James Madison rallies in fourth quarter to beat Elon 20-17

Updated Mar. 6, 2021 4:42 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ELON, N.C. (AP) — Percy Agyei-Obese's 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter lifted FCS top-ranked James Madison to a 20-17 victory over Elon in a Colonial Athletic Association opener on Saturday.

The go-ahead touchdown came after James Madison blocked a punt to start a drive at the 33-yard line, fumbled the ball away five plays later at the Elon 10 then recovered a fumble on the next play, also at the Phoenix 10. Two plays later Agyuei-Obese went in untouched for the go-ahead score with 7 1/2 minutes remaining. Elon went three-and-out on its next possession then James Madison consumed the final six minutes on the ground.

The Dukes (3-0, 1-0) went 1 of 9 on third-down conversions through three quarters but backup quarterback Gage Moloney came on to lead both fourth-quarter Dukes touchdown drives, passing 18 yards to Antwane Wells to close within 17-13.

Ethan Ratke kicked two field goals for the Dukes, who were ranked No. 1 this week for the first time since 2017.

JR Martin threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Daughtry and McKinley Witherspoon had a 1-yard scoring run with six seconds left in the first half and Elon (1-2, 0-1) led 17-3. Skyler Davis opened the scoring with a 30-yard field goal.

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