ELON, N.C. – Ben Widmyer passed for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 59 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 4 Wofford to a 55-20 Southern Conference football victory over No. 3 Elon Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium, snapping the Phoenix’s seven-game winning streak.
Dane Romero gave the Terriers (6-1 overall, 4-0 SoCon) a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter on touchdown runs of one yard and eight yards. The Phoenix (7-2, 5-1) pulled to within 14-7 in the second period on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Scott Riddle to Terrell Hudgins.
Later in the second quarter, Wofford stretched its lead to 21-7 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Widmyer prior to a 45-yard field goal by Elon’s Andrew Wilcox. The Terriers fattened their edge to 34-10 after a 59-yard touchdown pass from Widmyer to Andy Strickland and a one-yard touchdown run by Widmyer.
Wilcox converted a 42-yard field goal to draw the Phoenix to within 34-13 at halftime. Bo Williamson brought Elon closer at 34-20 on a four-yard touchdown reception from Riddle in the third quarter. Wofford pulled away by scoring three unanswered touchdowns on a one-yard run by Romero, a two-yard run by Mitch Allen and a two-yard run by Eric Breitenstein.
“Wofford came in and executed nearly flawlessly on offense,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said. “They really were impressive. For three years now, turnovers have told the story in this game. This game reminded me a lot of our game two years ago out here where we turned the football over four times and they didn’t at all.”
The Terriers rolled up 473 yards of total offense – 330 on the ground – to 338 net yards by the Phoenix. Romero rushed for 87 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and Strickland caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
“A game like this is a Southern Conference championship game,” Wofford coach Mike Ayers said. “We knew going in what they had and we knew what we had. And we were confident that if we came in and executed and played hard that we’d have a chance to win the game. We made big plays. We made big first downs. And we ran the ball so effectively, that gave us opportunities for some easy throws.”
Riddle completed 30 of his 45 passes with three interceptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Hudgins hauled in 11 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown and Williamson snagged six catches for 73 yards and a score while Elon’s Brandon Newsome rushed for 83 yards on 19 carries.
The Phoenix’s Nolan Ward led all defenders with 16 total tackles and teammate Brandon Wiggins amassed 11 stops. James Mitchell paced the Wofford defense with 10 tackles. Elon's Lance Camp returned eight kickoffs for 189 yards.
Riddle, a true sophomore, became Elon’s all-time leader in total offense. He entered the game with 5,709 career yards, 14 yards behind former Phoenix quarterback Derrick Moore (5,723 net yards in 1997-2000). Riddle now garners 5,962 yards of total offense for his career.
Hudgins registered his 17th career game with 100 or more receiving yards, pulling into a tie with Appalachian State’s Rick Beasley (1978-80) and VMI’s Mark Stock (1985-88) for the Southern Conference’s all-time lead in that category.
Elon will observe its open date next week. Meanwhile, Wofford visits No. 2 Appalachian State at 8 p.m. Friday.
–ELON–
