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TOWSON, Md. -- The Towson football team raced out to an 18-point lead and held on for a 21-19 homecoming victory over Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) newcomer Elon on Saturday night at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.

Behind the stellar early play of junior quarterback Connor Frazier, the Tigers won their second straight game to improve to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the CAA. Frazier, who completed his first 10 passes, connected on 17 of 24 attempts overall for a career-high 187 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Andre Dessenberg was on the receiving end of both of Frazier's touchdowns while finishing with a game-high 59 yards on five receptions.

Sophomore running back Darius Victor rushed for a game-high 153 yards on 28 carries with a touchdown. Victor has eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in six games this season and has moved into 12th on Towson's all-time career rushing yardage list. The sophomore did the bulk of his work in the second half as he carried 20 times for 114 yards in the game's final 30 minutes.
 
Towson wasted little time reaching the end zone, driving 84 yards on 13 plays on its opening possession of the game. Frazier led the offensive attack as he went 5-for-5 for 54 yards on the drive, capping it with a four-yard touchdown strike to Dessenberg that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
 
After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense extended its lead behind the power running of Victor. Frazier sparked the drive by finding senior wide receiver Spencer Wilkins for a 14-yard hook-up on third down. Victor followed with a 27-yard scamper that set Towson up in Elon's red zone. Three plays later, Victor scored his CAA-leading ninth rushing touchdown from two-yards out to put the Tigers up 14-0.
 
Elon (1-8, 0-5 CAA) got on the board early in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal off the leg of John Gallagher to cut Towson's lead to 14-3.
 
Nearing halftime, the Tigers took over at the Elon 39 with just 45 seconds remaining. Frazier hit Victor over the middle for 21 yards, and followed it up with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Dessenberg to put Towson up 21-3. The touchdown pass marked the second-straight game Frazier has thrown two touchdown passes, and it marked the first two-touchdown game in Dessenberg's career.
 
The Phoenix were able to take advantage of a kickoff out of bounds and drove 33 yards to get a 49-yard field goal as the first half expired with the home team leading 21-6.
 
Elon began to draw closer in the second half by getting a five-yard touchdown pass from Mike Quinn to Andre Davis late in the third quarter.
 
The game would get much closer late in the fourth as Elon took over on its own 13 with 3:33 remaining. The Phoenix drove down the field and Quinn found Kierre Brown in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to cut Towson's lead to 21-19. On the ensuing two-point conversion, the Tiger secondary would force an incompletion to preserve the lead.
 
Towson would seal the victory by recovering the onside kick.
 
Redshirt freshman James Simms led the defense with 10 tackles, while senior Tye Smith added eight tackles and a pair of pass break-ups. Sophomore Eric Handy and senior Drew Cheripko each added a sack.
 
The Tigers return to action next week as they travel to face No. 3/4 Villanova. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Villanova Stadium and the CAA battle can be seen live on the American Sports Network.


-TowsonTigers.com-