Dukes Storm Back to Upend Elon 20-17 in CAA Opener

Saturday, March 6

Elon, N.C.

1:30 p.m.

James Madison University

3-0

Elon

1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

JMU

ELON

3/6/2021 6:27:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison overcame a 14-point halftime deficit, scoring the final 17 points of the game, to rally past Elon, 20-17, in the Colonial Athletic Association football opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.

The #1 Dukes improved to 3-0 (1-0 CAA) while the Phoenix dropped to 1-2 (0-1 CAA). JMU also moved to 8-1 in the all-time series with Elon.

After falling behind 17-3 at halftime, the Dukes never allowed Elon to score again, limiting the hosts to just 36 second-half yards with a pair of first downs. Trailing 17-6 into the fourth quarter, the Dukes put together back-to-back touchdown drives with a huge special-teams play in between.

Inserting Gage Moloney at quarterback, he capped off a 13-play, 79-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown to Antwane Wells Jr. to trim the deficit to 17-13 with 12:22 to go. On the ensuing possession, MJ Hampton blocked Hunter Stephenson's punt, setting up the Dukes at the Elon 33.

Seven plays later, Percy Agyei-Obese rushed to the endzone untouched from eight yards out to give JMU its first lead with 7:27 to go. After another three-and-out, JMU ran out the final 5:59 with an 11-play drive.

Agyei-Obese rushed for a career-high 132 yards and a score, averaging 6.9 per carry. Jawon Hamilton also ran for 63 yards, as the Dukes held a 231-77 advantage on the ground.

Cole Johnson was 9-of-16 for 107 yards and an interception, while Moloney finished the game 3-of-6 for 46 yards and a score. Kris Thornton had three catches for 53 yards, Scott Bracey had a game-high four grabs for 41 yards and Wells had two catches with his score.

Defensively, Kelvin Azanama had a game-high eight tackles with three hurries, and Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey made seven stops. Mike Greene was a force up front, with 3.5 tackles for loss, a career-high, and a sack. In his first career start James Carpenter had five tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. Wesley McCormick also registered his first career interception in the second half.

GAME FACTS

JMU out-gained Elon 384-206, which included a 250-36 advantage in the second half.
Elon scored the game's first 10 points and 17 of the first 20, before the Dukes closed the game with 17 unanswered over the final 20:06.
JMU's defense tallied 9.0 tackles for loss and held the Phoenix to only 77 yards rushing (2.3 per carry).
Elon was 5-of-9 on third down in the first half, before the Dukes gave up a 2-of-8 mark over the final 30 minutes to have them finish 7-of-17.
Hampton's blocked punt marked the second straight year he's blocked a punt at Elon.
Ethan Ratke made a pair of field goals to move up to 13th all-time in FCS history with 63 career field goals and 18th with 347 career points.
The Phoenix were led by JR Martin, who threw for 129 yards and a touchdown. Jaylan Thomas also ran for 49 yards and eight different Elon players caught a pass.

WHAT A COMEBACK

For the second straight week, JMU overcame a slow start to rally for the win.
JMU trailed 16-9 in the second quarter to Robert Morris last week, and was down 17-3 at half and 17-6 after three at Elon.
The last time JMU overcame a double-digit deficit was Nov. 8, 2014, when it rallied from being down 24-10 to upend Stony Brook 27-24 on the road.

UP NEXT
JMU returns home to host William & Mary next Saturday, March 13. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium and will be televised on MASN and streamed on FloFootball.