BALTIMORE – The Battle for Greater Baltimore trophy remains with the Towson University football team as the Tigers defeated Morgan State 20-10 on Saturday night.
 
Towson (1-2) earns its sixth consecutive victory over Morgan State (1-2), giving up a combined 10 points in the last two games in Hughes Stadium.  The Towson defense did not allow any points until 5:11 left in the fourth quarter, with a Morgan State field goal and a touchdown off a blocked field goal getting late points.  Towson held the rest of the way for the victory.
 
The Tigers took the lead with two touchdowns in a span of 3:30 going into the second quarter, with Nathan Kent passing for one and rushing for another, with two Keegan Vaughan field goals sealing the 20-point first half. 
 
With the win, Pete Shinnick earns his first win as Towson's head coach.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson earned 352 yards of total offense to Morgan State's 285.  The Towson defense also forced four turnovers on three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
• The Tigers had the strong advantage on the running game with 184 rushing yards to Morgan State's 97.  Morgan State had the slight advantage in the air with 188 passing yards to Towson's 168.
• On defense, Robert Javier earned two interceptions, broke up four other passes and made three tackles.  Jesus Gibbs tallied up a night of six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.  Gibbs was one of six Towson players with at least five tackles.  On the defensive special teams end, Chris Watkins earned a blocked punt in the early part of the second quarter.
• Nathan Kent was 18-for-34 at quarterback, having a touchdown, an interception, 38 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.  Kent was never sacked and found Da'Kendall James for six receptions and a touchdown.
• Four different Tigers had at least 33 rushing yards, led by Baltimore-native Tyrell Greene Jr., who rushed 11 times for 59 yards.
• Keegan Vaughan converted his first two field goal attempts and then saw the other two blocked.
• Morgan State used three quarterbacks in the game, led by starter Duce Taylor, who was 9-for-24 with three interceptions and 11 rushing yards.  Erick Hunter led the defense with nine tackles, including one for loss, and a forced fumble.  Jordan Toles had a blocked field goal returned 53 yards for a touchdown, adding five tackles.

