In a game that lacked an offensive touchdown, team White defeated team Maroon in the Elon University spring football game 16-7, Saturday April 26. Three field goals by sophomore kicker John Gallagher, from 29, 27 and 48 yards proved to be the difference in the game.
The contest consisted of three 10-minute quarters, and the teams were composed of a mix of starters and backups.
To begin the game, Maroon went three-and-out, only gaining two yards on a run from junior running back Tracey Coppedge.
White answered with a 12-play, 58-yard drive in which sophomore quarterback John Loughery completed four passes for 24 yards. After the drive stalled at the Maroon 12-yard line, Gallagher booted his first field goal.
Maroon’s next possession ended in a fumble, the first of four turnovers forced by the Elon defenses on the night.
“I think there were a lot of long drives that were sustained,” Elon head coach Rich Skrosky said. “That’s the way it’s been the whole spring. The defense has the upper hand. That’s a byproduct of seeing the same thing 15 practices in a row.”
The White team earned one first down on its next possession as Loughery completed two more passes for 13 yards. An 18-yard pass was nullified by a holding penalty. Eventually, the series ended in a punt, but White was quick to get revenge as senior defensive back Akeem Langham forced a fumble and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown just 13 seconds into the second quarter.
The teams traded punts before the quarterbacks, Loughery and senior Mike Quinn, were switched to give each an equal chance at competition. Senior wide reciever Kierre Brown, who finished the day with only one catch for eight yards, said that the quarterback switch threw him off.
“I would have rather kept one quarterback because you get in a rhythm with your quarterbacks, so switching out quarterbacks is difficult,” Brown said.
Quinn, who finished a combined 18-for-32, led White to a field goal on his first drive with that group to push the lead to 13-0 before “halftime” at the conclusion of the quarter.
Neither team scored in the third quarter until junior defensive back Jeremy Gloston recovered a fumble and returned it for a 26-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left.
“It was a good play,” sophomore linebacker John Silas said. “Corey Mitchell stripped it and Gloston picked up and scored.”
Silas was also a factor in the turnover battle, having picked off a Quinn pass earlier in the quarter.
“The John Silas interception, that was the epitome of route reading,” Skrosky said.
A 31-yard pass from Quinn to redshirt freshman Bryant Beaulieu set up Gallagher for a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give White the 16-7 win.
Loughery finished 13-for-27 for 76 yards, and Quinn was 18 of 32 for 162 yards and an interception. Redshirt freshman Demetrius Oliver caught eight passes for 52 yards for the White team, the leading receiver in the game. Senior running back Karl Bostick carried the ball four times for 53 yards and sophomore running back B.J. Bennett had 10 carries for 49 yards.