TOWSON, Md. — As the Fordham defense prepared for the Towson Tigers’ offense in the second round of the FCS playoffs, it had two options.
The Rams could play it straight and risk being gashed on the ground by Towson’s potent rushing attack, or load the box and dare quarterback Peter Athens to beat them through the air.
Fordham coach Joe Moorhead chose the latter, and Athens rose to the challenge in coolly efficient fashion.
The senior passed for three touchdowns while completing 13 of 15 passes for 301 yards to help the Tigers slug the Rams, 48-28, at Johnny Unitas Stadium in front of 4,671.
Towson (11-2) will now travel to face Eastern Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday or Saturday.
“If you don’t commit that many guys to the box to stop the run, they’re going to run it up and down the field on you,” Moorhead said of his strategy. “When you’re committing eight or nine guys to the box, you’re creating one-on-one matchups on the perimeter, and the opportunity to throw some balls downfield.”
The Rams held the Tigers to 158 yards on 39 carries, a 4.1 average. But when Towson turned to its passing attack, as it did on the first drive of the third quarter, the Rams had no answer.
Towson was faced with a 3rd-and-9 from its own 25-yard line after two Terrance West runs went nowhere. Undaunted, Athens found West for a screen that the junior running back took 29 yards to the Fordham 46.
On the next play, Athens found Andre Dessenberg down the right sideline for a 46-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers the lead for good at 28-21.
On the next drive, with Fordham at the Towson 30, quarterback Michael Nebrich and center Joe Mizera got their signals crossed, as Mizera snapped the ball while Nebrich was walking toward the line of scrimmage. The Tigers recovered at midfield after Nebrich slipped before he could fall on the ball.
“It started to get a little loud in the stadium,” said Nebrich (37-of-50, 394 yards, four touchdowns). “We were trying to make some protection checks, and my center thought that I had said something.”
That turnover resulted in a Towson touchdown, as West’s second score of the day gave the Tigers a 14-point lead.
The Rams could not muster much for the rest of the game, with their only second-half score coming on a Nebrich touchdown pass to Brian Wetzel (five catches, 86 yards) early in the fourth quarter.
Towson was in control early, taking a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter behind a West touchdown run on the Tigers’ first possession and touchdown passes from Athens to Darius Victor and tight end James Oboh.
It was then that Towson briefly lost its discipline, allowing the Rams back into the game.
The Tigers returned a Fordham punt inside the Rams’ 5-yard line, but offsetting penalties negated the play. On the re-kick, Towson committed a roughing-the-punter penalty, and given new life, Nebrich found Sam Ajala for a 23-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 21-14.
The Rams got another break when Towson muffed a punt at midfield, and on a 4th-and-13 with 41 seconds left in the half, Nebrich found a wide-open Ajala for a 37-yard touchdown to tie the game.
They had a chance to take the lead after the ensuing kickoff was squibbed and hit a Towson blocker, but Michael Marando pushed a 41-yard field-goal attempt wide left as time expired in the half.
Despite the disappointing way in which Fordham’s season came to an end, Moorhead offered some perspective afterward.
“It should sting, it should hurt — we don’t like the feeling of a loss,” he said. “But at the same time, we weren’t going to mourn the season. We were going to celebrate it. The guys who are returning understand what it takes to get here, and the things that we have to do to win a second-round playoff game.”