ELON, N.C. – Under the lights of Rhodes Stadium, the Elon Phoenix football team held its first scrimmage of preseason camp on Friday, August 14.

"We've got a lot of film to watch," said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky. "There's going to be a lot of learning moments. We have to be our own worst critic. That's the coaches and that's every player. There's going to be a ton to learn from, and that's generally the first scrimmage. Usually, there will be a lot of technical corrections to make. The good thing is, from a scheme execution for the first scrimmage, I think things were executed pretty well."

The night began with red-shirt freshman Connor Christiansen taking snaps with the first-team offense. After picking up a first down, Christiansen completed a short pass, but the receiver had the ball knocked loose and the fumble was recovered by red-shirt freshman Daniel Everett. Later in the scrimmage, Julius Moore intercepted a pass in the end zone.

Added Skrosky, "There's no question we have more experience coming back on the defensive side of the ball. There's a mindset that they know what the expectation is. We were good at times on defense last year. That defense needs to embrace the challenge of being a great defense. I think it was a good effort, but the bar for our defense is very high."

The first drive of the second portion of the scrimmage began at the offense's 43-yard line. The first five plays of the drive were runs by junior B.J. Bennett that accounted for 26 yards, including a 13-yard dash on a second-and-10. The drive would move to the defense's 24 before ending with a missed 41-yard field goal.

The ensuing drive, which also began at the 43, saw true freshman Daniel Thompson complete three of his four pass attempts for 15 yards and fellow rookie Malcolm Summers tote the ball twice for 20 yards before ending with a 39-yard John Gallagher field goal.

On the drive that concluded with the interception, Christiansen complete four of his six passes for 21 yards and Bennett carried the ball four times for 11 yards. Three of the four completions went to sophomore Tre Lennon who gained 17 yards.

The third offense accounted for the lone touchdown of the scrimmage. The drive began at the offense's 36-yard line and began with three runs for a total of 17 yards by freshman Copeland Spell. Senior Thuc Phan then ran it twice for another 13 yards as the offense moved to the defense's 34-yard line.  After an incompletion, red-shirt freshman quarterback Conor Hughes executed a read option run for 32 yards to the two. After a penalty backed the offense up, Hughes threw a nine-yard pass to freshman Connor Heger before Spell ran it in from three yards out.

On the night, Christiansen completed 11-of-16 passes for 43 yards and ran it twice for seven yards. Thompson threw for 85 yards, completing 13 of his 22 passing attempts. Hughes added 52 yards passing on five completions.

Speaking of the quarterbacks, Skrosky said, "They both continue to improve each day. I think Daniel's jump from the spring to preseason camp has probably been more evident. He had a great summer and worked hard. I think he's definitely getting more and more comfortable in the offense. He's got great composure; for the most part he's making good decisions. Connor's biggest asset is that he can move back there and creates a little bit of a threat with his legs. But they both have been great. They're great in the meeting room and are putting their hours in studying tape and wanting to learn the offense. We won't make any decision any time soon. I'm pleased with both of them. They'll both get works with the ones and twos."

Bennett and Summers highlighted the running game. Bennett finished with 12 carries for 55 yards and one catch for two yards. Summers picked up 73 yards on 13 rushes.

Upcoming 2015 Elon Phoenix Preseason Practice Schedule
Sat., Aug. 15 at 2:15 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 16 at 8 a.m.
Sun., Aug. 16 at 7:15 p.m.
Tues., Aug. 18 at 7:15 p.m. (Rhodes Stadium)
Wed., Aug. 19 at 2:15 p.m.
Thurs., Aug. 20 at 8 a.m.
Thurs., Aug. 20 at 7:15 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 22 at 3 p.m. (Rhodes Stadium)
Sun., Aug. 23 at 2:15 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 24 at 8:15 a.m.
Mon., Aug. 24 at 7:45 p.m.
* Thurs., Aug. 27 at 4:05 p.m. (Rhodes Stadium)
*After classes have started