Pfyay. October IS, 196S
MAROON AND GOLD
rVAE TIIRBB
Appalachian Hands Elon Upset Defeat By 9 To 0 Score
Christian
Scratch Sheet
By JACK DeVITO
SPEEDY HALI HACKS FEATIIKE ELON DEFENSE
'ItTrny ia.»i c I'lmn 1 stated that
the 'ion " ' 'lighting Christians
could repeat as conference champ-
1 W“ t: ■ and sophomor.'
players came around and if there
. mm mum of injuries. Since
I made that statement the Christ
ians ha e lost two baU games to
Guilford and to Appalachian and
have not sc« s ice their first
football game. The Elon football
team had not been shut out prior
to this season since November 12,
I960, when Lenoir Rhjue defeated
the Christians 14-0; and it had not
been ^hut out in two consecutive
games since the 1959 season, when
Guilford defeated Elon 27-0 and then
Wofford scored a 14-0 win the fol
lowing week. After further consid
eration I have decided that Elon
will win •■some" ball games this
year if the Christians develop an of
fense.
Offense is definitely the key to
the situation. The defense has been
more than reputable In allowing | Military Academy and brought with
only 16 points against it in three'him two senior basketball players;
football games. Any football team Fred Minton of FYanklin, Virginia
Alter talking to some of the
Christian football players, it seems
that this ineffectiveness of the of-!
fense is not due to a total collapse!
of the offense, but rather to little
mistakes that, when mounted up
play after play, cause the offense
to bog down. These players also said
that they think that these little mis
takes have been ironed out and that I
the Fighting Christians will yet have i
a winning season and finish up high'
in the standings.
I am sure that the students at
Elon can expect a much improved
Elon football team the next time
they see it in action. I am also sure
that the Christian fans will continue
to support their football team for
the rest of the season.
Sport Shorts
Melvin Shreves, an old friend a;i ,
former editor of the Maroon an
Gold, came back to Elon for a visit
two weekends ago. He is now Direc
tor of Public Relations at Hargrove
Christian Title Chances
In Looj) Badly Damaged
that has an average of only fire
points scored against it jliould not
lose many ball games. There are of
cour.se exceptions to this, and Ellon
has been the exception so far this
season.
Bill Hunter, former Elon student
and now sports editor of the Bur
lington Times-News, used the state- f ■'an into both men at the gym
By JACK DeVITO
The Elon football team was upset
for the second time in as many
weeks as the Mountaineers from
Boone scored a touchdown and a
safety to defeat the Fighting Christ-1
• •
HOW IT HAPPKNED
Appalachian
First Downs 6
Yards Gain Rushing 77
Yards l^st Rushing 121
Net Yards Rushing 65
Passes Attempted 9
Passes Coniplet(‘d 2
Yards Gain Passing ZCt
Total Yards Offense 91
0pp. Passes IntercepU^d 1
Kunback Interc. Passes 12
Number Punts 8
Ave. Yards l*unts 39.0
Runbaok All Kicks 121
Fumbles Lost
Yards Penalized
Score by Periods:
rion 0 0 0 —0
Appalachian 0 7 0 3—9
Appalachian Touchdown — Robo.
Extra Point—Underwood (kick).
Appalachian safety—Russell tack
led Stewart in end zone.
Elon Football
Klon IS. Emory and Ilrnry 0.
RIon 0, Gitfford 7. |
Klon 0. Appalarhlan 9.
Klon 7, I’rrsbyterian M.
(Rrmalninc GnmeR)
Oct. 23—Catawba, away.
0«i. 16—Carson-Newman, awaf,
Oct. SO—West Carolina, home. |
Nov. 6—Newb*rry, away.
Nov. 13—l.rnoir Khrne, away.
Nov. 20—Kn-derirk, homr.
ment. “Elon Offense Fizzles Out,”
as a headline after the Blon-Appa-
lachian game. This statement seems
justified, for the Christians brought
the football from their own 30-yard
line to the Appalachian 3-yard hne
and then fumbled their only chance
to score.
and William McClung of Roanoke,
Virginia, who worked out with some
of the Elon College basketball team
. . . In the last issue I mentioned
two former Elon students, Jess^
Branson and Bily Graham, who
were doing a good job in their re
spective sports. Well, coincidentally,
The Elon Christians, who trek
the day after the Elon-Appalachian into Tennessee this weekend to bat-
tte the Carson-Newman outfit in
non-conference grid battle, can
show only one win in three starts.
what he expected, 'but they stack up fairly well in t:.
.. ^ . I t:ilistical columns with last year's
He sa.d that .t was not as rough 3^
after the first three games.
