Hamilton, NY — Junior tailback Jamaal Branch carried a career-high 36 times for 176 yards and one touchdown to lead ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ (4-0 overall, 2-0 Patriot League) to a 26-7 Patriot League win over Towson at Andy Kerr Stadium.
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ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ extended the second longest win streak in Division I-AA to 10 straight games as the Raiders opened their season with four straight wins for the first time since 1983. It is only the fourth time in school history that ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ has won 10 straight games with the last time coming in 1977.
Branch becomes the 23rd player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a career. He is currently 22nd with 1,153 yards.
ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ had 338 yards of total offense ‘ 224 rushing and 114 passing at wind swept Andy Kerr Stadium. Towson managed 157 yards of offense ‘ 20 rushing and 137 passing.
Over the last eight seasons, the Raiders have held the opposition to under 100 yards rushing 37 times, and are 35-2 when doing so.
Towson opened the scoring with 9:54 remaining in the first half when Mikal Lundy scored on a 28-yard touchdown run to cap an eight-play, 59-yard drive. ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ tied the contest with 8:47 left in the first half when on the first play from scrimmage, junior wide receiver Luke Graham grabbed a 51-yard touchdown pass from Chris Brown.
After a scoreless third quarter, ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ took a 14-0 lead two minutes into the fourth quarter when Brown capped an 80-yard drive with a one-yard bootleg run around the left corner.
On the ensuing possession by Towson, the Tigers were forced to take a safety when the fourth down snap sailed over punter Steve Bulcavage’s head. Bulcavage recovered the fumble and threw the ball over the back line of the end zone giving ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ a 16-7 advantage.
ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ closed out the scoring on a 32-yard field goal by Lane Schwarzberg and Branch’s 11-yard TD run with 58 seconds left.
GAME NOTES: Brown completed seven-of-22 passes for 114 yards and one TD ‘ Graham extended his pass catching streak to 18 straight games, while J.B. Gerald stretched his streak to 16 straight games ‘ Strong safety Sean McCune had his fifth career interception, while free safety Ainsworth Minott had his third career interception ‘ ÏãÃÛÓ°ÊÓ’s leading tackler was McCune with seven, while Rob Hannah had a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery … senior tailback Nate Thomas moved into a tie for 17th place in career rushing with 1,349 yards.