#4 New Hampshire Spoils Elon’s CAA Football Debut

ELON, N.C. – The Elon Phoenix football team was handed a tough task in its first-ever CAA Football game as the fourth-ranked New Hampshire Wildcats visited Rhodes Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats spoiled the maroon and gold’s league debut by claiming a 48-14 victory.

“For whatever reason, it was fundamental stuff,” said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky. “I don’t know if was the moment, or what. I will say this, that opponent is a good opponent. We had a couple opportunities. Those plays, guys just have to step up and make. We kept competing in the second half and that was good to see. Our guys will keep playing all the way to the last whistle. I thought we played with good effort, but the energy wasn’t quite what it needs to be.”

UNH (4-1, 2-0 CAA) got on the board with 9:04 to play in the first quarter as Jimmy Owens dove in from a yard out to cap an eight-play, 49-yard drive. The Wildcats would add a Christian Breda field goal and a 15-yard pass from Andy Vailas to R.J. Harris to take a 17-0 advantage in to the second quarter.

Elon (1-4, 0-1) found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter. Tracey Coppedge’s one-yard plunge got the Phoenix on the board and completed a 10-play, 80-yard drive. During that scoring drive, Mike Quinn completed four passes for 34 yards and Coppedge toted the ball five times for 31 yards. On Elon’s next possession, Thuc Phan carried it in from six yards out with 3:28 left in the contest to wrap up a 70-yard drive.

For Elon, both Andre Davis and Demitri Allison set personal-bests in receptions. Davis caught 11 balls for 92 yards, while Allison snared eight passes for 51 yards. Quinn threw for 205 yards on 27 completions. He surpassed Mike Currin (1976-79) for fifth place on the program’s all-time passing yards chart. Quinn now has 3,976 passing yards in his career.

Elon’s Chris Blair led all players with a career-high 13 tackles and Robert Davis posted two sacks.

The Phoenix will hit the road for its next contest, visiting #24 Delaware for a 3:30 p.m. game next Saturday.