Towson junior Omari Rowell touched the ball four times in the last 20 minutes of Towson’s victory over Loch Raven — and scored each time.
He had touchdown runs of 33, 19 and 20 yards and capped it off with a 42-yard run to paydirt on a punt return.
His second-half heroics was part of 35 unanswered points that helped turn a two-point halftime lead into a 51-14 rout over host Loch Raven.
Rowell gained 111 yards rushing on 14 carries and scored five touchdowns and backfield mate Armando Villanueva ran for 114 yards on 13 attempts with a touchdown.
“It’s just focusing on that play specifically. Like every single play we just take it at 100 percent,” Villanueva said. “Just picking up the guys and stuff and not ever never giving up.”
Towson coach Will Thompson appreciates the way the backs feed off each other and the rest of the team has followed their lead.
“They are selfless. Everybody is playing for each other,” he said. “One game somebody may get two or three and another game somebody may get two or three touchdowns.”
The teams matched touchdowns in the first half with Towson scoring first on a Rowell’s 5-yard touchdown run to cap a seven-play, 38-yard drive that included a key 11-yard reverse by Hudson Arrup.
Villanueva’s conversion run gave the Generals an 8-0 lead with under three minutes left in the first quarter.
Loch Raven answered three plays later when quarterback Darrien Carter (4-for-11, 124 yards) connected with Isaiah Burnes for a 77-yard touchdown strike, but the conversion attempt was denied.
“He’s our backup quarterback. I’m definitely looking forward to the future with him,” Loch Raven coach Walter Vaughn said. “He definitely stepped up there and did a job.”
Towson’s next drive featured a 56-yard run by Villanueva on the last play of the first quarter. Three plays later, Villanueva snuck it in from the 2 and Arrup caught the two-point conversion pass from Mohammad Butt and the lead was 16-6.
Loch Raven responded with 14-play drive that included a 35-yard pass from Carter to Ayodele Olowe, then a 14-yard touchdown pass to Olowe. Khion Gardner’s conversion run cut the lead to 16-14 with under five minutes left in the half.
“I felt pretty good at halftime, we had some positive plays going into half,” Vaughn said. “It was a good game up until about the end of the third quarter and they just kind of went out of control.”
The Raiders were playing without their starting quarterback Cai Perry and top running back Kimanthi Evans, both out with concussions. Evans is projected to return next week against Rockville after missing the past two games.
“He is a very big threat,” Vaughn said. “I think next week with him back that will give a huge lift to the offense.”
Loch Raven injuries mounted in the second half and so did Towson’s advantage in yardage. The Raiders gained 195 yards in the first half, including 129 passing, but they had just 24 total yards in the second half.
Meanwhile, Towson rushed for 134 of its 303 total yards in the second half.
“Penalties killed us, but we are a very young team and we are still trying to get these kids accustomed to playing on varsity and not making so many mistakes,” Vaughn said.
Loch Raven (2-4) committed eight penalties in the first half, but the Generals were not happy with their own performance.
“We were absolutely frustrated,” Rowell said. “We’ve been playing better than that all year, so that’s kind of what the talk was about at halftime.”
Rowell’s four second-half touchdowns were followed by a late flea flicker pass from Raf Prumo to Chase Simmons for the final score.
The win was the fifth straight for the Generals after a season-opening loss to Dulaney. They were winless last season.
“Nobody on this team had won a varsity football game,” Thompson said. “They had to learn how to win and they are learning how to win. It’s not on Friday nights, it’s not on Saturdays, it’s during the week and the process of it and I’m very proud of them.”
“It really just took that first win,” Rowell said. “The first win we all really came together. We know what we can do as a group and to be honest we can be even better than we are right now, so that’s the goal moving forward these last three games.”
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