PC-Elon Box Score
ELON, N.C. ? Presbyterian College fell 66-12 to 18th-ranked Elon on Saturday evening at Rhodes Stadium.
The loss dropped the Blue Hose to 1-2 on the season, while the nationally-ranked Phoenix improved to 2-1 on the year.
Linebacker Chris Bowman (Conway, S.C./Conway) led the Blue Hose in the game, tying for game-high honors with freshman teammate Justin Bethel (Blythewood, S.C./Blythewood) with eight total tackles. Bowman had a game-best 3.0 tackles-for-loss. He had one sack in the game and seven of his tackles were solo.
Bethel had five solo tackles in the game en route to the eight total tackles.
Clifton Evans (Winnsboro, S.C./Fairfield Central) recorded a sack in the loss to the Phoenix.
Offensively, PC was led by quarterback Tim Webb (Lugoff, S.C./Lugoff-Elgin), who was 20-for-35 in the game for 149 yards. Webb had one touchdown.
Running back S.J. Worrell (Madison, Ga./Morgan County) returned from injury on Saturday to finish with a team-best 45 yards on the ground. He had a team-high five catches.
Tyler Robbins (Homewood, Ala./Homewood) ended the Elon game with a team-high 131 all-purpose yards. All of Robbins yards in the game came on his seven kickoff returns. Robbins had a long return of 39 yards.
Bo Williamson led the Elon attack in the game, ending the game with 287 all-purpose yards. Williamson tallied 167 yards receiving and two touchdowns. He returned three kickoffs for 106 yards and he had one punt return for 14 yards.
Elon quarterback Scott Riddle was 23-for-33 for 386 yards and three touchdowns in the game.
Elon had 667 yards of total offense in the game, while the Blue Hose finished with 185 yards of total offense.
Down 42-0, PC scored on its first series of the second quarter when Webb rifled in a touchdown pass to Terrance Butler (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Socastee) from 16 yards out to earn PC its first points of the day. Cam Miller (Lyman, S.C./Byrnes) missed the extra point, leaving the score at 42-6 in favor of Elon.
Butler's touchdown reception gave him a touchdown in all three of PC's games so far in 2008. It marked the second time in 2008 that he scored PC's opening touchdown of a game as he also scored PC's opening touchdown in the season opener against Wofford.
PC's inaugural touchdown was set up by a 33-yard pass from Webb to freshman Patrick McKoy (Fayetteville, N.C./Douglas Byrd). The reception was the longest of McKoy's young career in a Blue Hose uniform.
The 33-yard reception would have given PC the football at the Elon 31-yard line, but Elon's Karlos Sullivan was called for roughing the passer, giving the Blue Hose prime field position at the Elon 16-yard line.
Elon answered back to PC's first score of the game on its next offensive possession with an Andrew Wilcox 36-yard field goal that set the score at 45-6 in Elon's favor.
The Phoenix added another with 1:16 left in the first half when Riddle found Williamson for a 41-yard touchdown reception. The touchdown reception was the second of the game for Williamson.
The Blue Hose finished the first half with 148 yards of total offense, while Elon had 406 yards of total offense in the first half.
The two teams were scoreless for most of the first 12 minutes of the third quarter before Elon extended its lead to 59-6 with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Harris scored his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run to give Elon a 59-6 advantage.
Harris then scored his third touchdown of the game with 11:27 left in the fourth and final quarter to give Elon a 66-6 lead.
Elon was driving down the field on its next offensive series, but the Blue Hose were able to get back on the scoreboard when Lewis Coleman (Saluda, S.C./Saluda) opportunistically stripped Elon's Jamal Shuman. Bo Tribble (Clinton, S.C./Clinton) picked the football up off the carpet and returned the football 75 yards for a touchdown. The Blue Hose touchdown was the final points of the game, setting the final score at 66-12.
The touchdown on a fumble was the first for the Blue Hose since Chetyuane Reeder (Clinton, S.C./Clinton) returned a fumble 78 yards for a touchdown in PC's game with Charleston Southern in 2007.
PC started the game by winning the opening toss. They decided to kick off to the Phoenix. Elon wasted no time putting points on the scoreboard though, scoring on its opening series.
Dontay Taylor placed Elon ahead 7-0 after the successful extra point when he rushed in from eight yards out.
Elon pushed its lead on its next series to 14-0 when quarterback Riddle connected with Terrell Hudgins for a 37-yard touchdown reception.
The Phoenix took their lead to 21-0 on its third series of the first quarter when A.J. Harris capped off a three-play, 63-yard drive with a 52-yard run down the left sideline.
After Elon forced PC into its third consecutive three and out in the first quarter, Williamson blocked a Blue Hose punt that was recovered by Charles Ball and then ran into the end zone from 10 yards out. The score earned Elon a 28-0 lead with 7:16 left in the first quarter.
The punt block marked the first time that PC had allowed a punt block since its opening game of the 2007 season against Furman. It was the first time that PC had allowed a punt block to be returned for a touchdown since the 2006 campaign when Wingate's Donald Brown scored on a punt block from 48 yards out.
Williamson gave the Phoenix a 35-0 lead on its next series of the first quarter when he caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Riddle. The first quarter would end with the Phoenix owning the 35-0 lead.
Taylor pushed Elon's lead to 42-0 on its first possession of the second quarter when he rushed in from one-yard out.
The Blue Hose return home next week to take on its second consecutive and third SoCon opponent of the season in Western Carolina. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
PC's second home game of the year will be Bob Waters Award Day at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
The Bob Waters Award is presented to graduates of Presbyterian College who have exhibited outstanding leadership and service as coaches and who personify the qualities possessed by this distinguished alumnus.
The 2008 Bob Waters Award recipients are University of North Carolina Men's Tennis Coach Sam Paul (PC '83) and Wingate University Women's Basketball Coach Barbara Frady Nelson (PC '85).
Presbyterian College and the Scotsman Club established the Bob Waters Award in 1987 to honor the former Blue Hose and National Football League quarterback. The President of the Student Body and All-American Quarterback graduated from PC in 1960 and led the Blue Hose to the Tangerine Bowl.
After five years in the NFL, the San Francisco 49er switched his attention to coaching.
He had stints at PC and Stanford as an assistant coach before taking on the head coaching position at Western Carolina University. In 20 seasons at the helm of the football program, he guided the Catamounts to 116 victories, produced 13 All-Americans, and 54 first-team All-Southern Conference selections.
His courageous fight against Lou Gehrig's Disease was recognized throughout the country, specifically in Sports Illustrated. He succumbed to the disease May 29, 1989, at the age of 50.
