When senior co-captain Matt Fronczke returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown early in the opening quarter, it seemed Georgetown was finally back on track. For the first time in three weeks, the Hoyas had an early lead, momentum, and a reason to believe that their offense would find ways to exploit the few weaknesses in Towson’s defense. Unfortunately, this optimistic prognostication would be thwarted immediately. The Tigers blocked Michael Gillman’s point-after attempt, the Hoyas’ offense was never able to get in-sync with itself, and Towson walked away from Harbin Field with a 27-6 victory.
For Georgetown, the demoralizing loss ensured a fourth-straight losing season and marked a second season in which they will finish with two or fewer Patriot League victories. The defeat also marked a stark change in offensive production, as the Hoyas’ output has fallen from highs of 42 and 49 points in October to zero on Saturday. In fact, Georgetown has mustered only 40 points in their last three games combined. A team that began the season with a bevy of offensive weapons has lately found myriad ways to stall in scoring.
“The last two weeks have thrown us off our rhythm,” junior quarterback Drew Crawford said. “The offense let the team down in both games, and going into this game we knew we had to come out and do something early. We didn’t do anything, and that put us in a big hole. It was like we were down more than we were.”
The dominant Towson defense held Georgetown to 234 yards and kept them scoreless in the red zone, going zero-for-two. The Tigers also forced three fumbles, two of which they recovered, and grabbed three interceptions. The later two interceptions, Crawford passes picked off by Tiger cornerback Davon Telp, were returned for touchdowns within the final three minutes, sealing the Towson victory. “The interceptions came because of miscommunication between me and the wide receivers,” Crawford said. “But they have a lot of good athletes in the secondary.”
The Tigers’ bruising secondary also left its mark on senior wide out Luke McArdle, who could be seen clutching his side to relieve a shoulder bruise throughout the second half. “He can barely walk,” Head Coach Bob Benson said of his star offensive weapon. “I’ve never seen anyone more banged up than Luke, and he keeps playing. That’s a testament to his character.”
Crawford echoed Benson’s words. “Luke is a real warrior,”Crawford said.
Despite his injuries, McArdle provided some of the few offensive highlights in the game, most noticeably a stunning 34-yard reception on a long pass from Crawford, sending the ball to the one-yard line just before the half. However, the rest of the drive was emblematic of Georgetown’s offensive struggles throughout the day: First-year quarterback Alondzo Turner was unable to plunge across the goal line, and a field goal attempt by Gillman with five seconds remaining in the half was blocked. The miss was Gillman’s eighth of the season on only 13 attempts, one of the Patriot League’s worst success rates. “The game went the way we thought it would,” Benson said. “It was a low-scoring contest. We can’t miss extra points and field goals … we didn’t score when we had the ball on the one-inch line.”
Throughout the game the coaching staff veered away from its season long strategy of mixing the team’s two quarterbacks throughout the game. Turner led only one drive for the Hoyas and did not attempt any passes. Afterwards, the coaches claimed that they used the same deliberative process they have all season in picking which signal caller will lead an upcoming drive. “We gave Alondzo a chance early, and he had a hard time,” Benson said.
Turner’s inability to cross the goal-line in his single-play entrance just before the half may have also played a factor in his lack of playing time in the second half as well, although Benson refused to give any indication as to why he had stuck with Crawford throughout. “Alondzo’s made that play all season long, and he just didn’t get across this time,” Benson said.
The loss marred another heroic performance by the Georgetown defense, which was led by seniors William Skultety and Fronczke, who had 15 and 14 tackles respectively. Byron Anderson added an interception to Fronzcke first-quarter grab, and the defense held Towson to six-of-13 on third down conversions, and one-of-three in red zone chances. “Our defense played great,” Benson said. “We made efforts to win it, and were right there going into the fourth quarter.”
Still, the defense refused to rest on their successes in the face of another demoralizing loss. “If we don’t win, we don’t play well enough,” Fronczke said. “It’s disappointing anytime you don’t win.”
The Hoyas will have little time to lick their wounds as they turn their attention to the Davidson Wildcats of the Pioneer Football League. The small-town North Carolina foes will serve as the final home match up for Georgetown’s seniors, who will take to Harbin Field for the last time this Saturday at 12:30.
Fronczke echoed the outlook for the remainder of Georgetown’s season after Saturday’s defeat. “The only choice we have left is to go out and play hard the rest of the season,” Fronzcke said. “Now we have to shoot to go five-and-seven.”
