Friday, October 2i. l#ei
Catamo
c.>
Eloii Battles'^
Catawba ‘11’
At Salisbury
t- The Christian gridders take to
the road for th« third straight
weekend when they travsl to Sal-
Isbbury to meet the Catawba In
dians in the twenty-sixth annual
renewal of a football series that
had its beginning more than tiree
decades ago, and the Eton eleven
will be seeking to retain the slim
margin it holds in victories over
the Indians.
The series had its beginning
back in 1928, and in twenty-five
games played since that time Elon
has won twelve games while los
ing eleven and tying two, with
mSny of the decisions coming af
ter close and thrilling battles.
No more thriUing game has been
played in the entire series than
that of last season, when George
Wooten raced 108 yards in the
final seventeen seconds of play
to grab a 13 to 12 decision over
the Indians before an Elon Home-
csming crowd.
The sprint by Wooten was the
longest scoring run by any college
football player in America last
season, and the Elon alumni and
students wJio saw it will never
forget the thrill it gave them, and
rjl -my in ¥
lo Be Elon tGQ In Homecoming Tilt
VETERAN BACKS PLAY Bl(; KOLE IN ELON AEKiAL PL ilr
^ V’j
Christians Seek Revenge
lor Last Year’s Defeat
score another k)uchdo\fn. It was
then thet Catawba elected to try
a field goal, and the kick went
deep inside the Elon end zone to
start Wooten’s dash to victory.
It was the sec»nd time in recent
years that Elon had defeated Cat-1
awba in the final seconds a
Rame, for the Elon Eleven of 1956
Tr/ S’-^bbed a 14 to 13 victory in the
Two ^lon backfield stars who have played a big part in the early-season play of the Fiahtins
Chnstians are George Wooten and Ken Cooke, wko are pictured above in action poses. Wooten a
..c-pound junior from Hamlet, m \ed ou. iront as the toial offense
ferenee and the Carolinas Uistric: of the NAIA afier four games of
An up-and-clawing crew of Wes
tern Carolina Catamounts comet
down fr»m the hills of CuHowhee
to furnish the oppBsitioii for the
Fighting Christian gridders in
iMon s annual Homscoming foot
ball game, set for Saturday after
noon, October 28th in Burlington
Memorial Stadium.
The game looms as kough test
fcr the Cliristians, but Coach
George Tucker s boys will huve all
guns primed and ready, strength
ened with the double motivt of
-iirnishing a Homecoming victory
or Elon's returning old grads and
■ilso grabbing a bit of revenge for
-> •*! to 6 shellacking which Elon
.eceived at Cullowliee a year ago
That loss a year ago was an
anusual event for the Christians,
or the Elon gridders have a tra
dition of victory over the Cata-
nounts, built up during a series
Jiat had its beginnings almost thir-
y years ago. Records show that
Ion has won eleven, lost three
Eion Fool hail
Elon 12, Gullfo«d 8
Won le, Wofford 20
Elon 0, Appalurhian 23.
Elon 20, East Carolina 22.
(Remaining Games)
Oct. 14—Tampa, away
Oct. 21—Catawbii, away
Oct. 28—West Carolina, home
Nov. 4—Newberry, away
Nov. 11—Lenoir Rhyne, away
Nov, 17—Presbyterian, home
wrought b^ore
.acle had been
their eyes.
The Indians were leading bj- a 12
to 7 margin at the time and had
possession of the ball deep in
Elo* territory, seemingly ready to
final two seconds on a pass from
Kerry Richards to Tony Carcater-
ra. Last year’s win was the more
spectacular, however, in that Woo
ten s dash was the longest touch
down run in Elon grid history.
• an quarterback had run and passed the ball for 499 ya.ds.'a.i aver. .• ci 125 y^rd« per same in
four contests. Cooke, a 185-pound junior halfback 'from Hillsboro, a . b^-en handicapped by iniuries
■lunng part of the season, but he has proved himself to be a harj iMn_-r a:id an' oiitstanding pass
receiver. He was leadmg the Carohnas Conference in pasi rccei :ig after the first four games
ader for both the Carolinas Con- and tied one in fifteen meeting!
. 13bl campaign. The Christ-| *ih the Cats since 1933
Talking Sports
With
DA^D PROPHET’ MARSHBURN
Despite Christian Rally . . .
Pirates Top Elon In 22-20 Battle
Mother Luck must surely smile
on our Elon Christians sometime!
Yes, it seems that it is about time
that the old lady should turn her thing before it in chalking a 7 to
wheel of fortune and let the lucky
"ireaks faU for onoe at least on
he side of the Maroon and Gold
.Tidders of Elon CoUege.
In saying this, I would like to
X)int out that certainly Mother
Luck has been looking the other
way in most of our early con
tests of the 1960-61 grid cam
paign, for time after time the
‘’breaks” of the game have seem
ed to fall in the laps of our op
position.
