Page 24 • Thursday, September 11, 2003
Sports
The Pendulum
Phoenix falls to Tusculum in home opener
Tim Rosner / Asst. Photo Editor
The Phoenix were stopped twice in the red zone and turned the ball
over three times as the Tusculum defense overpowered Elon.
Kristin Simonetti
Reporter
It isn’t often that you see the
Elon offense register rushing
yardage in the single digits. But it
happened Saturday night.
A s*ingy Tusculum College
defensive line yielded just eight
rushing yards to the Phoenix as
the Pioneers dominated Elon 17-
3. Tusculum, a NCAA Division II
school, earned its sixth win
against Division I-AA opponents
under head coach Frank DeBusk
with their defeat of Elon.
“Our defensive football team
played awesome tonight,”
DeBusk said. “We gave up some
plays, but when we had to count
on our kids, they stepped up and
made plays.”
Tusculum’s offense thrived
against a weak Phoenix pass rush;
quarterbacks Tony Colston and
Carson Bradley passed for 292
yards. Tailback Chris Mosley
rushed for 114 yards, a benefici
ary of a brutish Pioneer offensive
line that manhandled the Phoenix
front four.
Phoenix quarterback Anthony
Crews threw for 225 yards, two
for 70- and 66-yard gains. But he
also tossed three interceptions
that ended promising drives. Stan
Smith caught six passes for 89
yards.
The Phoenix set the tone for
the game on its very first play
from scrimmage, a rush by
Rashaud Palmer for a loss of three
yards. After a delay of game
penalty, an incomplete pass and
another pass short of a first down,
the Phoenix kicked the ball away.
“They gave us all kinds of fits
with their pressure,” Phoenix
head coach Al Seagraves said.
“They were an excellent defense.
We knew that going in that
[defense] is the strength of their
team. More than anything else
they out-quicked us up front.”
Mike Warren welcomed
Colston to the game with a sack
on second down in Tusculum’s
first series. But Colston convert
ed third down and 22, and the
Pioneers got on the board follow
ing Dylan Mason’s 28-yard field
goal.
In the second quarter, Crews
found Smith for a 66-yard com
pletion to the Tusculum 20-yard
line, bringing the Phoenix inside
the Pioneer red zone for the first
time in the game. William Rawls’
31-yard field goal tied the game at
three with just over six minutes
left in the first half
Tusculum responded with a
five-play, 59-yard drive that
ended with Patrick King’s eight-
yard touchdown run. Mason’s
extra point made the score 10-7
with one minute 46 seconds
remaining in the half
Momentum seemed to shift to
the Phoenix sideline early in the
second half, when Anthony Harris
punched the ball out of Bradley’s
grasp on fourth down. Wesley
Wheeler recovered and the
Phoenix received the ball on
Tusculum’s 36-yard line.
The rushing game that seemed
to elude the Phoenix in the first
half came back in spurts on this
drive, with Palmer and Chad
Nkang alternating carries. Crews
carried the ball to the Tusculum
one-yard line. On third and one,
Crews handed the ball to Palmer
who pushed to within inches of
the goal line. Seagraves opted to
go for the touchdown on fourth
down and the Pioneer defense
dragged Palmer down for a loss of
a yard. Tusculum took over on its
own two-yard line.
“We just couldn’t get anything
done,” Crews said of the
Phoenix’s offensive struggles.
The teams traded possessions
until Anthony Harris intercepted a
Bradley pass at the Elon nine-
yard line. Harris returned the ball
to the Elon 28-yard line. Crews
launched a pass to true freshman
Dan Crews for a 70-yard gain on
second down, bringing the
Phoenix to the Tusculum two-
yard line. But the Phoenix would
fail to score again, with Crews
unable to connect with Zak
DeBusk on fourth down and one.
“Not only did [Tusculum’s
defense] do it once, which is
unheard of, they did it twice,”
Frank DeBusk said of his defense.
“Those two stands are the reason
we won the game.”
The Phoenix forced another
punt and began a drive in Pioneer
territory but Larry Hollins halted
the drive, intercepting a Crews
pass on third down. Bradley and
the Tusculum offense stalled at
the Elon 24-yard line and attempt
ed a 42-yard field goal. Eddie
Bell blocked the kick and the
Phoenix took over at its own 25-
yard line.
Crews was intercepted again
on the second play of the drive.
Tusculum took advantage of the
Phoenix’s third turnover of the
night and scored on Mosley’s
two-yard rush, putting the
Pioneers up 17-3.
“We played a good team and
we lost to a good team,” Phoenix
linebacker Calvin Sutton said.
“[The fact that Tusculum is]
Division II doesn’t matter.
We’ve just got to get ready for
next week.”
The Phoenix travel to
Hempstead, New York this
weekend to face Hofstra
University. The Pride currently
hold an 0-2 record with losses to
Marshall University and the
University of Maine.
Both Elon and Hofstra have
faced opening weekend power
schools and come off disap
pointing losses, making
Saturday’s match-up a must win
for both squads.
Contact Kristin Simonetti al pen-
dulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
*1.
Tim Rosner I A-sst. Photo Editor
Ebn’s defense struggled to shut down the Pioneers offense Saturday
night. The Phoenix defense allowed 114 rushing yards and the
defense allowed Tusculum to gain 292yards in the air.