BY GARDNER-WEBB ATHLETICS | GWUSPORTS.COM
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – A touchdown from Ephraim Floyd and an interception by Jimmy Bowdry in the final minute pushed Gardner-Webb over Elon 34-27 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs defense stepped up early, as Ty French and Ja’Kai Young stopped Jalen Hampton on an early fourth down conversion attempt in the first quarter, giving the ball back to the Runnin’ Bulldogs (1-1). The ‘Dawgs marched down the field, and Jay Billingsley connected on a 25-yard field goal to give GWU an early 3-0 lead.
A big punt return by Bo Sanders pushed the Phoenix (0-2) into Gardner-Webb territory, and Elon ended the first quarter making a field goal of their own to tie the contest at three points apiece.
Gardner-Webb found themselves pinned deep at their own four-yard line after a 61-yard punt by Kyle Romenick. The ‘Dawgs responded with a 16-play, 96-yard drive, finding the endzone thanks to a one-yard rushing touchdown from Brendan Jackson, putting GWU on top 10-3 in the second quarter.
Billingsley connected on another field goal, this time from 32 yards, and Gardner-Webb went into the locker room with a 13-3 lead at halftime.
Elon wasted little time to score in the third quarter, taking just 53 seconds and three plays to go 75 yards, as Matthew Downing found Jordan Bonner from 15 yards out to cut the GWU advantage to 13-10. The Runnin’ Bulldogs answered with a touchdown drive of their own, culminating in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Caldwell to Jonathan Burns, putting the ‘Dawgs up 20-10 in the third quarter.
Gardner-Webb forced Elon into a punt at the end of the third quarter, but defensive lineman Josh Johnson took the snap 35 yards to give Elon a first down and keep the drive alive. The Runnin’ Bulldogs held the Phoenix to another field goal, and Elon cut the GWU lead down to 20-13 in the fourth.
After a deep pass to Brennen McGuire, Caldwell called his own number, sliding into the endzone and swelling the Bulldog bulge to 27-13 with 6:47 remaining in the game. The Phoenix answered with a quick drive of their own, as Downing found Jamerien Dalton from nine yards out to cut Gardner-Webb’s advantage down to 27-20 with 3:45 remaining in the contest.
With 2:30 left, GWU had a chance to run out the clock, but a fumble at the 42-yard line was recovered by Brandon Tyson to give Elon another chance. On fourth and goal from the three-yard line, Downing found Dalton again to tie the game with 1:25 left.
Caldwell opened up the final drive for Gardner-Webb with a 23-yard pass to Narii Gaither to quickly get into Elon territory. After a pair of rushes for Gaither, Caldwell rifled a pass to Ephraim Floyd, who broke a pair of tackles and fell into the endzone, giving the Runnin’ Bulldogs a 34-27 lead with 14 seconds left.
Elon ran two more plays looking to tie the game, but an interception by Bowdry sealed the victory for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
With a half sack in the fourth quarter, Ty French set the new Big South record for career sacks, passing Chima Uzowie of Liberty (2012-15) with 25.5 sacks in his career. French is 3.5 sacks away from tying Gabe Wilkins for the Gardner-Webb sack record (29.0)
Narii Gaither rushed for 95 yards, moving past Frank Taylor for the fifth-most career rushing yards in Gardner-Webb history. Gaither has now rushed for 2,612 yards in his GWU career.
Matthew Caldwell passed for 296 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown.
The game clinching interception by Jimmy Bowdry is the first of his career. GWU has now won six straight home openers in Spangler Stadium.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs open conference play, heading to Nashville, Tenn. to face Tennessee State in the program’s first-ever Big South-OVC Football Association matchup. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Eastern.
Elon Notebook
By Jacob Kisamore | Elon Athletic Communications
- Matthew Downing finished the game with 199 yards passing and three touchdowns after taking over in the third quarter. Downing threw for 118 yards in the fourth quarter and went four of five on passes thrown at least 15 yards down the field on the night.
- Jalen Hampton rushed for 77 yards on 18 attempts to lead the Phoenix. Elon’s longest run of the night came on a 35-yard scamper from Josh Johnson on a fake punt in the third quarter.
- For the second straight game, Chandler Brayboy made five catches to lead the Phoenix.
- Jamarien Dalton’s pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter were the first two of his career.
- Onuma Dieke made the first catch of his Elon career.
- Jaidyn Denis tallied a career-best 10 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and forced two fumbles, one of which he also recovered. Denis is the first Elon player to force two fumbles in the same game since Devonte Chandler against Towson last season.
- Dylan Tucker, Antonio White, Bo Sanders and Marco Patierno all tallied at least seven tackles.
- Jack Berkowitz improved to 3-3 on field goals in his career as the Shelby native made both his attempts on the night. Kyle Romenick hit the longest punt of his career, a 61-yarder in the second quarter.
- Of Elon’s 329 yards on offense, 288 came in the second half.
- The loss is Elon’s first in its last seven games against non-conference FCS opponents from the state of North Carolina.
