After downing Chanticleers, high flying Elon turns focus to
Towson Tigers for home opener
Brad McLaughlin
/ Reporter
The Elon Phoenix football team looks to add to their great
start when they face Towson at Rhodes Stadium on Saturday in
their home opener.
The Towson Tigers went 6-5 last year and finished the season
ranked 60th. They are coached by Gordy Combs, who returns to
Towson for his 15th year as head coach.
They are led by sophomore quarterback Sean Schaefer.
Schaefer exploded onto the scene last year with a record
breaking freshman year in which he threw for 2,772 yards and
20 touchdowns. The Phoenix will have their hands full trying
to contain him. Running backs Kerry Miles, Rasheed McClaude
and wide receiver Andrae Brown are all threats for the Tigers
on offense.
Defensively, the Tigers struggled last year giving up the
most points of any team in the Atlantic 10 conference. They
hope that with many of their starters returning, they will
improve as a unit. They are led by senior tackles Carlos
Allen, George Mitchell and sophomore linebacker Jordan
Manning.
Last weekend the Phoenix had a gutsy 23-20 win at 25th
ranked Coastal Carolina. New head coach Pete Lembo was happy
to earn a win in his first game as head coach, but was more
thrilled for the Elon community.
“It was a much appreciated win for our kids and the
people in this community that have been through some tough
times,” Lembo said. “There was a lot of
excitement heading into the year and it was good to be able
to back that all up and get a win on the road.”
New quarterback Wes Pope threw for more than 200 yards and
scored twice, once through the air and once on the ground.
Wide receiver Michael Mayers was outstanding performance,
catching eight balls for 117 yards and a touchdown.
“Wes had a good start to the season, he came up with
some big plays at critical moments and led our offense
through some adversity in the middle of the game and finished
strong,” Lembo said.
All-American Linebacker Chad Nkang led the defense with 13
tackles, and received Southern Conference Player of the Week
honors for the third time in his Elon career. Linebacker
Corey Weaver and true freshman defensive back Karlos Sullivan
both grabbed interceptions.
Elon received top 25 votes this week, for the first time in
four years.
Contact Brad at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247
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