ELON, NC – Jermaine Austin rushed for 136 yards and Chaz Williams scored three touchdowns as No. 24 Georgia Southern downed Elon 37-13 – in the Southern Conference football season finale for both teams – Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.

The Eagles (7-4 overall, 5-3 Southern Conference) rolled up 440 yards of total offense, including 402 on the ground. The Phoenix (2-10, 1-7) finished with 285 net yards, including 148 on the ground and 137 in the air. Georgia Southern was hit for 16 penalties for 179 yards while Elon was charged with nine penalties for 91 yards.

Kevin Davis gave the Eagles an early 7-0 advantage on an eight-yard touchdown run with 9:14 to play in the first quarter. Phoenix workhorse Rashaud Palmer broke free for a 55-yard touchdown sprint, knotting the score at 7-7 with 5:13 left in the first period.

Georgia Southern went on to score 30 consecutive points to put the outcome out of reach. Williams scored three times on one-yard runs, once in each of the remaining quarters. Tariq Muhammad’s 36-yard interception return stretched the GSU advantage to 37-7 with 7:53 remaining in the contest.

Dan Brooks hauled in a 36-yard pass from Anthony Crews to give the Phoenix one last touchdown with 14 seconds left on the clock. Crews completed 10 of 22 passes with one interception for 137 yards.

Palmer finished with a season-high 134 rushing yards on 19 carries to end up with 2,550 career yards. He ranks 11th among Elon’s all-time rushing leaders.

Phoenix standouts Anthony Harris (11 tackles, one interception), Eddie Bell (11 tackles, one TFL), Vincent Graves (11 tackles, one TFL) and Calvin Sutton (10 tackles) led all defenders.

— ELON —

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