Grant Enders of Towson Football vs Morgan State - Casey Prather/ The Towerlight

Towson racked up 534 yards of total offense in the 42-3 dismantling of cross-town rival Morgan State Saturday night. The Tigers offensive performance marks the first time since 2006 that Towson has gone for more than 500 yards of total offense in one game.

Morgan’s Tyrone Hendrix returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for the Bears, making it all the way to the Towson 14-yard line. But the Tigers defense made an early stand and forced a field goal. The Tigers then scored 42 straight points, winning without much of a fight from the Bears.

Prior to kickoff, fans had one question left unanswered: who would be Towson’s starting quarterback?

That question lingered until the Tigers lined up for their first offensive drive on their own 31-yard line and transfer quarterback Grant Enders crouched under center.

“We progressed through camp and really gave all these kids [an] equal opportunity,” Head Coach Rob Ambrose said. “Grant showed the greatest amount of consistency, moving the offense over and over and over again. When it comes down to it, that is pretty much the name of the game.”

Enders made his Towson debut under the lights of Johnny Unitas Stadium and showed the 9,759 fans in attendance why he won the starting job over junior Brian Potts and sophomore Peter Athens.  Enders threw for 197 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also added 47 yards on the ground and had a rushing touchdown in his first game as a Tiger.

“I felt good out there,” Enders said. “All of the older guys on the offense, the line, the receivers, everybody on the offense gave a lot of support, so I felt very comfortable out there. We had a good game plan, and I was just overall confident in what we were trying to accomplish.”

Enders started his Towson career with a drive that ended with fullback Tyler Wharton scoring his first career touchdown on a 19-yard reception. After adding another touchdown reception in the third quarter, Wharton finished the game with 42 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Prior to this game, Wharton had only recorded five receptions and 19 receiving yards in his career.

“I really give the credit to the [offensive] line, because we were really just pounding the ball.” Wharton said. “Every time we were just pounding the ball down their throat, and then it just left it wide open for me, and I just slipped out in the flat. It feels good to get a win like this. I’ve been here five years, and we haven’t had a win like this.”

Junior Gerard Sheppard was also on the receiving end of one Enders’ touchdowns. To end the game, Athens came in for the Tigers and added a touchdown throw of his own when he connected with redshirt-freshman Spencer Wilkins.

In his first game as a Tiger, Sterlin Phiefer rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown. Phiefer was one of  three Towson running backs to rush for over 50 yards.

After the Tigers scored on the first drive of the game, the defense responded with a turnover. Junior safety Jordan Dangerfield picked off Morgan State quarterback Don Dickerson and then later in the game recovered a fumble that was forced by linebacker Danzel White.

“Everybody is flying around,” Dangerfield said. “Everybody is just flying to get to the ball and trying to force turnovers.”

The Tiger defense only allowed 160 yards of offense and forced four punts. The Bears also attempted to convert on three fourth-down conversions, but were unsuccessful in each attempt.

The Tigers will take the practice field this week to prepare for conference play. Their first Colonial Athletic Association matchup will be against the Villanova Wildcats, who suffered a 42-7 loss at the hands of Temple University in Week 1.

“Take it one game at a time,” Enders said. “But we definitely want to prove a point that we are a powerful offense, so we’ll be game planning against [Villanova] and hopefully have a similar performance, if not better.”