A pair of speeay halfbacks play key roles in the brilliant defensive play which has stood out in Elon ■ r 1 ' 1
football ganiBS during last year’s champion-ship sejson and also during the not-so-successful early portion 'ans 9 to 0 in a Carolinas Confer-
of this 1965 campaign. They are Ron Foresta, left, a sophomore who hails from Brooklyn, N.V., and Sonny ence battle at Burlington’s Mem-
Pruette, right, a senior veteran from Roanoke Rapids. Both Foresta and Pruette chalked pass interceptions stadium on Saturday night
in the disastrous 7 to 0 loss to Guilford, and Pruette added another aerial steal in the Appalachian game, „ , .
and both boys also performed well in other phases of defensive play. October 2nd.
Despite Early Defeats . , .
Elon Eleven Shows Strength In 3-Game Statistics
football game. Jesse told mo that
National Basketball Associ:; 1 w
to his liking and that it was qiii
different from
(Continued On Page Four)
This 1965 model of the Christian
football machine rates second in
111? Conference on defense, having
allowed the first three Elon oppon
ents an average of onlv 110 vard
per game, a fagure which stacks
I I ..II well with the league-lead
ing defensive average of 102.6 yards
r U',st which undefeated West-
Crahtree And Oliphant Are Cited For Defense
With Eton’s great Comanchero de
fensive unit overshadowing the at
tacking forces in the first three
games of the season, two of the
games being upset losses to Guilford
and Appalachian, it was not strange
that all choices for “Christian-of-the-
Week” went to members of the
Comanchero crew.
After Co-Captain Joe Dawson had
been honored first after the Emory
and Henry game, the “Christian-
of-the-Week” citation went in suc
cession to Scott Crabtree, Elon’s fine
senior center and linebacker, for
his brilliant efforts against Guilford
and then to speedy David Oliphant,
a sophomore in the defensive back-
field for great play against Appa
lachian.
Crabtree Is Rugged
Crabtree, a rugged 195-pounder,
*as truly an outstanding figure in
the defensive game against Guil
ford, for he intercepted one Guilford
pass on the Elon 32-yard marker
to blunt one of the Guilford drives,
and he also figured in tackle after
tackle during the contest, which
Elon lost to the Quakers by a 7
to 0 score.
The lanky senior star, who is now
w his fourth season as a defensive
regular for the Fighting Christians,
has long ranked as one of the finest
linebackers in the Carolinas Confer-
^ce. Crabtree has paired with Joe
awson in the linebacking roles
since both boys were freshmen, and
team in the Conference offers a
■ner pair in that role.
The Durham boy came to Elon
'weighing a scant 170 pounds, but
proved by his deadly tackling
hat he had to be in the action when
former on both offense and de- fense when Ray Wilson, the starting well think that have been hit by
fense all year with the Carolinas offensive pivotman, .suffered a. ui cleohant instead of an Oliphant.
Conference champions of 1964. broken hand against Guilford. " wic ■ in the first moments of the
With the return of the two-platoon oliphant Features Speed ; Vnp^l-chinn ' imber 21
type of football this fall, Crabtree Olinhant. who was honored as the v ■' ’ ’’Ion sec-
has concentrated mostly on defense ^utsta.iJin? performer in the battle ,, , ; (,g[|
again, although he has been seen as w Ih ichian, features speed as
the offensive center to snap the 'lis chief ^tock in trade, but .1
baU back on punt formations in ^. ,1, his .slight IS.Vpound fi-ire at gj, ,h, ^ ^..Jv Chri.sl
early games. He resumed his two-' ojip.ising runners w.ih such rockles-
and de- ibindcn that opposing players may ' * ' ago. In the first three games last
fall. Elon had the ball for 116 rushes
. fo” los.'os, nnd the same
Ijctics con ti .uc I thr.)U'4houi the
way duties on both offen.=e
ern Carolina has allowed its three
opponents.
It is on offense that the 1965 Christ
ians have failed to measure up to
the standard set last year, for the
Elon gridders have managed only
300 yards net rushing and i:U yard-
in net passing for a total of 4T!
yards and an average 127 yard.'
per game, well below the total of
?32 yards in total offense in the
irst three games a year ago, which
was an average of 277.3 yards per
'ame. Catawba is currently lead-
ng the Conference with an aver
age of 279.6 yards per game.
Comparison of the statistical fig
ures for the Elon team on both
offense and defense with the Christ
ian figures of a year ago prove-
interesting. On offense the Christ
ians have shown well in ball control,
for these 1965 Elon gridders havi
had the ball for more offensive
plays than did the team of a yeai
enemy only 110 yards per game in
total offense, while last year'* squ '
allowed opposing teams 9S yard.'-
per game in the first three battles
This 1965 team has intercepted '
opposing pa.sses and allowed onl
R completions for 87 yards, while the
Christians last year intercepted
throws and allowed 23 enemy com
pletions ^or 220 yards in the initial
hree content This 196,'i eleven a!
lowed no enemy TD’s on passes
while last year’s team had allowed
wo aerial touchdowns in the first
three conte-sts,
(Coi'timied On Pa»i‘ t'ou. /
TW(^ 'U\ a
\N.S-' )F-W -i
]
Elon
was on defense, so he earned
^ linebacker role that freshman
^ason. He has never relinquished
«« post.