How it Happened

• Towson won the toss and deferred as Morgan State looked to the air early for a quick 12-yard gain.  Tylen Wallace made a big stop on a screen pass to force a punt.  Towson used short passes but got stopped just after getting into Morgan State territory.  Josh Cupitt booted the punt out of bounds on the MSU3 to pin in the Bears.
• To get out of its own three, Duce Taylor got a short pass and a scramble run, then escaped a sack with a drop off pass that turned into 33 yards on the reception.  Morgan got into Towson territory, but Towson's pass rush and a break-up by Robert Javier on a long pass got the ball back to Towson on a punt on its own 15.
• After a couple of rushes from Devin Matthews, a short pass to Daniel Thompson IV led to a 49-yard burst into the red zone.  Inside the 10, Tyrell Greene Jr. got Towson to the three, then a pass to the corner to Da'Kendall James for the touchdown gave Towson a 7-0 lead with 2:49 left in the first.
• Two plays into Morgan's drive, Robert Javier picked off a Morgan pass to give Towson a start in Morgan territory.  Nathan Kent led Towson down the short field with a dart to Zay Perkins for nine yards and a break out run for nine more years into the red zone into the second quarter.  After an eight-yard pass to Lukkas Londono, Kent found a lane and scrambled the final 10 yards into the end zone for the 14-0 Towson lead with 14:26 remaining in the first half.
• The Towson defense continued to hold strong, forcing a three-and-out.  On the punt, Chris Watkins blocked the punt as Towson forced a start on the Morgan 33.  Despite the three-and-out, Keegan Vaughan hit the 43-yard field goal for a 17-0 Towson advantage, 12:19 left in the 2^nd.
• Morgan got its best offensive drive so far in the game, aided by a roughing the passer call.  Towson kept the pressure up on the pass rush and held Morgan on the Towson 39 to force a punt.  The punt was downed at the Towson 1.
• Kent's connection with James paid off as Towson drove out of its one as the Norfolk State transfer made three catches in the early going, including a 33-yard sprint to get to midfield.  But, Towson was stopped on third down and was forced to punt, resulting in a touchback.  The first play of the Morgan drive, Javier came up with another interception and got back into Morgan territory.  Towson pushed to the Morgan 23 but an incompletion got to fourth down; Vaughan knocked down the 40-yard field goal attempt to make the score 20-0 Towson with 3:41 left in the half.
• Morgan got to midfield and tried to run some clock as Towson forced a stop on third and 25 after a home team gain of 17.  Towson attempted a final first half drive, but was three-and-out, taking a 20-0 lead into halftime.
• Towson began the third quarter with the ball, but a three-and-out forced a punt.  Morgan State found success with short passes down the field with two third down conversions, then on a third and short, Myles Miree broke for 23 yards and to the Towson 30.  Jesus Gibbs forced a runner back six yards for a loss, then on third and 16, Dorian Davis picked off the long pass to get Towson back the ball.  Two plays later however, Jae'Vey Morton intercepted Kent's pass to get Morgan State going on the Towson 39.
• The Tiger defense took charge and pushed Morgan State back far.  First on a holding penalty, then Tylen Wallace and Gibbs sacked Taylor for nine yards to set up third and 26, where an incompletion forced a punt.
• Towson moved down the field methodically with runs by Greene and Kent, then bursts of 11 yards by Matthews and 22 yards by Hunter brought Towson to the Morgan 9.  Alex Desire saved the drive after a fumble, but the field goal attempt was blocked, keeping the score at 20-0 after three quarters.
• Into the fourth, Morgan got into Towson territory to threaten again.  Short rushes got Morgan to the Towson 38, then on another third down, an 18-yard pass to DJ Hamler brought the home team to the red zone.  Towson's pressure got Morgan to fourth down, then Daniel Raymond leaped and broke up a pass to get the turnover on downs.
• Towson had to punt back to Morgan State after a three-and-out.  Going to a new quarterback, Carson Baker converted a third down on a nine-yard pass, then added a 16-yard rush to get to Towson's 12.  Towson forced three incomplete passes as Morgan State kicked a field goal to get on the board.  Towson led 20-3 with 5:11 left.
• Towson recovered the outside kick and got closer on a 23-yard rush from Greene.  Towson lined up for a field goal, which was also blocked.  Jordan Toles returned the kick 53 yards for a touchdown as Towson was up 20-10 with 3:09 to play.
• Again Raymond recovered the outside kick to get the ball back.  Towson got a three-and-out but ran down clock.  On Morgan State's first play, Gibbs forced a fumble on the sack, recovered by Dion Crews-Harris, to seal the game.  Towson took the win 20-10.

Inside the Numbers

• Towson retains The Battle for Greater Baltimore trophy with its sixth consecutive win against Morgan State.  Towson is 22-6 all-time vs. its Baltimore rival.  In the last three games played at Hughes Stadium, Towson outscored Morgan State 87-20.
• Towson's 20-point first half is the highest scoring half for the Tigers since Towson had 24 points in the second half at Monmouth on Oct. 29, 2022.
• Chris Watkins earned the first blocked punt for Towson since Jordan Mynatt blocked a punt on Oct. 10, 2015 vs. James Madison.
• Robert Javier has the first two-interception game of the year for Towson.  He stands with four career interceptions.
• Da'Kendall James earned his 10^th career receiving touchdown and fifth with Towson.
• Keegan Vaughan's 43-yard field goal is his career-long.

Next Game

• Family weekend is set for Saturday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. as Towson hosts Norfolk State.
• Single-game tickets for Towson football home games are available by visiting https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/. For any questions regarding tickets for Towson events, call the Towson Athletics ticket office at 410-704-4501 or email dkogok@towson.edu.

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