Box Score Oct. 30, 2004
Final Stats
Elon, N.C. -
Freshman Travis Hill, starting for an injured Lamar Barnes at linebacker, tallied 12 tackles and Justin Clark threw for 171 yards with a touchdown before leaving with a shoulder injury as Western Carolina spoiled Elon's Homecoming 28-7 Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium in front of a crowd of 7,328.
The Catamounts (3-6 overall, 1-4 Southern Conference), who scored in every quarter but the third, put an end to a six-game drought while the Phoenix (2-6 1-4) scored late to avoid back-to-back shutout losses for the first time since 1989.
"Our offense really struggled to run the football," said Western Carolina coach Kent Briggs. "We came through with some short passes to keep our drives alive. Elon's defense was great. They even dominated us at times up front. Fortunately, we took advantage of every little thing they gave us. When you lose that many in a row, it's tough to get that first win to end the streak. Our hats go off to Elon and coach (Paul) Hamilton. Also, we had some key players out with injuries and I was pleased with the way players stepped up and made plays today."
Calvin Guinyard completed a 63-yard pass play - WCU's longest of the season - from Clark to give the Catamounts an early 7-0 advantage with 11:05 left in the opening quarter. Rico Reese intercepted a Kye Hamilton pass and returned it 18 yards to put Western Carolina up 14-0 - the eventual halftime margin - with 13:15 to remaining in the second period.
Russell Hemby replaced an injured Clark late in the third quarter, and later hit Michael Reeder with a 38-yard touchdown pass to stretch the WCU cushion to 21-0 with 11:15 to play in the final stanza. Darius Fudge then scored on a five-yard run to extend Western Carolina's lead to 28-0 with 9:23 on the clock.
Hamilton left the contest with a hip injury early in the third period after a Hill sack. His replacement, Wes Pope, broke up the Catamounts' shutout bid when he connected with Josh Crawford on a fourth-and-four, 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left in the game. Prior to that final scoring drive, an 84-yard dirve, Western's defense only allowed the Phoenix offense to tally 101 yards of total offense.
"It was a tough day, a tough loss," said Elon coach Paul Hamilton. "We're a better football team than we showed today. I give them (Western Carolina) all of the credit in the world. They executed very well and were very physical."
Clark completed 16 of his 27 passes with one interception while Pope connected on nine of his 18 passes with one interception for 84 yards, leading their respective offenses. Reeder hauled in six receptions for 92 yards while Guinyard snagged three balls for 84 yards.
The Phoenix's Chad Nkang, the Southern Conference's leading tackler, amassed a game-high 14 total stops, including two for loss, to pace all defenders. Teammate Calvin Sutton put up 12 tackles, four tackles for loss, three pass break-ups and one sack.
In addition to Hill's season-high 12 tackles, James Conklin had seven stops. Also, Ryan Nesby joined Reese by picking off a pass.
Western Carolina will have next weekend (Nov. 6) off before hosting Appalachian State on Nov. 13 in the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug. The game will be telecast on C-SET and kickoff is set for 4 pm.
