The Bison football team traveled to Towson, Md. on Oct. 19 to take on the No. 20/18 Towson Tigers. The Bison suffered a 56-7 loss after going head-to-head against its third-ranked opponent of the 2019 season. The Bison currently sit at a record of 1-6 and 1-1 in Patriot League play.

The Bison scored their only touchdown at the 8:25 mark of the second quarter. Quarterback Logan Bitikofer ’21 threw a screen pass to Dominic Lyles ’22, who ran for 52 yards down to the Tigers’ 21 to put the team in great field position. Jared Cooper ’22 capped off the drive with a three-yard rush to get the Bison on the board.

Going into halftime, the Tigers held a sizable advantage, with a score of 42-7. The Bison defense was resilient after a tough half, limiting the Tigers to only two touchdowns in the second half.

“We knew going into the game that Towson was going to be a really tough opponent, but regardless of the fact that they’re nationally ranked, we had the mindset that we were going to battle with them every play. We have ambitions of making it to the national playoffs, so we knew that we would face teams, like Towson,” Lyles said. “After Towson’s explosive start, we didn’t perform as well as we usually do. Our team as a whole made a lot of physical and mental mistakes. Down 28-0, we put together a strong drive to score our only points of the game, which shows our grit and our ability to move the ball against one of the best FCS teams in the nation.”

Bitikofer and quarterback John Chiarolanzio ’20 totaled 155 passing yards, while Lyles led the team in receiving yards from his 52-yard reception. Bitikofer reached the 1,000 passing yard mark on the season. Wide receiver Brandon Sanders ’22 added 37 yards on five catches. All-American punter Alex Pechin ’20  averaged 50.7 yards on a career-best 11 punts.

On the defensive side, safety Conner Romango ’21 led all players with 10 tackles, nine of which were solo. Romango has now totaled over 50 tackles on the season. Linebacker Gerrit Van Itallie ’21 contributed nine tackles and safety Brent Jackson ’23 added seven in his first career start as a Bison.

The Tigers were the last non-conference opponent for the Bison on the season. The Orange and Blue are now focused on Patriot League play as they travel to Easton, Pa. to take on the Lafayette Leopards on Saturday, Oct. 26.