Several thousand Elon students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and friends descended on University of Richmond Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, to witness Elon’s first football playoff game in nearly three decades. The Phoenix squared off against the 2008 Football Championship Subdivision Richmond Spiders in the opening round of the FCS postseason.
Fans arrived hours before kickoff, taking over a nearby parking lot and enjoying a Phoenix Club-sponsored tailgate party.
“This morning, I was getting butterflies, like I was going to play today,” said Lynn “Gator” Newcomb ’58, an Elon football player from 1954-1957 and a member of the Elon Sports Hall of Fame.
Added Jason Teagle ’08, of Atlanta, “I know what it means for the team to make the playoffs. As an alumnus, it makes me proud to know how far this program has come.”
Phoenix head coach Pete Lembo said the excitement of the fans didn’t go unnoticed by the players and coaches on the field.
“I told the players in my pregame speech right before kickoff that it felt like an Elon home game out there with the tremendous turnout,” Lembo said. “The crowd was very much in tune with every nuance of the game.”
A furious second-half rally wasn’t enough for the Phoenix as Elon fell, 16-13, to the Spiders. But the effort of the team and the fervor of the fans made Lembo optimistic as he looks to the 2010 season, which kicks off Sept. 4 against the Duke Blue Devils.
“I look forward to carrying some of that (playoff) excitement over to future home games and really turn our home crowd into an advantage for our team,” he said.
Click the links to the right to view photos and video clips from the Richmond game.