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  • Georgia Southern defeats Elon, 41-14

    Attachment 365

    ELON, N.C. - The Georgia Southern Football team (4-0) improved to 3-0 in the Southern Conference for the first time since 2004 after a 41-14 road victory over Elon at Rhodes Stadium. The Eagles rushed for 300 yards behind solid performances by b-backs Robert Brown (Macon, Ga.) and Dominique Swope (Buford, Ga.). Swope made the start rushing for 74 yards on 15 carries, while Brown tallied 116 yards on 11 carries.

    Jaybo Shaw (Flowery Branch, Ga.) tied a career high with three touchdown passes on six completions and added another 110 yards to the Eagles' offense. Swope added two touchdowns on the ground while Brown scored the final one in the fourth quarter.

    Adrian Mora (Dalton, Ga.) added six points on two field goals and tallied five extra points. Mora broke the Georgia Southern career field goal record in the process after connecting on his 51st career field goal in the fourth quarter. The Eagle placekicker passed Tim Foley, who played for GSU from 1984 to 1987.

    Elon compiled 202 yards passing but was limited to just 54 on the ground. Laron Scott (Warner Robins, Ga.) finished with 10 tackles and two pass break ups. Brent Russell (Comer, Ga.) made two tackles for a loss and sacked Thomas Wilson for a six-yard loss. Wilson completed 22 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns but tossed three interceptions. Aaron Mellette was his primary target and caught 9 passes for 104 yards on the day.

    Elon struck first scoring on their second drive of the contest. Taylor Berry caught a 10-yard pass from Wilson to cap off a seven play 66-yard drive. Wilson completed four passes on the drive for 58 yards including a 24-yard throw to Jamal Shuman on third and two from the GSU 34 yard line.

    Georgia Southern quickly tied the game at 7-7 thanks in part to defensive end John Douglas (Augusta, Ga.). Douglas intercepted a Wilson pass at the line of scrimmage and returned it 33 yards to set up a one-play scoring drive. Swope quickly erased the early deficit scoring on the first play from five yards out for his second career touchdown.

    The Eagles took the lead after another interception on the ensuing Elon drive. Josh Rowe (Opelika, Ala.) caught the errant pass on the Elon 22 yard line. The Georgia Southern offense was unable to move the ball and had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Mora.

    Brown's first play from scrimmage ended up being a good one. Brown caught a pitch from Shaw and ran 55 yards to help spark a 90-yard drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Swope, putting the Eagles up 17-7 early in the second quarter.

    Georgia Southern ran into the locker room with a 24-7 lead following a 14 play 74-yard drive that ate nearly seven minutes off the clock. Johnathan Bryant (Cairo, Ga.) caught a seven-yard pass from Shaw to cap off the drive.

    Aaron Mellette caught four passes for 50 yards on an eight play 67-yard drive, including a 20 touchdown strike from Wilson with 7:45 remaining in the third quarter. The catch pulled Elon within 10 points, 24-14. The Eagles responded on their next drive with Shaw's third touchdown pass of the contest to Nico Hickey (Columbus, Ga.), a 25-yard strike with 3:55 remaining in the quarter.

    Georgia Southern separated from Elon with 10 points in the fourth quarter. Brown started the quarter with a 23-yard rushing touchdown and Mora capped it off with a 27-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining in the game.

    The Eagles return home to Paulson Stadium for family weekend and will face Chattanooga at 3 p.m. next Saturday, October 8th.