Elon quarterback Thomas Wilson rolls out for a pass in the Phoenix's 42-10 victory over the Concord University Mountain Lions on Saturday night.
The Elon Phoenix scored 28 points in the first half and walked away with a 42-10 victory over the Concord University Mountain Lions Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.
One of their players, however, walked away with a limp.
Elon quarterback Thomas Wilson went 22 of 27 with 201 yards and three touchdowns through the air before going down with a leg injury with less than a minute left in the second quarter.
"I have not got an injury report yet," said Elon coach Jason Swepson, who earned his first collegiate head-coaching win with the rout. "Thomas had developed to be a tremendous leader for us. If someone drops the gun, someone else has got to pick it up and shoot it."
The person who picked it up was transfer Tyler Smith, who did not complete any of his four passes and threw an interception to finish off the first half.
Elon got an early 21-0 lead on three touchdowns, all passes from Wilson. The highlight was his lob to Aaron Mellette, whose nine catches for 77 yards led all receivers. Mellette out-leapt his defender, pulled in the ball and just dropped into the corner of the end zone.
Wilson also completed scoring passes to tight end Matt Eastman and wide receiver Andre Davis.
A point of concern was the complete turn-around from the first half to the second half. After racking up 352 offensive yards in the first 30 minutes, the Phoenix only managed 48 yards in the second half under Smith's management.
When asked if he was concerned about the offense, senior running back AJ Harris said no. "We have one more test until the real test against The Citadel," Harris said. "Offensively, we're not going to change anything."
Defensively, the Phoenix was solid all night. Defensive tackle Olufemi Lamikanra's two sacks and defensive end Gary Coates recorded six tackles. Elon's defending eleven also racked up fourteen points. Harris returned a blocked punt eleven yards for a score in the third quarter and cornerback Jonathan Conner returned an interception of Concord quarterback Zach Grossi 99 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't think I was going to make it," Conner said of the play. "We needed somebody to make a play. Luckily it happened when it happened."
Conner also said that the defense still needed some work. After holding the Mountain Lions to 90 yards in the first half, the Phoenix gave up 157 offensive yards in the second half.
But Swepson only seemed to think about the positives.
"I'm very excited about our first win as a program," Swepson said. "The good thing is when you can score on special teams and on defense, it's a good day."
The Phoenix takes their 1-1 record to Durham next weekend to face the North Carolina Central Eagles at 6 p.m.