ELON, N.C. – Richie Williams passed for 95 yards and two touchdowns while Kevin Richardson rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns and received for 52 yards and another score as No. 6 Appalachian State overwhelmed Elon 52-14 in Southern Conference football action Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.
With the victory, the Mountaineers (8-3 overall, 6-1 Southern Conference) clinched outright possession their first league title since 1999. ASU has now claimed six Southern Conference crowns, capturing outright conference championships in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995 and 2005 and sharing the 1999 title with Furman and Georgia Southern.
William Mayfield’s 34-yard touchdown pass from Williams and Julian Rauch’s 23-yard field goal gave Appalachian State a 10-0 first quarter lead. Richardson scored three touchdowns – on a pair of two-yard runs and an 18-yard pass from Williams – in the second quarter, pushing the Mountaineers’ lead to 31-0 at halftime.
Zach Johnson caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Trey Elder early in the third quarter, stretching ASU’s advantage to 38-0. Early in the final period, T.J. Courman hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Elder to extend the cushion to 45-0 before the Phoenix (3-8 overall, 0-7 Southern Conference) put points on the scoreboard.
Dwayne Ijames returned the following kickoff 95 yards for the first Elon touchdown. Following a Titus Howard 70-yard interception return for an Appalachian State score with 2:52 remaining, Michael Mayers registered the second Phoenix touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Tripp Hursey as time expired.
Elon quarterback Kye Hamilton’s four completions gave him a school-record 140 for the year, passing Burgin Beale (137 in 1981) for the 84-year-old program’s single-season mark. Kevin Bailey (50 yards) and Reggie Hall (46 yards) led the Phoenix rushing attack.
Elder completed seven of 11 passes for 131 yards and two second-half scores while Johnson (57 yards), Mayfield (52 yards) and Richardson (52 yards) led the ASU receivers.
Phoenix linebacker Chad Nkang led all defenders with 18 total tackles while teammate Danny Boback tallied 10 stops. Pierre Banks paced the Mountaineers’ defense with seven total tackles.
Appalachian State amassed 445 yards of total offense, including 226 in the air, in 33:41 in possession time. Elon was held to 138 yards of total offense, including 96 on the ground. ASU recorded 25 first downs to nine for the Phoenix.
– ELON – Game Box Score
