ELON, N.C. — It is often said in football that big men make big plays. This statement was proven with nine and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the Elon University football team's matchup with New Hampshire on Saturday.
Driving down the field with a seven point lead, New Hampshire quarterback Seth Morgan scrambled out of the pocket hoping to find an open receiver downfield. Instead, he ran directly into a brick wall as senior defensive lineman
Josh Johnson met him behind the line of scrimmage and forced Morgan to faintly attempt a pass. Johnson punched the football out of Morgan's hands and forced him into his second turnover of the game.
Redshirt junior defensive lineman
Jake Louro picked up the loose football with room to run from the opposing 43-yard line. With the football in hand, Louro rumbled across midfield with several teammates ahead of him to block. Running down the sideline, Louro broke a tackle before his magical dash came to an end. When it was all said and done, Louro ran 40 yards and set up the Phoenix inside the red zone.
"I realized that my teammates Josh [Johnson] and Cazeem [Moore] made a big play," Louro said. "I just wanted to capitalize off of that and take the ball as far as I could."
The forced fumble was a momentum-changing play for the Phoenix but also not the only big moment for the Elon defensive front. Thanks to Louro and other members of the front seven, the Wildcats gained only 32 rushing yards as the team averaged just over a yard per rushing attempt.
The Phoenix also sacked Morgan three times with the strip sack by Johnson the most critical. With the offense stymied all afternoon, the defense knew they just needed to play to their capabilities to keep New Hampshire from making big offensive plays, especially in the second half.
"We did not need to make many adjustments," Louro said. "We just had to keep doing our jobs and had to execute perfectly."
While the defense shined for Elon, freshman running back
T.J. Thomas Jr. continued to shine for the offense. After a promising first drive for the Phoenix offense, Thomas Jr. continued to force pressure in the second drive.
Standing 39 yards away from the end zone, Thomas Jr. exploited a hole in the New Hampshire defense with more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Once he filled the hole and ran past a Wildcat safety, Thomas Jr. ran untouched into the end zone for the first touchdown of the afternoon to give the Phoenix a 10-0 lead.
"Early in the game, we had a running play similar to that," Thomas Jr. said. "I saw the hole but I hit it a little late. We ended up going back to the same play and I saw it, hit it and we scored."
Other than the 39-yard touchdown, Thomas Jr. also made explosive plays in the air as he caught a 33-yard pass late in the fourth quarter and ended the matchup with 135 total yards of offense, 78 yards on nine rush attempts and 57 yards on five receptions.
"I try to be a complete back with receiving, blocking, and rushing," Thomas Jr. said. "I try to get the ball in my hands as much as possible and get others to make plays as well."
Despite the setback, both Louro and Thomas Jr. are ready to turn the page and get ready for another difficult conference matchup next weekend as they travel north to play the University at Albany.
"We try to go 1-0 each week., Thomas Jr. said. "We can't do anything about the past so we just try to go 1-0 next week and being prepared and ready to play."
"We are going to watch film tomorrow, bury this, and it is on to Albany," Louro added.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
--ELON--
