Box Score
ELON, N.C. – The Elon Phoenix football team suffered a 42-18 loss to the visiting Chattanooga Mocs on Homecoming at Rhodes Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  Elon held the Mocs to only four yards of offense in the third quarter and managed to claw within 10 points, but a first-half deficit of 28 was too large to overcome.  Elon fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Southern Conference, while Chattanooga improved to 4-4, 2-3.

“Obviously we didn’t come out in the first half and play like we wanted to play,” said Elon head coach Jason Swepson.  “We have to do a better job of coming out of the gate and playing good football.  Same-old, same-old; turnovers are killing us right now.  Big plays on defense are killing us. The coaches aren’t going to quit on this team and I don’t think the players are going to quit.  We still have a lot to play for.  We still have a chance to get a winning season.”

Aaron Mellette registered his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season in the setback, going for 107 yards on eight catches. Today’s game marked the first time this season the opposition held Mellette without a touchdown, as his streak of eight consecutive games with a TD grab came to an end.

Thomas Wilson finished the game with 238 passing yards and one touchdown after completing 22-of-35 passes.  Wilson’s lone touchdown pass came in the third quarter on an 11-yard pass in the back of the end zone to Jeremy Peterson.  Peterson finished the contest with a career-high nine grabs for 79 yards.

On defense, Joshua Jones led the Phoenix with 11 tackles, while Jonathan Spain finished with nine.  Jones pushed his career total to 306 tackles which rates seventh in program history.

Chattanooga’s Wes Dothard led all players with 15 tackles, while Ryan Consiglio finished the game with 11 tackles and a sack.

Terrell Robinson led the Mocs’ rushing attack with a game-high 115 yards on 14 carries. Robinson had a 41-yard scamper for Chattanooga in the win as well.

After falling behind by four touchdowns late in the second quarter, the Phoenix made it a 28-3 game going into the locker room after Adam Shreiner hit a 36-yard field goal to cut into the Mocs’ lead. The big play of the drive came when Wilson connected with Mellette for a 32-yard gain.

The Phoenix began the second half with a 10-play, 64-yard drive that resulted in a 32-yard field goal off the foot of Shreiner.  On the drive, Wilson completed four passes for 40 yards, including a 24-yard pick-up to Mellette.

After forcing a UTC punt, Elon took over at its own 41. Wilson hit Peterson for six yards on the second play before finding Mellette for a 10-yard connection on the next snap as Elon moved into UTC territory. Darrius McQueen made a catch and raced 20 yards to the Mocs’ 25 on third-and-12 to keep the chains moving.  Wilson was sacked on third-and-eight, but a personal foul penalty against UTC gave the Phoenix a first down at the UTC 17.  Two plays later, Wilson found Peterson for an 11-yard touchdown strike.  The two-point conversion failed as Elon’s deficit was reduced to 28-12 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

A 39-yard Bradford punt pinned Elon at its own one-yard line on its next drive. On third-and-four, Wilson dropped back and drilled a pass to McQueen who ran it to the Elon 42 for a 35-yard gain. After converting two consecutive third downs, the Phoenix faced a fourth-and-nine from the UTC 34 when Wilson went to the All-American Mellette for a 15-yard gain to move the chains.  After another completion to Peterson, this one for 16 yards, and a short run, Dontay Taylor ran it in from two yards out as Elon clawed its way back to within 10 with 10:50 to play. The Phoenix’s two-point try was not successful.

Chattanooga responded with a quick touchdown drive of just 1:28.  Robinson raced 41 yards on the first play down to the Elon 38 and two plays later Green took it 21 yards for the score as the Mocs stretched their advantage to 35-18. Chattanooga’s last score came on a 19-yard run by J.J. Jackson with 3:07 remaining in the contest to make the final margin, 42-18.

The Phoenix will be on the road again next week when it travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on the Wofford Terriers at 1:30 p.m.