ELON, N.C. – Reggie Hall rushed for a career-high 136 yards with a career-high three touchdowns as Elon overcame Presbyterian 34-19 to highlight 2005 Phoenix Homecoming festivities Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.
The Phoenix (2-1) won for the second time in as many weeks while the Blue Hose (3-1), ranked No. 25 in this week’s American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll, fell for the first time this season.
Stuart Mull gave Presbyterian an early 3-0 advantage, converting a 22-yard field goal with 11:30 remaining in the opening quarter. Hall put Elon ahead 7-3, scoring on a one-yard run with 7:22 to play in the first stanza.
Hall’s touchdown capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ate 4:08 off of the clock. It also represented the first deficit of the season for the Blue Hose, who had outscored their first three 2005 opponents by a 125-19 margin (41.7-6.3).
Zach Ellis, who entered the contest ranked 17th in the country at the NCAA-II level with a 157.7 rating, put Presbyterian back on top 9-7 with a three-yard touchdown run with 3:42 left in the first quarter. Ellis’ score concluded a 12-play, 79-yard drive that consumed 3:34.
The Phoenix regained the lead at 10-9 with 10:17 to go in the third quarter when Andrew Wilcox booted a 25-yard field goal, capping a 10-play, 36-yard drive that took 3:49 off the clock for the first of Elon’s 27 second-half points. Wilcox extended the Elon edge to 13-9 with a 41-yard field goal with 11:37 to play in the final period, igniting a 24-point fourth-quarter Phoenix eruption.
On a third-and-10 situation on the Presbyterian 31-yard line, Dwayne Ijames sacked Ellis for a loss of six yards. Ijames’ sack forced a fumble recovered by Mark Jetton and returned 18 yards to the Blue Hose two-yard line, setting up Hall’s second touchdown run of the afternoon to fatten the Elon advantage to 20-9 with 9:24 to play in the contest.
Wilcox then booted the kickoff 65 yards into the Presbyterian endzone, leading to a 20-yard return by Chetyuane Reeder and a forced fumble by Chris Bland, recovered by Elon’s Greg Abbott on the 21-yard line. This series of events set the stage for Hall’s third TD of the afternoon, a one-yard run, capping a four-play, 21-yard, 1:50 drive and giving the Phoenix a 27-9 cushion with 7:25 remaining.
Mull broke Elon’s string of 20 consecutive points with a 26-yard field goal to bring the Blue Hose within 27-12 with 4:41 left. The field goal completed a 10-play, 62-yard drive that lasted 2:43.
A mere minute later, Michael Mayers scored on a 39-yard pass from Kye Hamilton as the Phoenix stretched the lead to 34-12 at the 3:41 mark. Presbyterian tallied the game’s final touchdown when Justin Durant scored on a 35-yard toss from Ellis with 24 ticks to go. Durant had entered the contest with 10.0 points per game to tie for 27th in the country in scoring.
“I knew that Presbyterian would complete some passes,” said Elon coach Paul Hamilton. “Our defense did a great job of shutting down a very good offensive football team for much of the game.”
The Phoenix nipped the Blue Hose in total offensive yards (369-337), rushing yards (161-34), penalties (2-3), lost fumbles (1-2) and possession time (33:04-26:56). Presbyterian ended up with edges in first downs (18-16) and passing yards (303-208) while each team succeeded on nine of 18 third-down conversion attempts.
“Our kids fought hard, played hard,” said Blue Hose coach Tommy Spangler. “The score was not indicative of the game.”
Kye Hamilton completed 16 of 27 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown while Mayers snagged six receptions for 114 yards and a TD. Meanwhile, Ellis connected on 24 of 47 passes with a pair of interceptions for 303 yards and a touchdown while Chris Pope hauled in 10 catches for 134 yards and Durant pulled down six balls for 90 yards and a score.
Phoenix all-league linebacker Chad Nkang amassed 12 tackles, including 1.5 stops for minus yardage and a sack to lead all defenders. Ijames finished with nine stops with a tackle for loss and a sack while teammate Cody Scoggins racked up a career-high eight tackles.
Antoine Carter, David Dunagan and Kevin Molony each tallied eight tackles for the Blue Hose while Antwan Thomas collected seven.
In next week’s action, North Carolina A&T visits Elon for its Hall of Fame Game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Rhodes Stadium. Earlier that same day, Presbyterian begins South Atlantic Conference competition when it hosts Catawba at 1:30 p.m.
– ELON – Game Box Score
