On Sept. 13 against North Carolina A&T State University, the Elon University football team found itself looking back on the mistakes it made in a 17-12 loss.
But against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Sept. 20, the Phoenix was able to do just enough to escape Rhodes Stadium with a 20-13 win, Elon’s first of the season and first of head coach Rich Skrosky’s tenure.
Senior quarterback Mike Quinn’s 5-yard pass to senior wide receiver Kierre Brown gave the Phoenix a 20-13 lead with 3:57 to play in the game, a lead Elon wouldn’t relinquish.
But Brown’s touchdown far from sealed the game.
With 1:18 left, the 49ers got the ball back after stopping the Phoenix and using all of their timeouts, needing to go 63 yards to tie the game.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Johnson led the 49ers down the field, finding senior wide receiver Dmarjai Devine for a gain of 12 yards and sophomore tight end Justin Bolus for gains of 16 and 19 yards.
Charlotte found its way to Elon’s 22-yard line, but wouldn’t get any further. On 2nd and 10, Johnson’s pass found nothing but turf in the end zone, leaving just eight seconds on the clock.
On the next play, Johnson connected with sophomore wide receiver Corey Nesmith Jr. for a touchdown that sent the Charlotte sideline into a frenzy, but flags were scattered on the field.
In the end, holding, as well as an illegal forward pass by Johnson, was called on the 49ers. By rule, the game was over, giving Elon the victory.
“I can’t tell you how elated I am for [the players],” Skrosky said. “This is why you work your tails off.”
Senior linebacker Odell Benton said the defense knew what it needed to do when Charlotte started its final drive.
“As a defense, we told each other, ‘the offense is going to go down and score and we have to stop [Charlotte],’ and that was point blank period,” Benton said. “Getting out there, we knew it and told each other, ‘just do your job.’ When it came down to it, everyone just did their job and we won.”
The Elon defense disrupted Johnson all night, flying all over the field tipping passes and filling passing lanes. Johnson was 19-for-40 on the night with three interceptions. One of those interceptions was made by Benton, who was credited with five tackles (one for a loss), a sack and a forced fumble.
“We’ve been getting pass rush with only rushing four which is great – [Rob Sullivan] and [Alexander] Dawson did a great job putting pressure on the quarterback – so we knew we could sit back in coverage and let those guys go to work,” Benton said. “Guys were really flying around. We just had to make plays and that’s what we did tonight.”
It was a steady diet of Quinn and Brown all night for the Charlotte defense. Quinn finished the night 43-of-59 for 331 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his touchdowns were caught by Brown, who hauled in 13 total passes for 81 yards.
Similar to the home opener Sept. 13, the Phoenix failed to convert for points on many possessions in Charlotte territory. Sophomore kicker John Gallagher was 2-of-5 on the night, converting on field goals of 24 and 26 yards while missing from 50, 42 and 49 yards out.
“I think it’s very similar to what took place last week,” Skrosky said. “I think we had some opportunities out there that we didn’t capitalize on. Any time you don’t execute, it’s going to come back and haunt you. The difference is that we got a ‘W’ at the end of the night as opposed to a loss.”
After Benton’s forced fumble on Charlotte’s opening drive, the 49ers marched down the field for points on its second possession. The 49ers converted three third downs on the drive, which culminated in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to sophomore wide receiver Austin Duke.
Elon tied the game at 7 early in the second quarter when Quinn found Brown in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard strike, Quinn’s first touchdown pass of the season.
After a Charlotte field goal tied the game at 10, the Phoenix came right back, as Quinn engineered a 10-play, 62-yard drive that included completions of 17 and 18 yards to junior wide receiver Andre Davis and sophomore wide receiver Demitri Allison, respectively. To cap it off, Gallagher booted a 26-yard field goal to give the Phoenix a 13-10 lead.
The Phoenix (1-2) will travel to Coastal Carolina University Sept. 27 for a matchup against the Chanticleers (4-0), ranked No. 5 in the Football Championship Subdivision. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. from Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.
Notes: 11,203 fans packed Rhodes Stadium for the game, the third largest crowd in stadium history … Mike Quinn’s 331 passing yards, 43 completions and 59 attempts all set new career highs … Kierre Brown’s two touchdowns marked the first multi-touchdown game of his career.