Tigers Outlast Coastal Carolina, 47-45

Junior quarterback Chris Hart is starting to make a name for himself at Towson University. Last week, Hart ran for 123 yards against Indiana, becoming the first Towson QB to rush for over 100 yards in a game.

On Saturday night, Hart threw for four touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a 49-47 win over Coastal Carolina in five overtimes—a Towson record—before an announced 8,990 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

 Towson last played an overtime game on Oct. 5, 2002, when they fell to Cornell, 34-31, in two overtimes.

Hart was not the only hero, as sophomore safety Jordan Dangerfield made the game's biggest play in the fifth overtime. With the Chanticleers down by two and needing a two-point conversion to send it into the sixth overtime, Coastal Carolina quarterback Zach MacDowall attempted a pass to the back of the end zone where 6-foot-5 tight end Jamie Childers was standing alone. But Dangerfield tipped the ball just as the Childers was waiting to receive it and the pass hit the ground. Towson's players ran out of the field to celebrate a game that lasted three hours and 38 minutes.

"Anybody that came got their money's worth," said Towson head coach Rob Ambrose. "I'm very proud of these guys. [Coastal Carolina] is a damn good football team. When I first got here, I said our kids would never quit. They don't quit. We could have played all night. I love these guys."

Ambrose wasn't as thrilled late in the first half when Towson drove down to the one-yard line with 1:36 left and couldn't punch it in. Hart engineered the team on a 7:15 drive that started at Coastal's 45-yard line. But once they got inside the 10-yard line, Towson called their second timeout.  Towson threw the ball on fourth and one but Hart couldn't connect with Tom Ryan in the end zone.

 Coastal Carolina got the ball back on their own one-yard line with 1:36 left, but ran the clock down to seven seconds, with the Tigers down to just one timeout.

In the second half, Towson finally got on the scoreboard on their second drive when Hart found senior wide receiver Hakeem Moore in the corner of the end zone for 24-yards to tie the game at 7-7. Moore was defended most of the night by All-Conference and All-American corner Josh Norman.

But the Chanticleers would come back with two touchdowns as MacDowall ran for one late in the third quarter and Racheed Gause scored on a 10-yard run with 12:36 left in the game. With the score 21-7, some of the stands started to empty, but the remaining fans witnessed a historic ending.

From Towson's 36-yard line, Hart hit Moore down the sidelines for 57 yards to the Coastal Carolina four-yard line. Once again, the Tigers had to take two timeouts, this time back-to-back, after they had 12 players on the field. But unlike the first half, Towson capitalized when Hart found redshirt freshman James Oboh for a two-yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 21-14 with 9:40 left.

After a defensive stop, the Tigers got the ball back on their own 30 with 3:54 left. Hart once again came up big, but the Tigers also received a break. On third and 10 at the Towson 40, Hart threw a pass down the middle of the field but was interfered with by Norman. Hart then went to work, completing pass to Ryan and to sophomore Alex Blake to the Coastal 32. In the next two crucial plays, Hart rushed for a combined 30 yards to get down to the Coastal two-yard line.

After calling their last timeout, Hart found Ryan in the end zone for the tying score and the game would eventually go to overtime with the score tied at 21.

Both defenses were fatigued as the Tigers' running backs found holes that weren't available in regulation. Sophomore Tremayne Dameron rushed for two touchdowns, but it was Hart's 25-yard touchdown pass to Moore in the fifth overtime for a that made the difference.

Before that, Towson had stayed on the ground in the first four overtimes and had chance to win it in the second overtime when Coastal took the lead, 30-24, but kicker Justin Durham missed the extra point. Dameron rushed five straight times, including a two-yard touchdown run, to tie the game once more at 30. After a Coastal Carolina timeout, senior kicker Nick Wallace hit the crossbar on the extra point attempt to put the game into the third overtime.

There were many offensive stars for Towson, including Moore, who had three catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. As a senior, he's been through and seen it all.

"In my five years at Towson, I've never seen the fight, the effort and the energy of the crowd," said Moore. "I've never been a part of something like that."

Hart finished with 155 yards passing and four touchdowns with one interception, while rushing for 79 yards. Dameron rushed for 107 yards on 29 carries, but with 44 of his yards in overtime.

Coastal's MacDowall passed for 185 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 57 yards and two scores.

Junior Chris Patterson led the Tigers in tackles with 12, while senior Yaky Ibia recorded 10. Dangerfield added nine tackles and two pass breakups, while senior linebacker Donte Blakey came off the bench to record 10 tackles and one sack.

"For the ones that stayed here, not only did they get their money's worth, but they felt apart of something bigger," Ambrose said. "They felt they were a part of what should have been for the last 20 years and finally is."

The Tigers are back in action next Saturday afternoon when they travel to face second-ranked Villanova in a televised matchup at 3:30 p.m.