Western upset by Elon, 37-19

Since Elon joined the Southern Conference in 2003, Western Carolina had not lost a game to them. That was three straight wins over the Phoenix and four straight overall including a game in 1998. Those statistics were thrown out the window on Oct. 7, when the Phoenix upset the Catamounts 37-19 at home. While the game was expected to be close, the Catamounts were still expected to win. The Cats had not only won the last four but also 10 out of the last 12 over Elon. This time, though, the Catamount players and coaches came to the game totally unprepared and were exposed. Elon (3-2, 1-1 SoCon) jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. A 25-yard field goal with 11:57 started the Catamount bleeding and the Phoenix added on with touchdown passes of nine yards to Reggie Hall and four yards to Michael Mayers. Phoenix quarterback Wes Pope completed eight of 11 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter as Elon picked apart the Catamount secondary. Western bounced back and outscored Elon in the second quarter but by a score of 13-10. That meant that going into halftime the Cats were down 27-13. It was the special teams of the Cats that got all 13 points as Jonathan Parsons hit two career-long 41 yard field goals and true freshman Willie Harper from Asheville returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. Elon quarterback Wes Pope picked up right where he left off as he completed 11 of 14 passes in the second quarter for 142 yards and a touchdown. A 24-yard field goal and an 18-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Clegg accounted for the 10 Elon points. Elon continued to pour on points in the third quarter as they chipped in a 28-yard field goal and a five-yard touchdown run by Reggie Hall to make the score 37-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Western quarterback Todd Spitzer threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Michael Hines in the fourth quarter, but could not convert the two-point conversion. With the final score 37-19, the Catamounts (2-3, 0-3 SoCon) headed out of Elon with their heads down and wondering how they would bounce back at Homecoming against a tough Chattanooga squad.