Saturday, September 5
Elon, N.C.
7:00 p.m.
Davidson College
0
at
56
Elon
Photo by: Sideline Sports
Wildcats Fall 56-0 at No. 11 Elon in Season Opener
9/5/2009 9:43:58 PM | Football
ELON, N.C. – Elon quarterback Scott Riddle and wide receiver Terrell Hudgins hooked up for 156 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 11th-ranked Phoenix to a 56-0 football victory over Davidson in the season opener for both teams Saturday at Rhodes Stadium.
Riddle finished the day 22-of-33 for 326 yards with four touchdowns, and Hudgins had seven catches. Jamal Shuman added 115 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Justin Williams led Davidson with 132 all-purpose yards, including seven carries for 38 yards on the ground. Matt Guerrieri led the defense with 10 tackles, and John Behm added eight stops.
"We ran into a really good football team tonight," said Davidson head coach Tripp Merritt, "but hats off to our kids. They played hard and kept fighting. Playing this game will make us a better team in the long run so we have to take it as a learning experience."
Riddle completed his first seven pass attempts, and the Phoenix scored on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. Riddle found Hudgins for a 55-yard completion to the Davidson 1-yard line on Elon's third play from scrimmage. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Shuman.
The Phoenix forced Davidson to go three-and-out, and Riddle engineered a 10-play, 78-yard drive to make the score 14-0 midway through the frame. The 'Cats had Riddle on the run on 3rd-and-goal from the 8-yard line, but the junior made a nice pump fake and squirted around the left end to get in the end zone.
The Davidson defense got stops on the next two Elon possessions, but the offense couldn't get anything going.
The Phoenix capped a 10-play, 56-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown when Riddle found Hudgins for a diving catch in the end zone midway through the second quarter. The drive was keyed by another sliding catch by Lance Camp for an 18-yard gain on 3rd-and-8.
Camp capped the first-half scoring with a nifty 54-yard punt return for touchdown with 3:47 left. The junior went left and cut down the sideline, juking the last Davidson defender to find pay dirt.
After forcing a Davidson punt deep in its own territory, the Phoenix got the ball back at the 'Cats' 37-yard line with 55 seconds left. Riddle hit A.J. Harris with a 24-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage, but Daniel Astrop ripped the ball out, and Tyler Lemons recovered the fumble to halt the threat.
The Phoenix put the game away by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half. Riddle found Hudgins for a 29-yard TD pass on the opening possession of the frame, and Elon recovered a short kick on the ensuing kickoff to get the ball back.
Three plays later, Riddle found Jeremy Peterson in the flat, and the freshman made a nice move and beat the Davidson defense to the left corner of the end zone for a 21-yard score.
Davidson plays its home opener Saturday, Sept. 12, when the 'Cats host Lenoir-Rhyne at 1 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.
Game Notes: It was the first meeting between Elon and Davidson on the gridiron since 1954… It was Michael Blanchard's first career start at quarterback for the Wildcats… There were a total of three penalties in the first 30 minutes… The 'Cats dropped to 54-52-1 in season openers and have lost two straight… It was the 19th time in Hudgins' career he has had 100 or more receiving yards, a Southern Conference record.
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