Aggies Hold Off Phoenix in Elon’s Football Home Opener

ELON, N.C. – Elon’s John Gallagher booted a career-high four field goals, but a fourth-quarter touchdown run by North Carolina A&T’s Tarik Cohen proved to be the difference as the Phoenix dropped a 17-12 decision in its home opener on Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.

“I thought it was a well-played game,” said Elon head coachRich Skrosky. “It was two very competitive teams. For the most part, we hemmed them in. The Cohen kid is going to be a pain for a lot of people. To credit A&T, they did a good job in the red zone, holding us to field goals. We played good enough on defense to win this football game.”

Gallagher drilled field goals of 20, 23 and 32 yards in the first half as Elon (0-2) headed to halftime down 10-9.

After both squads traded punts to start the second half, Elon moved 39 yards in eight plays to set up Gallagher’s fourth field goal of the night, this one from 22 yards out as the maroon and gold grabbed a 12-10 advantage with 8:58 left in the third quarter.

N.C. A&T’s (2-1) ensuing drive came to a halt near midfield when Kwashaun Quick’s fumble was recovered by Elon’s Jonathan Jackson at the Aggies’ 48-yard line. The Phoenix moved inside the A&T 10 before Gallagher came on to try and extend the lead to 15-10, but his 23-yard attempt was blocked, keeping the Phoenix margin at just two points with under a minute to play in the third period. Until the block, Gallagher had hit on his previous nine field goal attempts.

With 12:58 to go in the game, A&T took over at its own 12-yard line. On third-and-10, Quick hit Desmond Lawrence for 12 yards. After a penalty, Cohen rumbled for 81 of his career-high 234 yards and the go-ahead score.

Elon quarterback Mike Quinn threw for 253 yards and became just the ninth player in program history to eclipse the 3,000-yard passing mark. At the end of the night, Quinn’s career passing yardage stood at 3,208 yards. Part of his total on the night was a 73-yard connection to Kierre Brown who moved into ninth place on the program’s career receiving chart with 1,447 yards.

On the defensive side, Jonathan Spain led Elon with 10 total tackles, upping his career total to 261 to move into fifth place among the program’s NCAA Division I leaders in that category. John Silas added eight stops, including one of the Phoenix’s four sacks.

Elon will remain at home next Saturday night, as the Phoenix will host Charlotte at 7 p.m. on a game that will be televised on the American Sports Network.