Presbyterian Falls to Elon
ELON, N.C. – Elon’s Wes Pope threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns and Elon shutout Presbyterian 28-0 before 9,542 at Rhodes Stadium. Pope only misfired on six of his passes on the day, going 21-for-27.
The Blue Hose were led offensively on the afternoon by Justin Durant, who finished the encounter with the Phoenix having corralled four catches for 71 yards. Teammate Corey Fidler concluded the day with 76 all-purpose yards (33 rushing, 43 receiving), including a 38-yard pass play in the fourth quarter.
In his first intercollegiate start, Grayson Mullins ended the day with 131 yards passing and 14 yards rushing. Mitch Doolittle, who started the first three games of the 2006 campaign for the Blue Hose as the signal caller, threw for 53 yards after spelling Mullins in the fourth quarter.
Derrell Doe led the Blue Hose defensively in the contest, tying for the team-high in the game with five others with six tackles. Doe’s six stops were all of the solo variety, which was the team-high in the contest.
Down 14-0 entering the second half, Presbyterian commenced the half by securing its longest offensive play of the year thus far on a miraculous 45-yard reception by Durant at the 13-yard line that gave the Blue Hose ideal field position inside the red zone and a chance to cut the score to just seven points.
The Blue Hose could not muster a touchdown, but gave themselves a chance to put three points on the board due to the field position. PC kicker Bret DiTullio missed the first try from 30 yards wide to the left, but Elon was offsides, giving DiTullio another chance.
DiTullio promptly nailed the next kick from the 24-yard line, but the Blue Hose were called offsides, negating the three points. DiTullio missed the third attempt from the 29-yard line to keep the game at 14-0 in favor of the Phoenix.
Elon scored its second touchdown of the game with 17 seconds left in the first half on an eight-yard pass across the middle from Pope to Bo Williamson in the end zone.
The Phoenix - who picked up prime field position at the PC 42-yard line after a Grayson Mullins interception - tallied the position for the second touchdown on a broken play when Pope somehow escaped PC’s Adam McKinney in the backfield in what looked to be a sack.
Pope then threw the football for 41 yards to a wide open Terrell Hudgins at the 11-yard line to give the Phoenix their pivotal play in a four play, 52 yard scoring drive.
Elon scored the first touchdown of the game on a nine-yard pass from starting quarterback Wes Pope to running back Reggie Hall to place the Phoenix ahead 7-0 after the successful extra point attempt with 2:54 left in the first half.
The Phoenix touchdown was made plausible via a 40-yard pass from Pope to Williamson that put Elon at the PC 35-yard line. Five plays later the Phoenix garnered their first points.
Terrell Hudgins acquired his second touchdown of the afternoon and Elon’s third in the third quarter on a 31-yard pass from Pope to the back right corner of the end zone that gave the Phoenix a 21-0 advantage with 4:01 left in the third stanza.
Elon went up 28-0 on the Blue Hose on a quarterback keeper by Pope in the fourth quarter.
Presbyterian looked as if it would score the first points of the game in the second quarter. Mullins marched PC to the Elon 25-yard line, but Presbyterian failed to net any points, going four and out and giving the ball back to the Phoenix at their own 25-yard line.
Presbyterian falls to 2-2 on the season, while Elon improves to 2-1. The Blue Hose have a bye next week before welcoming Lenoir-Rhyne at 1:30 p.m. to Bailey Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The contest will begin Presbyterian’s South Atlantic Conference title defense.