had 12 penalties and Towson only had four. I think that was because they played last week.

      “You hate to lose when you play as well as we did,” he added. “But we won't let this destroy us. We'll correct a few things and come back ready to play next week.”

      Schaefer completed 18 of 25 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Junior Matt Castor led the Tigers' ground game by rushing for 74 yards on 14 carries. While Holmes led the Tigers with five catches for 55 yards, junior David Newsom caught five passes for 22 yards. Cegles had two receptions for 62 yards and one TD.

      Senior linebacker Jordan Manning led the Tiger defense with 11 tackles, including three for lost yardage. Sophomore cornerback Ollie Thomas and sophomore safety Raymond White each had ten tackles while junior linebacker Josh Root made nine stops.

      “This was a great win for us,” said Combs. “This is always a difficult game for us. Coach Hill has done a great job at Morgan. His teams are always disciplined and ready to play. This game has been a dogfight the last few years ? and it wasn't always that way.”

      The victory was the Tigers' fourth straight victory over Morgan and their 11th consecutive home victory against Morgan.

      The Towson-Morgan game attracted a crowd of 4,705 despite the threat of Tropical Storm Hannah.

      Towson opens its Colonial Athletic Association schedule next week at the University of Richmond.