STATESBORO- Lee Banks rushed for 121 yards and Georgia Southern shredded Elon's defense for 508 yards while rolling to a 38-21 win in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Saturday night.
Banks, a senior who entered the game with two carries for 8 yards in his career, had 25 carries to lead the Eagles (3-1, 1-0) over an Elon (1-3, 0-1) team that was looking for its fourth straight win in the series.
Banks, the Eagles' fourth-team fullback, was playing in place of leading rusher Robert Brown, who missed the game with a back injury.
Georgia Southern, which had struggled on the ground since its opener with Savannah State, had 379 yards rushing on 79 carries. Quarterback Jaybo Shaw, who scored two first-half touchdowns, completed 8 of 12 passes for 129 yards.
Elon, which had only 9 yards rushing, got 322 yards passing from Scott Riddle, who was 25-for-42 with two interceptions.
Phoenix sophomore receiver Aaron Mellette, who caught 18 passes against Richmond last week, had six receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Eagles freshman Darries Robinson added 92 yards on 13 carries.
The game was tied at 14 at the half, but Georgia Southern scored 21 straight points in a five-minute span to break the game wide open.
Darreion Robinson scored on a 7-yard run with three minutes left in the third period and Tobi Akinninanye added a 4-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter.
On Elon's next possession, Laron Scott intercepted a pass and returned it 36 yards for a score to make it 31-14.
Thursday
October 31st, 2024
5:32PM
