Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – Sean Jeffcoat caught six balls for a career-high 111 yards and both Scott Riddle and Brandon Newsome rushed for scores, but it was not enough as the Elon Phoenix came out on the short end of a 41-27 score against the Duke Blue Devils in the season-opener for both squads on Saturday night from Wallace Wade Stadium. The game marked just the third against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent for the Phoenix.

“We had some guys that were ready to go and laid it all on the line and played well enough for us to win the game,” said head coach Pete Lembo. “I think they (Duke) wore us down a little bit, but we gave up too many big plays in the first half. I was pleasantly surprised with how well we ran the ball tonight.”

Elon (0-1) took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 63 yards before Adam Shreiner booted a 28-yard field goal to give the Phoenix an early 3-0 advantage. The drive started at the Elon 26 after Lance Camp returned the opening kickoff 18 yards. On the first play, Riddle found Jeffcoat for 21 yards out to the Elon 47. Two plays later, Riddle connected with Aaron Mellette along the sideline for a 24-yard gain that moved the ball to the Duke 29. Facing a second-and-10, Riddle found a seam and rushed for 14 yards to get the Phoenix to the 15-yard line. After two incompletions, Riddle scampered for four more to the 11 before the Phoenix kicked the field goal. The Elon drive took just 2:19 off the clock.

Duke (1-0) responded with a six-play, 64-yard drive that was capped by a 34-yard touchdown run by Desmond Scott. Scott accounted for 52 of the 64 yards on the drive. The Phoenix put the Blue Devils in a third-and-nine situation from their own 37 before Sean Renfree connected with Conner Vernon for a 12-yard gain on the drive.

On its third drive of the night, Duke marched 82 yards on seven plays to add another seven points to its lead. On second-and-six, Renfree hit Vernon for a 20-yard gain before an Elon personal foul added another 15 yards to the play. Renfree then hit Donovan Varner for 21 yards to the Elon 22. Another Phoenix penalty moved the ball to the 11 and three plays later Renfree hit Varner for an eight-yard TD pass.

After Elon went three-and-out, Duke took over on its own 41. After a loss of two yards on its first play, the Renfree-Vernon combination connected for a gain of 47 yards to the Elon 12. Two plays later, Brandon King hauled in an eight-yard touchdown reception as the Blue Devils stretched their lead to 21-3 early in the second quarter.

The Phoenix took the ball and moved 43 yards on seven plays before Shreiner drilled a career-long 47-yard field goal to make it a 21-6 game. On the drive, Riddle found Jeffcoat for a gain of 29 yards while Newsome gained 16 yards on the ground during the drive that lasted 2:23.

Again Duke had an answer. The Blue Devil drive started at its own 32 and moved to the Duke 43 before Varner snared a pass for 35 yards to the Phoenix 22-yard line. Duke would move the ball to the four before Will Snyderwine booted a 22-yard field goal to increase the Blue Devils’ lead to 24-6 with 5:26 to play in the first half.

Elon fought back and made it a 24-13 game after a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took 4:19 off the clock. The first play saw Riddle hit fullback Matt Eastman for 14 yards. The next four plays picked up 21 yards before Riddle connected with Jeffcoat for 19 yards down to the Duke 26-yard line. A pass interference call on Duke moved the ball to the 13, but Elon would face a second-and-15 from the 18 after a false start. On that second down play, Riddle completed a pass to Camp for 13 yards to the five. Newsome finished off the drive with a five-yard rush with 1:07 left to play in the half.

Duke covered 53 yards on five plays in the final 1:07 and added a 20-yard field goal from Snyderwine to hold a 27-13 lead heading into halftime.

In the first half, Elon’s Jeffcoat caught five passes for a career-best 106 yards. Riddle completed 12 of his 22 attempts for 176 yards. On defense, Brandon Wiggins tallied 10 stops.

For Duke, Renfree completed 17 passes for 227 yards and two scores while Vernon caught nine balls for 125 yards.

After forcing Duke to punt on the first drive of the second half, the Phoenix drove 45 yards to the Duke 27, but could not capitalize and close its deficit when Shreiner missed a 44-yard field goal wide right.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Elon gained its first fourth quarter possession just eight seconds into the final period and marched 71 yards on seven plays over 2:17 to pull within a touchdown at 27-20 on a Riddle 11-yard run. On the first play of the drive, Riddle hit Newsome for a gain of 10 before the back rushed for 19 yards and another first down two plays later. A.J. Harris followed that up by picking up 22 yards up the middle as the Phoenix moved to the Duke 20. Camp rushed for another nine yards on an end-around. After an incompletion, Riddle tried to plunge up the middle, but could not find any running room so he bounced around the left end of the line for the 11-yard score.

Duke came right back with an 11-play, 67-yard drive of its own that ended when Josh Snead rushed in from nine yards out to give the Blue Devils a 34-20 lead with 7:54 to play. Snead accounted for 21 yards on the ground during the possession.

The Blue Devils added on another seven points when Jay Hollingsworth plunged in from a yard out with just 2:10 remaining in the contest.

The Phoenix did not lay down there, though, driving 49 yards on nine plays before Riddle found Kierre Brown for a 30-yard touchdown pass with only 40 ticks remaining on the clock.

Riddle passed for 281 yards, the 31st time the senior has thrown for at least 200 yards in a game during his career, completing 22 passes. Jeffcoat finished the night with 111 yards receiving on six receptions. Newsome led Elon’s rushing attack, picking up 77 yards on 11 carries.

On the defensive side of the ball, Wiggins matched a career-high with 19 total tackles. Terell Wilson added 12 stops while Dale Riley, Blake Thompson and Joshua Jones all tallied 11 tackles.

Renfree completed 31 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns to lead Duke. Vernon and Varner each went over the 100-yard receiving mark with 129 and 123 yards, respectively.