Only two weeks ago, in the prev
ious issue of the Maroon and Gold,
I declared my belief that this
■would be the year for the Christ
ians, that the thrills and chills
jof a few years ago would be ours
jonce again as the Ellon football-
jers battled for the honors and
chalked a few victories
I However, such a prophecy now
jseems somewhat off the beam, al-
ithough we would not call it im
possible, for since writing that
prophecy the Christians have
dropped a hard-fought battle to
Wofford, gone down before the
A.ppalachian Mountaineers and
then lost a real heart-breaker to
East Carolina.
Although out Christians now
seem more or less out of the run-
ning for the Caroffia Conferenee
title, we’ve got a pair of battles
(.'oming up with Catawba and Wes
tern Carolina in which the Christ-
early moments as if it were en
tirely a Pirate day, and the East
Carolina eleven had swept every
0 lead by the half-time, but the
final half was a different story
for Elon supporters
Surely the Elon Christians lived
up to their 'Fighting” name in the
final half, which saw them re
bound from the half-time shortage
and score three touchdowns to
come within two points of a vict
ory, and only the failure of a
pass for two extra points kept
E’on from tiling the score at 22-aU.
Failure on try for points after two
of the Elon touchdowns, in fact,
told the whole story of the Pirate
victory, a victory which left the
Pirates undefeated and on top of
the standings in the Carolinas
Conference.
Just as had been the case with
many Elon-East Carolina battles
in the series that had its beginning
way back in 1946, it was a real
scoring duel, with both teams
bringing the fans to their feet with
thrilling scoring plays.
The Pirates had entered the fin
al quarter with a 22 to 6 margin,
and it appeared that they truly
had iie game on ice, but George
Wooten and his mates in the Elon
backfield had other ideas, and
they came back to score two touch
downs in the final twelve minutes
and leave the Pirates reeling on
tlie ropes like a groggy prize
fighter.
It was the bullet-like passes of
Wooten, which sped
Striking by land and air in a
rally that has had few parallels
in in Elon College football history,
the Fighting Christian gridders
scored three touchdowns in the
final half, but the East Carolina
eleven hung on to a scant lead
that netted the Pirates a 22 to
20 victory over Elon in a Carolinas
Conference battle at Greenville
on Saturday afternoon, October neither team could score during
tile rest of the first half.
The »,me, which attracted an The third quaMer produced
t-ast Carolma Homecoming crowd
10,000 fans, saw each team
The Christians moved the ball
well the first time they got it,
sweeping to the Pirate thirty-five
in five plays, but an Elon fumble
blocked that threat, and Elon
never threatened again until afte.
intermission The Pirates pene
trated to the Elon in the early
minutes of the second quarter, but
score. Mauldrow again kicked good
for 14 to 0.
A 56-yard aerial thrust, coming
on a pass from George Wooten
to Ken Cooke, carried to the Pi
rate four, and Burl Clements bar
relled over the goal in two car
ries, scoring Elon's first TD and
cutting the margin to eight points
The Christian-Catamount rival-
had its beginning in the hey
day of the Peahead Walker coach-
• g regime at Elon, a regime that
t hristian alumni recall as the
• Thundering Thirties " Elon romp
ed to five decisive victories during*l
the early years of the series prior
-0 World War II.
The ChrisUans thrashed the Cat
amounts 45 to 6 in 1933 and 37 to
in 1934, but there was a lapse
f SIX years before the rivalry re-
iimed in 1939. In that 1939 season
Ion won 52 to 0, and she added
but Elon took up her winning ways
apain with a 27 to 19 win in 1950
and a 23 to 0 victory iu 1951 be
fore Western Carolina rose up to
chalk her first triumph by a 12
to 0 count in 1952.
The Elon gridders ce^-brated
Hcmecoming by trouncing the Cat
amounts 13 to 7 in 1953, but the
Catamounts managed a thriUlng
20 to 20 tie with Elon s strong
squad of 1954.
There was another Elon Home
coming vfctory in 1955, when the
Christians rolled for a 19 to 7
Wi» at Burlington Stadium, and
Elon boasted her margin in the
series with two other wins by
20 to 6 in 1956 «id 15 to 6 In 1958.
The 1957 game was cancelled due
to a flu epidemic on the Cullo-
whee campus.
The last two years have brouaht
Catamou«t wins, with the Cullo-
whee eleven grabbing a 14 to 6
shellacking a year ago. It Is the
dominate one half of the game
The Pirates held a wide edge in
the statistics as they gainad a 7
to 0 lead in the first half, but
the Elon eleven dominated the
statistics throughout the last two
qiterters of play.
a Pirate field goal try failed and | Frank Galloway romped 5 ya'ds
with an Elon punt to score East
Carolina's third touchdown, a'.cl
Vince Eiduke passed to Johnny
Anderson for a two-pointer that
ent the Pirates ahead 22 to 6 just
-- -, .j.ic duuea “ —
i-is by 42 to 0 in 1940 and 28 of these two r«cent loss-
■7 in 1941 jes that Elon will be seeking to
Eton
HOW IT HAWPENED
East Carolina
15
172
16
157
12
7
First Downs
Yards Gain Rushing
Yards Lost Rushing
Net Yards Rushing
Passes Attempted
Passes Completed
three touchdown*, tw« by riie Pi
rates and the other by the Christ
ians. East Carolina scored five
minutes into the cfuarter. .-Vn Elon
'.’gamble on fourth down failed at
mid-field, and the Pirates hit pay
dirt in eight plays, with Larry
Rudisill going thirteen for the
half minute before the third per-
i d closed.
