Despite poor start to season, Phoenix encouraged by
individual bright spots
Kristin Simonetti / Reporter
Let’s be honest: The first half of the 2004 season was
not a bed of roses for the Phoenix football team. Anyone who
has followed the team’s tribulations (including two
home-field drubbings by Towson and Wofford, a heartbreaking
two-point road loss to North Carolina A&T, and yet
another away game loss to Georgia Southern despite leading
the number three Eagles for over a quarter) can attest to
that.
But here’s the good news: There’s six games left,
and two of those six games feature match-ups against teams
ranked either lower than or equal to the Phoenix in the
Southern Conference. Does this mean the Phoenix will earn its
second win as a member of the SoCon this week at Chattanooga?
Or, perhaps, on Nov. 13 at home against The Citadel? (The
team’s first SoCon win, for those with short-term
memory, came, ironically, against Hamilton’s East
Tennessee State team last season.) Not so fast, Hamilton
says.
“There’s no givens in this league. We’re
still going to face some very good offenses,” Hamilton
said. “We’ve just got to keep our head above
water and keep playing. What’s happening is that there
are times when we’re out there playing [other Southern
Conference teams] and we look like them, we’re playing
to their level.”
Hamilton acknowledges that the Phoenix may have faced its
toughest opposition in the first five games. But he insists
that the team must improve on both sides of the football in
order to come out on the winning end of a second-half
schedule that includes perennial SoCon powers Furman and
Appalachian State.
OFFENSE:
Coach’s Grade: C, C+
Problems:
They can’t score points. Despite leading the SoCon in
red zone offense, the Phoenix has made it in the red zone
just 10 times in five games. The Phoenix ranks seventh out of
eight SoCon teams in scoring offense and total offense. This,
clearly, is not good.
“I understood we’d be playing four very good
defensive football teams early in the season, but I thought
we’d be able to put more points on the board,”
Hamilton said. “We move the ball well between the 20s
and the 30s, but we can’t get it in the end
zone.”
Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the Phoenix
offense is made up predominantly of young players who
haven’t had the opportunity to mature in the SoCon. And
the unit has suffered injuries to key offensive line
personnel, particularly Michael Patram, Charles Porterfield
and Marty Redden.
Another issue has been the inability to blend the running
game smoothly with the passing game. In games where running
back John Taylor ran rampant against the opposing defense,
quarterback Kye Hamilton had difficulty in the passing game.
In games where Hamilton put up impressive numbers, Taylor did
not perform as well.
“I think what we’ve got right now is that we get
in certain formations where John is going to run the ball and
he’s very effective, then we get in other formations
and Kye is effective throwing the ball,” coach Hamilton
said. “We’ve got to get into formations that
allow us to use both Kye and John effectively without showing
our hand as to what we’re going to do. Once we blend
those two together, that’s going to make it difficult
for defenses to defend us.”
Positives:
John Taylor. The recently christened SoCon Offensive Athlete
of the Month for September continues to lead the league in
rushing yards in just his first season with the Phoenix.
Granted, his lead has slimmed to just four yards over
Wofford’s Kevious Johnson. But his 526 rushing yards
have been a welcome addition to the Phoenix offense. He also
ranks fifth in the SoCon in total offense.
DEFENSE:
Coach’s Grade: B-, B
Problems:
Not many. Despite paltry rankings in the SoCon in run defense
(seventh) and total defense (sixth), the defensive unit has
been responsible for keeping the Phoenix in games through the
early going. What has burned the Phoenix defense late in
games is its inability to hold teams in third down and long
situations.
“We’ve just got to get [the other team] off the
field,” Hamilton said. “We play good defense on
first and second down, we get them into situations they
don’t want to be in, and we’re letting them
convert some third and longs that we just can’t give
up.”
Hamilton also indicated his concern for the health of his
defense. The unit lost its second-leading tackler and the
SoCon’s Defensive Athlete of the Month for September,
Mike Sheley, midway through Saturday’s game against
Wofford to an ACL injury. Though the exact diagnosis has not
been determined, Hamilton is not optimistic that Sheley, a
junior, will return this season. Cody Scoggins, who subbed
for Sheley in Saturday’s game, is expected to be his
replacement. If you’re checking your roster,
you’ll notice the letters LB aren’t next to
Scoggins’ name. That’s because he isn’t a
linebacker, he’s a defensive back. But Hamilton has
been impressed with his play.
“At this point, we’re not a real deep football
team,” Hamilton said of the situation.
“That’s where we’ve got to improve.”
Positives:
Several. Hamilton has been pleasantly impressed with the play
of his defensive secondary, particularly defensive backs
Anthony Harris, Vincent Graves and Dwayne Ijames. Ijames and
Harris are tied for third in the SoCon with two interceptions
apiece. Monday, Ijames was named this week’s SoCon
Defensive Player of the Week. Not so long ago, Hamilton
couldn’t imagine this in his proverbial wildest dreams.
“They’ve had a lot to learn. It was a transition
from what they’d run in the past,” Hamilton said.
“The first day we were out in spring practice, I felt
like we had light years to go to understand how to play
defense with the commitment and intensity we needed, but
we’ve come a long way.”
Success hasn’t been relegated to the defensive
backfield. Sheley and linebacker Chad Nkang rank among the
SoCon leaders in tackles; Nkang first with 59 and Sheley with
58 tackles. Lineman Mark Jetton has 2.5 sacks on the year,
sixth in the league. Sheley and fellow linebacker Calvin
Sutton each have two forced fumbles, tied for second among
SoCon defenders.
Phoenix loses by 14
The Pendulum
The Elon University football team dropped its third straight
game on Saturday night as it fell in defeat 27-13 against the
number eight-ranked Wofford Terriers before 5,226 fans at
Rhodes Stadium.
The Phoenix (1-4, 0-2 SoCon) played a strong first half with
the defending Southern Conference Champion Terriers, en route
to only a 7-0 deficit at halftime. Wofford (4-1, 2-1 SoCon)
reeled off 20 unanswered points in the third and fourth
quarters en route to a comfortable late 27-6 lead.
The Phoenix would come back late in the fourth quarter,
cutting the lead to 27-13 on a Ronnie Dargan 65 yard scamper.
Saturday the Phoenix travel to Chattanooga to take on the
winless Mocs. Chattanooga is 0-5 and gives up 55 points a
game. Kick off is set for 4 p.m.
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