 "Photo: Chi Brown echo- photo editor")
 "Photo: Chi Brown echo- photo editor")
Wet ball, bad snap, bad hold, failed field goal: Eagles lose 23-22. The Eagles fail on a game winning field goal attempt with 1:51 seconds remaining in the 4th. "Low snap, wet ball and Jordan couldn't get it down," said first-year football coach Henry Frazier.
The 4th-quarter thriller sent Eagle fans on an emotional roller coaster with the high of highs being a 75-yard interception returned for a touchdown by first-year walk-on linebacker Tiron Guion.
"I knew the quarterback was fast because he had walked down the safety. I knew that I had an extra blocker. I trusted that he'd make that block to lead me into the end zone," said Guion.
Frazier drew high praises of his first-year walk-on linebacker.
"Two weeks ago he was on the scout team,and he's still on the scout team" said Frazier. "I kept saying [in practice], ‘God, T.I. is just giving us hell on the scout team,' and that's what he was doing [on the field].
"But I'm not surprised, because what you see out there is how he practices every day." This interception for a score put the Eagles ahead 22-17 with seven minutes left in the 4th quarter.
"We tightened down and knew we had to stop them," said Guion. "Coach always says, It's OK if we give up yards as long as they don't score.
Unfortunately for Guion and the Eagles, their celebrations were short-lived.
The Phoenix came roaring back, engineering a seven- play, 64-yard scoring drive in 2:30, capped off by a 27-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Thomas Wilson to senior Christian Dennis, which put the Eagles down 23-22.
The Eagles matched the Phoenix point for point all game, until a critical missed extra point by True Freshman Oleg Parent shortly before halftime left the team down by one 17-16.
"The rhythm was taken off in my opinion because we only had 10 guys out there," said Frazier.
"So as a kicker, rhythm is extremely important. But he still should have made that kick."
Anchoring the offense was quarterback Michael Johnson, who went 13 for 40, passing for 2 touchdowns, 153 yards and 0 interceptions.
Red-shirt junior Geovonie Irvine and senior Demario Lackey added four receptions and one touchdown each.
But it was the receiver on the opposite side of the field who put his mark on the game.
Elon's wide receiver Aaron Mellette, a 6'4'' junior, cut through the Eagles D, amassing a total of 16 receptions for 237 yards.
"Elon is a good football team," said Frazier. "That number 3 guy [Aaron Mellete] … He's the real deal. And he was even more impressive than I watched on film."
At this point in the season, Mellete leads the nation with 12 catches a game and ranks second in receiving with 164.7 yards per game.
The defense, however, was able to create a total of five turnovers.
"I thought my defense played extremely well. We got quite a few turnovers, especially in the red zone," said Frazier.
The Eagles will now advance into conference play, where they will face Savannah State, who also became eligible for NCAA post-season competition this year.
"We're moving in the right direction. We have a little work to do. We have to act like we've been here before," said Frazier.
"We get up and you have to put people away and not make mistakes," he said.
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