Towson Struggles on All Fronts in 17-3 loss to Elon

By: Zach Daly, Staff Writer

The Towson Tigers came home to take on conference rival, the Elon Phoenix in this year’s family weekend. A difficult one for the Tigers, Elon came out on top with a 17-3 loss.

After opening CAA play with a gritty 26-24 win against Bryant, the Tigers hoped to keep the momentum going in front of the Unitas stadium crowd. Instead the team faced hardship after hardship, as Elon outplayed Towson in almost every statistical category.

“Feel for our guys because, again, thought they worked hard,” head coach Pete Shinnick said. “Felt like our preparation was good, execution was just poor, so I got to find a better way to get them moving in the right direction.”

The Phoenix set the tone, rushing the ball early. Running back TJ Thomas Jr. and quarterback Landen Clark would combine for 75 yards in the first quarter alone.

Despite the strong running attack, Towson still kept the Phoenix out of the end zone, with the first quarter ending in a 3-0 lead for Elon.

Elon’s run game would only grow more dominant though. Jimmyll Williams joined the fun for the Phoenix, pounding the rock for 37 yards in the second quarter. The shining star of Elon’s run game continued to be quarterback Landen Clark though, with his rushing total reaching 63 yards.

“I think 60 of his were in the first half just scrambling,” Shinnick said about Clark. “I just knew that we weren’t getting him down. We were gapped out a little bit.”

TJ Thomas Jr. would end up punching in a score from two yards out making the score 10-0 at the half. Elon was dominating the time of possession, having the ball for 21 minutes of the first half compared to only eight minutes for Towson.

The second half opened, and Towson seemed to have found a pulse. 

Elon would throw an interception to Towson defensive back Jasin Shiggs. Despite this break, Towson would go three-and-out the following drive. Elon, further rubbing salt in the wound, would push on converting a fake punt. 

Tigers quarterback Andrew Indorf connected on a 45-yard pass to receiver Cleveland Charlton. After being tackled at the one-yard-line, Towson ran the ball three straight times, not gaining a single yard on any of them. 

“It’s miserable. Cleveland ran a great double move, we ran a couple of great double moves,” Shinnick said. “I felt early on Andrew was a little tentative, I thought we had people. We just didn’t unleash it and didn’t get it done.”

While things looked bleak for the Tigers, they still had a fighting chance as the fourth quarter began. Caden Williams connected on a 30-yard field goal to cut Elon’s lead to seven, a win attainable for the Tigers.

However, Indorf would throw an interception the following drive to Elon linebacker Asher Cunningham with 8:11 left in the game.

Following a 47-yard pass to Jimmyll Williams, Elon would punch in another touchdown on a Dan Frederick two-yard run to make it 17-3. 

On the next drive, Indorf finally connected with John Dunmore for a 52-yard reception. Hope wasn’t fully lost yet.

Only needing one yard to keep the game alive in the red zone, Towson again couldn’t finish. 

Managing to get the ball back, Towson pushed another red zone drive. The drive reached fourth down, Towson once again went for it, only for Indorf to get sacked.

Of Towson’s three fourth down conversion attempts, only one was successful.

“This game I think really probably should’ve been a 10-10 game going into the fourth quarter. But we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, so frustrating for our fans,” Shinnick said. “Excited to see that many people in the stands for us, we’re just not giving them a great product right now.”

The stats stick out for Tigers, in all the wrong ways. Unable to convert a single of their nine third-down tries, compared to Elon’s seven of 15. While Towson netted 257 passing yards to Elon’s 181, the Phoenix put up 247 total rushing yards compared to only 63 for the Tigers.

The Tigers hope to bounce back next Saturday as they face the Monmouth Hawks. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. in Johnny Unitas Stadium in this year’s homecoming match-up.