Towson football outscored 42-16 over final three quarters, falls to 0-2 in home opener

By Jake Shindel, Deputy Sports Editor

Towson football (0-2, 0-1 in conference) could not have asked for a better start, forcing a fumble on Monmouth’s opening drive and scoring a subsequent touchdown. A 45-minute weather delay followed, and Monmouth took over from there.

The Towson breakdown resulted in a 42-23 loss at Johnny Unitas Stadium in front of an announced 3,442 fans.

After the weather delay, Monmouth (1-1, 1-0 in conference) controlled the pace of the game despite being down 10-0 at the end of the opening quarter. The Hawks outscored Towson 42-16 over the final three quarters. 

“If we can’t overcome the lightning… we’re going to face harder circumstances throughout the course of the season,” head coach Pete Shinnick said.

Towson wide receivers Da’Kendall James and Lukkas Londono emerged as quarterback Nathan Kent’s favorite targets throughout the game, combining for 11 receptions, 171 yards and a touchdown. No other receiver caught more than two passes. 

Two first-half touchdowns by Monmouth, one being a 66-yard run by running back Sone Ntoh, gave Monmouth a 14-10 lead at the break. Ntoh finished the game with 76 rushing yards and three touchdowns, part of a 200-yard ground onslaught by Monmouth.

Monmouth controlled the ball on offense, running 46 plays in the first half compared to Towson’s 20. The Monmouth offense was on the field for 21:10, while Towson’s offense was on the field for 8:50. 

After last week’s loss at Maryland, Shinnick said he wanted to see more explosive plays on offense and more pressure on the quarterback for the defense. His team responded with completed passes of 45 yards, 27 yards and 25 yards, and the defense recorded five sacks and a fumble.

“We had the one explosive, we had two big passes. I felt good about that,” Shinnick said. “Had a little longer run with [running back Devin Matthews] there… We were able to get pressure. Five sacks; I personally felt like we should have had eight. When you’re in that type of game, you’re going to need every type of momentum swing that you can possibly get.”

It was an even third quarter, with both teams adding a touchdown to the board to make it 21-17. Monmouth’s Assanti Kearney caught a 36-yard touchdown pass, and then Matthews ran it in from one yard out. 

Londono had a rough second half aside from his receiving duties. 

After throwing an interception on a trick play from just outside the red zone in the third quarter, Londono muffed a punt that gave Monmouth the ball in Towson’s territory, and a touchdown gave Monmouth a 28-17 lead in the fourth quarter. Towson responded with a touchdown reception by Daniel Thompson IV, but the Tigers’ two-point conversion attempt was no good, and Monmouth held a 28-23 lead. 

Monmouth tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, resulting in a lopsided 42-23 final score. 

“We didn’t handle adversity very well, we had momentum swings, and we did not put ourselves in the situation that we needed to,” Shinnick said. “We turned the ball over on a punt return, we threw an interception to the one-yard line, I think we got two third-and-eights where we jump offsides and give them third-and-shorts, so that’s just bad football.”

Towson’s next shot to end up in the win column will be next Saturday at Morgan State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Jake Shindel

Jake Shindel has been a member of The Towerlight since the fall of 2020. He has served as a writer, associate editor, Editor-in-Chief, Sports Editor, and now Deputy Sports Editor. He has also held internships with The Daily Record and Baltimore Fishbowl, as well as PressBox Online, the Baltimore Blast, and Towson Sports Network.