Towson holds off Coastal

TOWSON, Md. — Peter Athens threw two touchdown passes, leading Towson in a 21-17 victory over Coastal Carolina on Saturday night.

Towson (1-1) snapped a six-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 11, 2008.

Splitting time at quarterback, Athens completed 13 of 18 passes for 132 yards with two touchdowns, while Tommy Chroniger was 4-for-7 passing with 45 yards and a touchdown. Chroniger also ran 12 times for 37 yards.

Coastal Carolina (1-2) was held to just 94 yards rushing in the game, well below its average of 142.5 per game.

The Tigers got out to a 14-0 lead on short passes inside the red zone. Chroniger found John Godlasky on a 4-yard pass with 5:10 left in the first quarter, and Athens connected with David Newsom cutting across the end zone for another 4-yard score with 11:02 left in the half.

Coastal Carolina cut the margin to 14-7 at the half on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jamie Childers to David Duran.

But the Tigers increased the lead to 21-10 on a 13-yard pass from Athens to Newsom with 11:49 remaining in the game.

After Childers was injured on a scramble late in the third quarter, Zach MacDowall entered and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Whitley to cut the lead to 21-17. Josh Norman intercepted Athens in the end zone on a late Towson drive, and Coastal Carolina drove to Towson’s 12-yard line with 1:07 remaining in the game. However, MacDowall’s pass into the end zone on a fourth-and-7 was incomplete and the Tigers held on for the win.