T'.ie fourth quarter was all an
r'.cn show. Marvin Cro'.vdei re
turned the Pirates kickoff to the
Elon thirty, and Elon
ciialk,'.
(Continue''
EJon Gridiron Statistic-^
Sliowii For Four Games
They ^ay that figtires do not lit,
but (he figures in the Elon Col
'.ego football statistics for four
early-season games certeiniy ap
pear at variance with the Fight
' Christian record of one win
TRIO OF FKOSH GRIDDERS SEE HEAVY DUTY
Jan.? have a chance to redeem George
themsslves and move into the up- straight to their marks when they
per brackets of the Conference were needed, plus the hard run-
’■ ning of Burl Clements, Marvin
standings
Seldom have we seen such a
heart-breaker as was i that loss to
the East Carolina Pirates, for the
Christians went down after sign
ing a rally that had Elon fans all
Pepped up and alive with hope,
whether the fans were in th«
stands or listening to the radio
account of the game.
The game had started off in its
12
180
10
170
12
3
106 Yards Gain Passing 50
263 Total Yards Scrimmage 220
1 Opp. Pases Intercapted 0
5 Runback Int. Passes 0
3 Number Punts 3
39.3 Ave. Yards Punts 31.3
78 Runback AU Kicks 176
2 Fumbles Lost ^
15 Yards PenaUies 45
Score By Periods:
Elon 0__0 6 14—20
Elon 0 0 6 14—20
East Carolina .7 0 15 0—22
Elon Touchdowns—Clements 2,
(1-run, 1-run); Kelley, (8-pass from
Wooten). Extr Points—Clements
2 (run). East Carolina Touch
downs—Strickland (1-run), Rudis
ill (13-run), Galloway (55-punt
retmm). Extra Points—.'Vlauldrow
2 (kicks), Anderson 2 (pass).
• » *
The figures showed that East
Carolina chalked ten first downs
to three for Elon in the first half,
but Elon grabbed nine first-and-
tens against two for the Pirates
as Coach George Tucker's boys
crossed the Pirate goal three times
after the intermission. Two of the
Christian TD’s came in the final
twelve minutes of play.
Te Pirates moved like a well-
oiled nuaehine when they took the
opening kick-off and marched
yards in exactly seventeen plays,
chalking five first downs enroute
to their first score, which came
when Billy Strickland bucked over
from the one on a fourth-down
B7A^B5
Crowder, Wayne Mahanas and oth
ers' that enabled the Christians to
come from so far behind and
threaten to overtake ^ East Car
olina outfit in the closing min
utes.
It was this game with East Car
olina in particular, along with the
battle that was lost to Wofford ®
’ attempt Bob Mauldrow kicked the
(Continued on Page Fourt 1 extra point for the 7-0 lead.
A number of freshman gridders .lave played fine roles in Elon’s early grid games, among the out
standing first-year gridders being the three pictured above. Left 'to right in the picture, the three
youthful Christians are Clayton Johnson, 17()-pound halfback f: om, Graham; Randy Kezlah, 200-
pound guard from Hamlet; and Junior Webster, 170-pound halfback from Lexington. Both Johnson
and Webster have seen much ser ice in the Christian baokfield this season, with each one shining in
the field of punt and kick-off returns Kueiah is rated as one of the most promising young linemeti in
the Elon squad and is expected ta see much service during the remainder »f the season.
and three tosses prior to last
week’s invasion of Florida tor the
Tampa game.
In fact, the only figures which
jibe with the Christiw record of
one win and three tosses are those
for the total points scored. The
Elon griddeiK had tallied only 44
points, compared with 73 points
for all opponents, and such fig
ures fit the win-loss record.
All other figures might weU be
those for a winning team, even for
an undefeated team, a good in-
sltence being the first downs. The
Christians in four games had
chalked 55 first-and-tens, compar
ed with 48 for the opposition, and
a quick survey of individual games
shows that only Appalachian
among the first four opponents
could top Elon in the first down
columns.
Many coaches say that ball pos
session is an all-important part of
winning football, but such has not
proven true for the Elon eleven
this fall. The statistics disclose
that Elon has had the ball for 235
offensive plays, not including
punts, while the opposing teams
have had the ball for only 215 of
fensive plays.
Total gains from scrimmage
can usually be termed a fine in-
divation of winning football, but
«u»h has not been the truth in
the ca.se of the Elon gridders. The
fibres show that the Christians
have moted the ball on the ground
and through the air for a total of
1.015 yards in four games, while
all opponents combined could gain
only 797 yards, and yet the op
ponents won three of four games.
The Christian ground attack has
been potent all fhe way, with Elon
having gained a net of 655 yards
on 179 rushes, an average of 3.7
yards each Ume an Blon back has
carried the ball. By comparison,
the opposing teams have gyned
only .586 yards in 168 rushes, an
average of 3.5 yards fotr each
carry for opposing backs.
(Continued From Page Threa)