TOWSON, Md. - The setting was perfect. A sellout crowd of 11,196 witnessed a classic football game that was decided by a play-making linebacker.
On 2nd-and-9 from the Towson nine-yard line, Lehigh linebacker Tom Bianchi sacked Towson quarterback Grant Enders in the end zone to give Lehigh a safety and a 40-38 lead. Bianchi was a situational player, who came into the game with 2.5 sacks and 19 tackles in 10 games.
But, he made the play of the game for the Mountain Hawks and unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn't come up with enough to win their first FCS playoff game.
“It was a perfect play call," said Bianchi. "As soon as I tackled him, I wasn't sure that it was a safety. Once I got up and saw everyone celebrating, I knew it was a safety.”
Towson got in that position after forcing Lehigh to punt from midfield. They actually forced Lehigh to go three-and-out and punt for just the second time all game. However, the reason Lehigh got the ball back after they just scored was even more bizarre than the safety. Jake Peery kicked off to the Lehigh 41-yard line where the ball hit Towson receiver Alex Blake in the head and was recovered by Mark Wickware.
So, instead of Towson getting the ball in decent field position on a squib kick with about 8:00 left and the game tied, Lehigh got the ball and despite having to punt, had won the battle of field position. Punter Tim Divers nailed the ball inside the 10-yard line as Leon Kinnard was tackled at the eight-yard line.
Two plays later, Enders was sacked in the end zone.
The Tigers tried to run a naked bootleg in the end zone, a play that has worked in the past, but didn't against Lehigh.
"The defense was pretty disciplined," said Towson Coach Rob Ambrose. "[It was] probably a bad call on my part. You guys want to go back to the Maryland game; if you want a chance to win, you've got to be a little unorthodox. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
Making plays is what this 9-3 Towson team has done throughout the season. The Tigers made several against Lehigh, including a beautiful 52-yard touchdown pass from Enders to Gerrard Sheppard with 12:36 left and a 68-yard pass from Enders to Kinnard late in the third quarter. One play later, Enders rushed it in from five yards to give the Tigers a 31-24 lead.
But, there were not enough plays made on defense. Towson's defense has struggled at times this year, especially between the 20's. But, they've come up with enough turnovers or late stops to win nine games.
On Saturday night, Lehigh tallied 38 points on offense, including 374 yards passing and 482 yards overall. They converted 7 of 14 third down conversions and were 2-for-3 on fourth downs.
When Towson had to kick off, following the safety, there was still about five minutes left and with two timeouts remaining; all the defense needed to do was make a stop.
The Mountain Hawks had the ball on their own 33-yard line with 5:07 left. On first down, Chris Lum threw a rare incompletion. On second down, wide receiver Ryan Spadola rushed for three yards to the Lehigh 36-yard line.
On third-and-seven, Towson had a penalty for a substitution infraction, which put them at third-and-two. Lum completed a six-yard pass to tight end Jamel Haggins to extend the drive. Lum converted another third down at the Lehigh 45-yard line for a pass down the middle to Jake Drwal for 18 yards to the Towson 31-yard line, crushing almost any hope the Tigers had of getting the ball back.
This was a difficult game for the defense, which had faced outstanding quarterbacks all year against Richmond (Aaron Corp), New Hampshire (Kevin Decker) and Old Dominion (Taylor Heinicke). But, they managed to win those games despite giving up huge chunks of yardage.
Against Lehigh, Towson had to play without starting linebacker Danzel White, who was second on the team with 77 tackles along with a sack, two tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. The junior had struggled with knee issues this year, costing him two games and he couldn't go in the Lehigh game.
They were also without senior LB Chris Patterson (27 tackles, 1 sack) and sophomore LB Kyle Polk (23 tackles, 2 sacks). They were forced to move junior OLB Brian Boateng to the middle, who responded with 12 tackles while moving sophomore backup DE Ben Chroniger to strong side linebacker.
"It was tough but our defense is about next man up," said Boateng. "We have to step up if somebody gets hurt. Everybody shoud know their assigments. We just couldn't make the plays when it counted."
Throughout the season, the Tigers were able to make the plays when it counted. Against Old Dominion, Enders hit Tom Ryan on a 4th-and-29 with 1:07 left for the improbable 39-35 win. Against New Hampshire, despite allowing 611 yards, the defense made huge plays, including a Tye Smith 45-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Tigers also picked off Decker three times and recovered a fumble while Derrick Joseph ran a kick back 93 yards for a touchdown.
Towson was able to overcome some inadequacies this season by making big plays on offense, defense and special teams. But, on Saturday night, they didn't make enough to beat a team that wasn't going to give the game away. It will be a long offseason knowing that Towson was just a play or two away from advancing to face North Dakota State on the road in the FCS quarterfinals.
Yet, coming off a 1-10 season in 2010, there's nothing like going into the offseason with a young team with most of the players returning. In 2011, the Tigers got a taste what it's like and now they should be hungry for more.
