By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Elon’s football team put on a homecoming show with Chandler Brayboy providing the headline acts – and he had teammates in prime supporting roles.
Brayboy caught two touchdown passes and turned in more dazzling kickoff returns in a 50-27 victory against Campbell on Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.
Brayboy’s 309 all-purpose yards – all compiled within the first three quarters – are the most for any player on a Football Championship Subdivision team this year.
Running back Rushawn Baker, a first-year Elon player after three seasons with Bucknell, racked up a career-high 154 rushing yards and three touchdown carries. He experienced a Rhodes Stadium triumph for the first time.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs as a team throughout the season, so it’s just finally nice to see us put it all together and have fun out there,” Baker said.
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Matthew Downing connected with Brayboy for two of his three touchdown passes on a day when he completed 16 of 24 passes for 251 yards.
For the first time in five home games this year, the Phoenix (3-6 overall, 2-3 Coastal Athletic Association) walked off the field to hugs and handshakes of joy from many in the crowd of 7,583.
“As hard as it has been, there’s a lot of support around here,” coach Tony Trisciani said. “I’m very grateful for it. To play well at home and in front of our people is important.”
Brayboy returned the second-half kickoff 51 yards, and three plays later reached the end zone on a 36-yard reception. Later in the third quarter, his 62-yard return came in advance of Baker’s 22-yard TD run.
“Chandler is special,” Trisciani said. “He’s explosive, but he can’t do it alone.”
Brayboy said Elon’s first snap of the game was his favorite of the big-yardage plays. He broke free from Campbell’s secondary as Downing fired a perfect pass for a 66-yard strike.
“The first play of the game because I like setting the tone,” he said.
Campbell’s first football trip to Elon included 479 yards of total offense and the tandem of Randall King and Sincere Brown combining for 280 receiving yards – the most by a duo in school history. The Camels are 3-6, 1-4.
Elon benefitted from key sequences, including a fourth-down pass from holder Jeff Yurk to Dylan Magazu on a fake field goal attempt. Magazu, a tight end who had five catches entering the game, snatched three receptions on the second-quarter drive that ended with Baker’s 4-yard run.
Before halftime, Brennan Davis blocked a Campbell punt and that resulted in Luke Barnes’ 28-yard field goal.
One of the craziest plays came after Campbell’s touchdown closed the gap to 14-6 in the first quarter. Ethan Grace blocked the extra-point kick, with the ball going to kicker Connor Lytton, who threw the ball. It was picked off by Elon’s Ishmel Atkins and returned 95 yards for a two-point defensive conversion and a 16-6 score.
Barnes had never attempted a college field goal until Saturday. He was 2-for-2, with a 32-yarder in the second half.
Next up
The Phoenix heads to William & Mary (6-3, 3-2) for its final out-of-state game of the season next Saturday.
The Tribe has spent much of this season in the FCS Top 25. William & Mary had lost two of three games before hammering North Carolina A&T 45-7 on Saturday in Greensboro.
Last year, Elon topped then-No. 5 William & Mary 14-6 at home. That game was the most-lopsided result of the last four meetings between the teams, with the previous three matchups decided by a total of nine points (with one five-overtime thriller).
