After dominating all four quarters of Saturday’s game at Rhodes Stadium, the Elon University football team grabbed a 48-14 win on Saturday against the West Virginia State University Yellow Jackets. The win was the second in a row for the Phoenix, who beat North Carolina Central University 34-14 last weekend. Elon’s current two game winning streak couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Phoenix is faced with a daunting three-game stretch that includes trips to Georgia Southern University and Appalachian State University with a home game against Wofford College sandwiched in between. All three of those teams are ranked in the top 20 in the FCS standings.
According to senior receiver Aaron Mellette, the team is brimming with confidence and is ready to face the brutal stretch that lies ahead.
“We have a great amount of confidence,” Mellette said. “After any win, you get the same amount of confidence, but we got to let the guys know that we got accomplishments. You have to stay grounded because each week you can get beat by whoever you play in the conference.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by starting quarterback Thomas Wilson, who passed for 261 yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia State on Saturday en route to surpassing 4,000 yards through the air for his career in the maroon and gold.
“Our confidence is definitely high right now,” Wilson said. “Beating North Carolina Central last week and then having a big game today against West Virginia State, winning big today will definitely boost our confidence for the next few conference games.”
Wilson isn’t resting on his laurels after his team’s impressive performance. He knows how important preparation will be in handling the Georgia Southern Eagles, a nationally ranked powerhouse that’s strong on both sides of the ball.
“(We) go down to Georgia Southern this week, we’ll start watching film on them tomorrow,” Wilson said. “Kind of get going with them and see how they’ve been doing early in the year. (We’re) looking forward to it.”
Defensive Coordinator Ed Pinkham, who filled in as acting head coach while head coach Jason Swepson was hospitalized for chest pains the day before the team’s matchup with West Virginia State, said the team must remain resilient in the face of Georgia Southern’s passionate fan base, which will undoubtedly attempt to rattle Elon’s less experienced players.
“I know the crowd down at Georgia Southern is a pretty loud group,” Pinkham said. “Playing in Division I football, that’s part of the deal. You’re going to play around large crowds, people are going to try to get after you and distract you a little bit. We just got to learn how to be mentally tough and focused.”
After next Saturday’s matchup with the Eagles, the Phoenix will host Wofford College, another highly ranked conference rival, and then hit the road again for the highly anticipated showdown with Appalachian State.
Both the Georgia Southern and Appalachian State games carry significant weight for Mellette, partly because of the way both beat the Phoenix at Rhodes Stadium last year.
“I can’t wait,” Mellette said. “Those are two places I like to play just because of the atmosphere and I like to show up their fans. So I can’t wait for them to come, especially next week. It’s going to be a big game. We owe them from last year when they came in here. So we’re going to come in there and try and upset them at home.”
To do so, Pinkham said he believes defense is the key to the team’s success moving forward.
“Our goal when we set out is to hold a team, first and foremost, under 100 yards rushing,” Pinkham said. “If you hold a team under 100 yards rushing, regardless of how many passing yards they have, how many points you’ve scored, how many anything. If you hold a team to under 100 yards rushing, you’ll win over 92 percent of your games.”
If the Phoenix can continue to play stout defensively, it can only hope Pinkham’s analysis proves true come conference play.