Box Score

ELON, N.C. -- Scott Riddle became the all-time leader in completions at the FCS level with 1,143 while throwing for 311 yards and a touchdown to lead the Elon Phoenix to a thrilling 30-25 Southern Conference football victory over the visiting Furman Paladins from Rhodes Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Elon was also bolstered by the 103-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance by #A.J. Harris# as the Phoenix improved to 5-5 on the season and 4-3 in SoCon play. Furman fell to 5-5, 3-4 on the year.

During Elon’s drive to start the second half, Riddle found Aaron Mellette over the middle for a 15-yard gain. The completion moved Riddle atop the FCS career completions chart, surpassing Holy Cross’ Dominic Randolph (2006-09).

"I'm very happy to get an important win," said Elon head coach Pete Lembo.  "This was a big game for us at this point in the season against a program that we have a lot of respect for.  Like a lot of our game this season, it was an emotional roller coaster, back-and-forth with some incredible changes in momentum."

After the teams traded punts on their first possession, Furman marched 78 yards for the first points of the game. Tersoo Uhaa gained 12 yards on the ground on the first play of the drive that used up 6:29 of game time on 13 plays. After another first down moved the ball to the Paladin 42, quarterback Dakota Derrick raced for 18 yards into Elon territory at the 40-yard line. Furman picked up 14 yards on three straight carries before Derrick’s screen pass to Uhaa gained 15 yards to the Elon 11. On third and four from the five Derrick’s pass was deflected by Elon’s Tevin James to force a 22-yard field goal by Ray Early that put the Paladins on top 3-0 with 6:02 to play in the first quarter.

Elon countered on its next drive, moving 53 yards on six plays over 1:34 to take a 7-3 lead after Harris made multiple Furman defenders miss and ran it in from 27 yards out. Harris carried on the first three plays of the possession, gaining 17 yards. Riddle then completed a nine-yard pass to Sean Jeffcoat on third-and-six at the Paladin 27.

The Phoenix upped its advantage to 14-3 after an 11-play, 70-yard drive. Elon converted a third-and-two from its own 38 when Brandon Newsome rumbled 37 yards for a first down at the Furman 24. A pass interference call against Furman in the end zone gave Elon a first-and-goal from the two and three plays later Lance Camp would rush in from a yard out for the score with 10:15 remaining in the first half.

After Furman took over at the Elon 30-yard line after a short punt new Paladin quarterback Cody Worley found Sederrick Cunningham for a 16-yard completion to the 14. On third-and four from the eight, Colin Anderson ran a reverse for a first down at the Elon two before Uhaa plunged it in to cap a five-play drive to make it a 14-10 game with just under two minutes to play in the first half.

With a four-yard completion to Harris on Elon’s next drive, Riddle moved into second place on the FCS’ career list. It was the fourth completion of the drive for Riddle as the Phoenix moved from its own 10 to its own 45. Riddle completed his next four passes for gains of 15, five, nine and 11 yards as the march continued to the Paladin 26. After losing yardage on the next two plays, Elon faced a fourth-and-14 and Adam Shreiner came on to boot a 37-yard field goal to give Elon a 17-10 lead at the break.

Late in the third quarter the Phoenix drove 76 yards in 1:45 to claim a 24-10 lead thanks to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Riddle to Jeffcoat. Elon got into the red zone on a 36-yard scamper from Harris on a second-and-four from the Furman 45.

On third-and-10 from the Elon 39, Worley found David Hendrix across the middle for 26 yards and a first down. After an Elon penalty set Furman up at the 16-yard line, Worley hit Ryan Culbreath for a TD in the front corner of the end zone. The score pulled the Paladins within one score at 24-17 with 11:04 remaining in the game.

After a misplay on the kickoff gave Elon the ball at the two, Furman’s Shawn Boone caught Newsome in the end zone for a safety to make it 24-19. It was the first safety against Elon since Nov. 15, 2003 against Georgia Southern.

Furman began its next drive at its own 47 and promptly picked up 31 yards on a Worley pass to Anderson. A screen pass to Uhaa gained another 17 yards as the Paladins set up with goal to go at the Elon four. Uhaa followed by plunging in to give Furman its first lead since it was up 3-0 early. The two-point try failed and the Paladins moved on top 25-24 with 8:57 to play.

Once again the Phoenix responded, driving 70 yards on eight plays with Harris scoring his second touchdown of the day on a seven-yard run around the right end. Elon’s two-point attempt was also unsuccessful and the Phoenix led 30-25 with 5:21 showing on the clock. Riddle completed six-of-seven passes on the drive.

Elon forced Furman into a three-and-out to get the ball back at its own 34 with 4:20 on the clock. Looking to run as much time off the clock as possible, the Phoenix converted a third-and-eight with a 12-yard gain on a pass to Jeremy Peterson. Elon would end up punting, but the kick was blocked and the Paladins took possession at the Elon 36 with just 10 seconds still to play. Worley dropped back and rolled to his left before sending a jump ball into the back corner of the end zone where Blake Thompson came down with the interception, his team-leading fourth of the year, to secure the five-point victory for the Phoenix.

Riddle ended the day completing 31 of his 46 pass attempts for 311 yards, the 22nd 300-yard game of his stellar career. He also equaled his own SoCon mark of having thrown at least one touchdown pass in 21 consecutive outings.  The senior has now climbed to fifth in FCS history in passing yards, having thrown for 12,812 yards in his four seasons.

Harris’ 100-yard performance was his second of the season and the third of his career. He has now rushed for eight scores during his junior campaign and 15 during his time in the maroon and gold. Mellette posted his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season, snaring six balls for 107 yards.  Newsome ran for 44 yards to eclipse the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career.  The senior now boasts 2,032 career rushing yards.

Those for players helped lead the Phoenix to 430 total yards of offense on 79 plays.

Elon’s defense was led by yet another double-digit tackle performance by Brandon Wiggins who racked up a team-leading 10 tackles. Andrew Straus finished with career-best nine takedowns.

Furman’s Worley completed seven of his 17 passes for 116 yards and a score while Uhaa carried 16 times for 71 yards and two touchdowns.

The Paladin defense saw Chris Wiley total 12 tackles, including two stops for a loss, while Max Lerner notched 11 tackles.

Elon will conclude its 2010 season with a 3 p.m. kickoff against Western Carolina from Rhodes Stadium next weekend while Furman will play host to Georgia Southern in a 2 p.m. game that same afternoon.