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ELON, N.C. – Top-ranked Georgia Southern proved too much for the host Elon Phoenix as the Eagles remained unbeaten with a 41-14 victory over Elon in Southern Conference football action at Rhodes Stadium on a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon.

Georgia Southern (4-0, 3-0) capitalized on three Phoenix interceptions, scoring 17 points off the miscues en route to 410 yards of total offense. The Eagles’ triple-option offense gained 300 yards on the ground behind 116 yards on 11 carries from Robert Brown.

"We’ve got to do the right things and good things will happen to us," said Elon head coach Jason Swepson. "The bottom line is we’ve just got to clean up the mistakes. We’ve got a good football team. We’ll work hard and we’ll put ourself in position to be successful. The kids aren’t going to quit. We’re not going to quit as coaches. We’ve still got a lot of football left in front of us."

Despite taking an early 7-0 advantage, and putting the Eagles behind on the scoreboard for the first time in 2011, Elon (3-2, 1-1) dropped its first league game of the season. Phoenix quarterback Thomas Wilson threw for 202 yards including touchdown passes to Taylor Berry and Aaron Mellette. Mellette has caught a TD pass in six consecutive games.

Taking the opening kick, Wilson took the Phoenix 66 yards on seven plays, culminating the drive by hitting Berry for a 10-yard touchdown pass. After moving down the field with several completions to Mellette, Elon faced a third-and-two before Jamal Shuman took a swing pass for a 24-yard gain that set up a first-and-goal at the 10. On the next play Wilson found Berry who bowled through a tackler for the score.

The Elon defense forced a punt, but on the Phoenix’s next possession, Georgia Southern’s John Douglas tipped up a Wilson pass and picked it off, returning it to the five-yard line before Wilson forced him out. On the next play, Dominique Swope took the handoff up the middle for the score and the PAT tied the game at seven with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

Turnover troubles continued as Josh Rowe made a diving grab off a ball that bounced off a Phoenix receiver for the second straight GSU interception and the Eagles took over at the Elon 21. The Phoenix defense held and forced a 37-yard field goal from Adrian Mora as Georgia Southern took a 10-7 lead with 2:07 to play in the first period.

Georgia Southern started its next drive with a big run that gained 64 yards. On third-and-nine at the Elon 12, Jaybo Shaw dropped back to pass and found Swope who eluded two Phoenix defenders for the touchdown.  The play capped a six-play, 90-yard drive that took 2:57 off the clock and gave the Eagles a 17-7 lead with 11:09 on the clock in the first half.

The Elon offense was unable to produce and the Eagles found the end zone once again before halftime. The Eagles marched to the Elon 28 where it faced a fourth-and-two before Shaw ran around the left end for a gain of five to the Elon 23. Joshua Jones came up with a big six-yard sack for Elon on the next snap, but, on second down, Shaw took off for an 18-yard run to set up first-and-10 at the Elon 11.  With time running out in the half, Shaw completed a six-yard pass to Johnathan Bryant as the Eagles built a 24-7 lead with less than 10 seconds remaining in the half.

After forcing Georgia Southern to punt on the opening drive of the second half, Elon began its first possession at its own 33.  Wilson completed four passes for 50 yards to Mellette on a drive that resulted in a 20-yard TD pass to the junior wide receiver and pulled the Phoenix within 10, 24-14.

A 43-yard kickoff return by Laron Scott gave Georgia Southern good field position on the ensuing drive as the Eagles started at their own 45. The Eagles used five consecutive runs to move to the Elon 28.  On third-and-seven from the 25, Shaw threw short to Nico Hickey who raced in for the score and a 31-14 Georgia Southern lead with 3:55 to play in the third quarter.

The Eagles tacked on two final scores in the fourth quarter, the first on a Robert Brown 23-yard run and the second on a 27-yard field goal by Mora that provided the final margin.

Jones led all players with a 13-tackle performance.  His day included six solo tackles and two sacks as the Phoenix upped its season sack total to 11.  Chandler Wrightenberry forced two fumbles and had nine total tackles (seven of the solo variety) for the Phoenix.

Georgia Southern's Scott posted a team-high 10 tackles and broke up two passes.

Elon will hit the road for a Southern Conference showdown at Western Carolina next Saturday.  Game time is set for 3 p.m. in the mountains of Cullowhee, N.C.