ELON, N.C. – Finishing out a month of spring practices, the Elon University football team played its annual Spring Game Saturday, April 26, in Rhodes Stadium with the White team defeating the Maroon team, 16-7.
“The game itself went about how I thought it would go,” said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky. “If the NCAA gave me some more practices I would take them, but we got everything done we wanted to get done. Make no mistake, we have a long way to go, but we’re happy for the most part with where we are.”
Playing three quarters lasting 10 minutes apiece, all 23 of the game’s points came by way of the field goal unit and the defense. Sophomore kicker John Gallagher went 3-for-3 on field goals after going 13 of 23 a season ago for the Phoenix. The game’s two touchdowns came on a fumble return and interception return for a touchdown.
The White team got the scoring started midway through the first quarter when Gallagher hit a 29-yard field goal to put the White team up 3-0.
White then increased its lead to 10-0 on the first play of the second quarter when Akeem Langham forced a fumble of Brandon Gentry deep in Maroon territory. Mike Quinn had completed a 1-yard pass to the redshirt freshman running back, but Langham stripped the ball from Gentry and raced 23 yards to the end zone for the score. Overall, both defenses combined for four takeaways, three of which were forced fumbles and one interception.
“I was really pleased with all the takeaways on the defensive side of the ball,” Skrosky said. “The play Langham had, that was a legit play and he really took it away.”
A few drives later, White extended its lead to 13-0 with another Gallagher field goal, this time from 27 yards out.
The final quarter was quiet on the scoreboard until the final minute of the frame. With 19 seconds to play,Jeremy Gloston recovered a forced fumble in White territory and ran it back 26 yards for a touchdown, putting Maroon on the scoreboard for the first and only time of the day. Corey Mitchell jarred the ball loose fromJustin Osborne after a short completion from Quinn and Gloston returned the mishap for the score.
With one more chance to put points on the board, the White team started from its own 30-yard line with 19 seconds left. After one incompletion, Quinn found Bryant Beaulieu for 31 yards to put White on the Maroon 39-yard line. After a timeout, #B.J. Bennett# ran 8 yards to put Gallagher in deep field goal range. As time expired, Gallagher hit a 48-yard attempt to make the final score 16-7 in favor of the White team.
With the first-team offensive line playing for Maroon and first-team defensive line playing for White, the two quarterbacks switched teams for periods of time to play with and against the top units. Overall, Quinn, who played primarily for the White team, went 18 of 32 for 162 yards through the air with one interception. John Loughery, who took most of the snaps for the Maroon team, went 13 of 27 overall for 76 yards.
On the ground, Karl Bostick carried the ball just four times for the White team, but he lead all backs in the game with 53 yards, including a 32-yard scamper midway through the third quarter that set up White in Maroon territory. On the following play, though, Quinn was intercepted by Jon Silas. Silas returned the interception 59 yards to the White 16-yard line, but Maroon failed to get into the end zone after going for it on 4th-and-5 from 11-yard line four plays later.
Bennett also ran the ball 10 times for 47 yards for the White team. He had the most carries of any running back in the game. On the Maroon side of the ball, Tracey Coppedge didn’t have much room to run, only gaining 13 yards on seven carries.
Demetrius Oliver led all receivers with eight receptions for 52 yards in the game for the White team. While only five players caught a pass for the White team, eight players caught at least one pass for the Maroon team. #R.J. Pearsall had 30 yards on three receptions while Andre Davis# had four receptions for 21 yards. The other six players catching passes for Maroon caught one pass apiece.
Mitchell and Julius Moore each had a game-high nine tackles while Robert Davis had two of the game’s four sacks. He finished with five tackles. Jonathan Spain led White with six tackles.
“Our first spring practice session went about how I thought it would go,” Skrosky said. “Early on, it was getting comfortable to everything; how we practice, what’s expected, the pace of practice. And really, it was a pretty smooth operation. We had a couple holding penalties today. We had one delay of game penalty that was more on us coaches than on the kids. We had one offsides but we didn’t have a false start so that tells you we’re getting into a comfort zone with what we’re doing. But we have a ways to go. We have to have a great summer, then come back in preseason came and hit the ground running.”
Elon opens its first season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday, August 30 just down the road in Durham, N.C. against the Duke Blue Devils. The time of the game is still to be determined. Elon’s first CAA game will come in Week 5 on October 4 at home against New Hampshire.