By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The most difficult part for Elon’s football team came leading up to Saturday night’s game.
Once kick-off finally arrived, it was smooth going for the Phoenix in a 55-7 home-opening victory against Davidson at Rhodes Stadium.
– Advertisement –
Following a two-hour lightning-related delay, Landen Clark threw two of his three touchdown passes to Landyn Backey and rushed for a touchdown. Isaiah Fuhrmann also caught a touchdown pass and three others ran for touchdowns.
“They were loose and they handled it, and when it was go-time, they were ready to go,” coach Tony Trisciani said. “The game finally got here, so it was be in the moment and win the moment.”
The result was the most points for Elon (1-1) against a Division I opponent since defeating Davidson 56-0 in 2009.
“The whole mindset was really to just stay loose and keep your eyes on the prize and not get out of that game mentality,” defensive tackle Jake Louro said. “No matter what, we’ve still got the mentality that we’ve got a game to play.”
Elon’s defense held the Wildcats (0-2) to 158 yards of total offense.
After leading 10-0 eight minutes into the game, the Phoenix poured it one with 31 more points before halftime.
“We were on fire in that second quarter,” Trisciani said.
Backey, pressed into extended duty because of a deleted receiving corps because of injuries, turned in TD receptions of 22 and 44 yards. He finished with five catches for 118 yards – both career highs for the redshirt junior.
Running back Jimmyll Williams racked up 79 rushing yards, including a 4-yard scoring run. T.J. Thomas, Jr. and Dan Frederick also ran for touchdowns.
“The emphasis around here has been growth,” Trisciani said. “I saw that during the week. I saw the sense of urgency and purpose in practice. And then I saw it within the game.”
Elon visits Western Carolina (0-2), a 42-10 loser at Wake Forest on Saturday, next Saturday.