First quarter fireworks

Football
Eli Rosenswaike

UMass 12, Towson 10

In an eventful first quarter filled with big plays, the Massachusetts Minutemen hold a small edge, 12-10, over the Towson Tigers.

Towson signal-caller Sean Schaefer torched the UMass secondary, throwing for 115 yards in the opening period. A 59-yard strike to tailback Paul Perry set up Rasheed McClaude's 1-yard TD run and a 39-yard pass to Marcus Lee set up a 34-yard field goal.

Liam Coen was strong in the opening quarter as well, throwing for 81 yards -- including a 10-yard TD pass to Michael Omar, tying the game late in the first. Tailback Matt Lawrence has carried the ball eight times for 35 yards.

The Minutemen added a safety when Towson longsnapper Joe McNamara sent a snap over the head of punter Bill Shears into the back of the endzone for the 2-point score.

The opening quarter took 54 minutes.

On a sour note, Towson offensive tackle Leon Stevenson was carted off the field after suffering an injury with under two minutes to play in the quarter. Stevenson stayed down on the field turf for several minutes before being carted off. His injury is believed to be to his lower leg. More on this later if more information is made available.