Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics
Georgia Southern Closes SoCon Chapter with 38-20 Victory Over Elon
11/16/2013 8:42:00 PM | Football
Redshirt Freshmen Huggins and Ellison Combine for Five Touchdowns
Box Score
Post-Game Notes
Post-Game Quotes
ELON, N.C. – Three touchdowns by running back Irving Huggins and two by quarterback Kevin Ellison provided Georgia Southern with more than enough offensive firepower to push it past Elon 38-20 at Rhodes Stadium. Freshman placekicker Younghoe Koo added eight points with a field goal and five PATs as all scoring against the Phoenix was accomplished by first-year Eagle players.
It was Georgia Southern's final Southern Conference game and the Eagles scored their most points against a SoCon opponent this season with 38. The victory guaranteed a winning season for the fourth consecutive year with one game remaining in the season.
After falling behind 0-6 after two Elon field goals early in the first quarter, Georgia Southern rattled off five straight scores with Ellison racing 53 yards to the endzone to give the Eagles their first lead 7-6. A 2-yard touchdown run by Huggins and Koo's 49-yard field goal, his career long, put Georgia Southern up 17-6 at the half.
The Eagles were just two yards shy of posting 400 rushing yards and had 502 yards of total offense with Ellison leading the team with a career-best 163 yards rushing. He added 104 passing yards to go along with his two rushing scores. Sophomore Nardo Govan finished with 86 rushing yards, his highest single-game total, which included a career-long run of 49 yards, and Huggins had 67. Seven different Eagles carried the ball and Ellison spread out the passing to four different receivers.
Ellison galloped for a career-long 56-yard run to bring Georgia Southern to the Elon 30 . Two incomplete passes and an Elon sack moved the ball back two yards for fourth and 12 with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Koo lofted his field goal, which had just the few extra inches it needed to clear upright.
Georgia Southern scored on its first two possessions of the second half after using six rushing plays and a back-breaking 35-yard Ellison pass to Johnathan Bryant to put the Eagles inside the redzone. Huggins took three of the next four carries and had the two-yard burst for his second touchdown.
On the next drive, junior running back Tray Butler caught a 27-yard pass to convert a third-and-10, and ran for 12 yards with classmate Devin Scott adding nine yards, and Huggins seven to move the Eagles within striking distance of the goal line. Ellison's impromptu jaunt through the Elon secondary gave him his second score of the night and put the Eagles up 31-13 late in the third quarter.
Both teams put up a score in the fourth quarter with Georgia Southern taking advantage of good field position, starting at its own 39. Ellison helped the cause with a 28-yard attempt followed by 21 yards on four carries by Huggins. An Elon personal foul penalty gave the Eagles a fresh set of downs at the Phoenix six. Ellison went four yards and Huggins the final two for his third rushing touchdown of the night.
Elon's John Lougherty connected on three straight passes after a Georgia Southern penalty put the Phoenix on the Eagle side of the field. His 27-yard pass to the Demetri Allison gave Elon its first second-half touchdown this season. Georgia Southern had another opportunity to score in the first half, but couldn't break through from the one yard-line and turned the ball over on downs. Elon had missed a field goal on its previous possession and punted five times.
Antonio Glover, starting at strong safety in place of an injured Deion Stanley, led the Eagles with a career-best 10 tackles. Linebackers Edwin Jackson and Kyle Oehlbeck had nine and eight tackles, respectively, with Oehlbeck adding a tackle for loss. Darius Safford, who played significant time at cornerback, had six tackles and a career-best two for loss.
Georgia Southern travels to Florida next weekend for a 2 p.m. game at the Swamp on Saturday, November 23rd. The broadcast will be available on pay-per-view in Florida and on ESPN Gameplan in the state of Georgia.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on this official twitter @CoachJeffMonken.
Post-Game Notes
Post-Game Quotes
ELON, N.C. – Three touchdowns by running back Irving Huggins and two by quarterback Kevin Ellison provided Georgia Southern with more than enough offensive firepower to push it past Elon 38-20 at Rhodes Stadium. Freshman placekicker Younghoe Koo added eight points with a field goal and five PATs as all scoring against the Phoenix was accomplished by first-year Eagle players.
It was Georgia Southern's final Southern Conference game and the Eagles scored their most points against a SoCon opponent this season with 38. The victory guaranteed a winning season for the fourth consecutive year with one game remaining in the season.
After falling behind 0-6 after two Elon field goals early in the first quarter, Georgia Southern rattled off five straight scores with Ellison racing 53 yards to the endzone to give the Eagles their first lead 7-6. A 2-yard touchdown run by Huggins and Koo's 49-yard field goal, his career long, put Georgia Southern up 17-6 at the half.
The Eagles were just two yards shy of posting 400 rushing yards and had 502 yards of total offense with Ellison leading the team with a career-best 163 yards rushing. He added 104 passing yards to go along with his two rushing scores. Sophomore Nardo Govan finished with 86 rushing yards, his highest single-game total, which included a career-long run of 49 yards, and Huggins had 67. Seven different Eagles carried the ball and Ellison spread out the passing to four different receivers.
Ellison galloped for a career-long 56-yard run to bring Georgia Southern to the Elon 30 . Two incomplete passes and an Elon sack moved the ball back two yards for fourth and 12 with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Koo lofted his field goal, which had just the few extra inches it needed to clear upright.
Georgia Southern scored on its first two possessions of the second half after using six rushing plays and a back-breaking 35-yard Ellison pass to Johnathan Bryant to put the Eagles inside the redzone. Huggins took three of the next four carries and had the two-yard burst for his second touchdown.
On the next drive, junior running back Tray Butler caught a 27-yard pass to convert a third-and-10, and ran for 12 yards with classmate Devin Scott adding nine yards, and Huggins seven to move the Eagles within striking distance of the goal line. Ellison's impromptu jaunt through the Elon secondary gave him his second score of the night and put the Eagles up 31-13 late in the third quarter.
Both teams put up a score in the fourth quarter with Georgia Southern taking advantage of good field position, starting at its own 39. Ellison helped the cause with a 28-yard attempt followed by 21 yards on four carries by Huggins. An Elon personal foul penalty gave the Eagles a fresh set of downs at the Phoenix six. Ellison went four yards and Huggins the final two for his third rushing touchdown of the night.
Elon's John Lougherty connected on three straight passes after a Georgia Southern penalty put the Phoenix on the Eagle side of the field. His 27-yard pass to the Demetri Allison gave Elon its first second-half touchdown this season. Georgia Southern had another opportunity to score in the first half, but couldn't break through from the one yard-line and turned the ball over on downs. Elon had missed a field goal on its previous possession and punted five times.
Antonio Glover, starting at strong safety in place of an injured Deion Stanley, led the Eagles with a career-best 10 tackles. Linebackers Edwin Jackson and Kyle Oehlbeck had nine and eight tackles, respectively, with Oehlbeck adding a tackle for loss. Darius Safford, who played significant time at cornerback, had six tackles and a career-best two for loss.
Georgia Southern travels to Florida next weekend for a 2 p.m. game at the Swamp on Saturday, November 23rd. The broadcast will be available on pay-per-view in Florida and on ESPN Gameplan in the state of Georgia.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on this official twitter @CoachJeffMonken.
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