As Elon football’s Tony Trisciani ran toward a semi-shirtless group of Phoenix fans celebrating in the stands, the eight-year head coach had one final reason to smile.
His team had just opened the season with a 42-7 win over Glenville State University, sending the Phoenix-faithful home — or, in this case, keeping them in the stands — celebrating.
“I’m proud of our players, and listen, I’m also proud of Elon, and proud of the support that we had from our student body today, coming out and supporting us, and a good group staying to the end of the game,” Trisciani said. “You know that energy is contagious, and it was just awesome to see our students show up and support us tonight.”
But the party at Rhodes Stadium was only the final scene of a night in which Elon dominated from the opening drive.
The Phoenix established its identity early and often on the defensive side of the ball.
After deferring the opening kickoff, back-to-back suffocating tackles by graduate Dillon Pardue and redshirt junior Brodie Carroll stuffed the Pioneers for a quick three-and-out.
That gave the ball to quarterback Brady Stober, a sophomore transfer from Samford University, to engineer his first drive as a Phoenix.
With Stober under center, Elon pushed upfield on its first drive of the game. Junior running back Jimmyll Williams broke initial contact on a handoff to the outside, using his speed to push 20 yards into Glenville State territory.
On first-and-goal, Stober faked a handoff to freshman running back Kamerin McDowell-Moore, juked his defender on the edge and out-sprinted the rest of the Pioneers to race into the end zone for his first touchdown at Elon.
“I don't really like to get too emotional about it until I look at the film,” Stober said about his opening start for the Phoenix. “It's never as good as it seems, never as bad as it seems, but definitely a good way.”
Elon quickly got the ball back thanks to a blown-up screen from graduate defensive back Jevean Brown and a pass breakup from redshirt freshman cornerback Remington Moss, a transfer from the University of Minnesota.
Moss would also have a stellar debut for the Phoenix, ending the game with three pass breakups. But the former four-star recruit credited his performance to his coaches and another special guest.
“Happy birthday to my sister! It’s her birthday today,” Moss said. “I think that's really why I’m hooked today.”
The early defensive stops became a theme throughout the night. Glenville State struggled to sustain drives, converting just two of 14 third downs and finishing with only 125 total yards.
While Stober mainly operated from under center on Elon’s first drive, he shifted primarily to the shotgun on the second. The Phoenix struggled to find the same rhythm, eventually punting after a false start wiped out a fourth-down attempt.
Elon’s defense kept the Pioneers from capitalizing, and the offense soon found its footing again.
Stober connected with sixth-year receiver Jamarien Dalton for a 21-yard gain early in the second quarter before Williams finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. Later in the quarter, Stober found Dalton again for a 2-yardtouchdown, giving Elon a 21-0 halftime lead.
Stober finished his debut 16-for-26 for 254 yards and two passing touchdowns while adding a rushing score.
“Definitely a good start,” Stober said. “It's always good when you start off the season with a win.”
The sophomore quarterback also quickly developed a connection with redshirt freshman Ben Kirsch.
Kirsch caught four passes for 68 yards, including a 43-yard reception in the third quarter. The receiver was held behind on the play but stayed in position to reel in Stober’s throw on the long post route.
A few plays later, Stober found him again on a one-on-one fade in the end zone, where Kirsch fought through his defender to high-point the ball and secure his first touchdown of the season.
“I was really happy for him to have a good night tonight because he's put in all the work to do it,” Stober said, grinning. “He’s a lanky dude and very athletic, and he comes down with one-on-ones. It’s a pretty good feeling.”
Glenville State briefly broke through in the third quarter when quarterback J.D. Sherrod found receiver Kyree Bunny for a 2-yard touchdown, cutting Elon’s lead to 21-7.
The Phoenix answered immediately.
Williams broke two tackles on the ensuing drive before Stober converted a third-and-1 with a quarterback sneak. Williams then finished the drive with his second touchdown of the night.
Williams finished with 77 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while McDowell-Moore added 75 yards on 13 carries in his collegiate debut.
Trisciani said the game also provided an opportunity to build depth, with several freshmen seeing meaningful playing time.
“The more depth we can build and develop in our program, offensively, defensively, the better we're going to be,” Trisciani said. “Today was a great opportunity to, and we purposely wanted to try to roll some guys in when we could.”
By the time the final whistle sounded, the Phoenix had a 42-7 victory and 446 yards of offense. The Phoenix defense forced the Pioneers into 12 punts.
And the celebration that followed — players dancing in front of the student section, the marching band performing and Trisciani running toward the shirtless fans — offered a fitting ending to Elon’s first game of the season.
For Trisciani, though, the win was only a starting point.
“Good win, complementary football most of the day,” Trisciani said. “We’ve got a couple extra days before we line up again to grow from it.”
Elon plays next week on the road against Davidson College on Sept. 5 in Davidson, North Carolina.