He continued to play principally
defense through his freshman
sophomore seasons, but last
year he moved into a starting posi
*‘on at center with the offensive
*onibination and was a two-way per-
and 55 passes, while this year’s
squad has had 130 rushes and .V
;)a.sses.
Trailing In .Scoring
Furthermore, thus 1965 squad ha>
racked 33 first downs, only slightly
less than the 37 shown by last year’s
Christians in three games, and in
addition Elon has allowed the op
posing teams only 17 first-and-tens
this fall, well below the 22 first
downs racked by Elon foes in the
first three games last fall. The big
difference has been in scoring, for
Elon showed a 57 to 19 scoring edge
over the first three foes last fall
and trails by a 15 to 16 scoring
margin in three games this fall.
The Christians have fared well in
the kicking game in early battles,
for big Joe Dawson is averaging
38.7 on 22 kicks in three games this
fall and had averaged 37.8 on 21
boots in three games last year,
with it being interesting to ob
serve that last year’s 3-0 winne
came within one put of the numbe
needed by the present team in three
contests.
This 1965 team has also done well
in running back enemy kicks when
compared with la.st year’s Christian
outfit, for thus far Elon is averag
ing 10.1 yards on punt returns
slightly above last year's average
of 7.2 returns of enemy kick*. This
u. . . ••rhriciianjif vear’s Christians have averaged 21.4
in" p cture man caught two of Elon s Chri.stian-Ol- ■> l , 1 1 « 1
III, ^ , h..„ru.noH in the on ninback of enemy kick-offs, al
most as much as the 23.7 average
_ _ on kickoffs a year ago.
to’5^.“making the tackle rad‘'worthe"’’Christian-Of-The^Week’’- honor i" ^lon^uil-
render assistance .f needed. Crabt^«^^_^^ ..christian-Of-The-Week for th.s Appalachian,^^ ^
z
I, W.,s indeed a photographic parity _whe^__the^rovn
-Week ” heroes ii
ah^ve snapshot taken uu....a__ - oaTachian’5 hard-driving
- ' negative, but that is ju.st exactly what happened in the
The-Week ” heroes in ^fj„ht with Appalachian, for the picture show.s Scrtt Crabtr^ iNum-
hard-driving Bill Bobo, and David Oliphant ..Numter 2U^i^ aU
After a scorele.is first q.urter,
Elon’s Joe Dawson booted the ball
from his own 21-yard line to Jack
Fine, Mountaineer safety man, who
j was standing on his own 40-yard
^' marker, and the speedy .\ppalach-
ian freshman returned the punt be
hind fine blocking to the Elon 23-
yard marker.
The .\ppalachian quarterback, Guy
Flynt, then tha’W thne suece-sive
isses in quest of the needed first
lown. but all lliree fell incomplete.
When Flynt tossed hi.s fourth pass,
he completed u 12-yarrl h 'a e to
Bill Mauldin, the Mountaineer left
end. who was cutting across the
Elon .secondary.
This pass was good for a first
down at the Elon eleven, and this
set the stage for Bill Bobo, a fresh
man fullback for the visiting out-
t. who r.iced for eight yards after
Flynt had picked up two. The Bobo
•sprint was gcxxl for first down on
the Chri.stian one. Bobo then plowed
into the end zone for the touchdown,
and Jack Underwood Ixwted the
point. Less than four minutes re
mained in the .second period at the
time, and the Apps went to the
dres-sing room at intermission with
a 7 to 0 edge.
The Appalachian safety, which
was not really needed for the vic
tory, occurred in the last thirty
seconds of the ball game when Ap-
'■'Inchian guard Bobby Rii.ssell
iiight Elon’s F'red Stewart in the
■nd zone as the big halfback was
Tying to get off a pass.
(Continui-d On I’aije Four)
si:rs Ki/)> ()FF!':\sivF pack
f^rVUrthe previous weekend, and Oliohant wa
contest.
•fyronc McDuffie, senior quarterback, who took on a big job thif
year in rtpl.icina Ed Vvheless as Lion’s field general, has proved hi*
ability by leading the Fighting Chri.stian squad in both passing and total
offen.se in the early games of a rough and rugged season. McDuffie
rated fourth in the Carolinas Conference in the individual ranking* in
passing and total offense in the first published statistics that appeared
after three early games