Mercer Scores Three First-quarter Touchdowns and Holds Off Samford
Mercer led 21-0 before the first quarter was half over. Samford spent the next three quarters and change getting it down to 10, and still lost 31-21.
Mercer opened with a 6-yard JP Pickles run, then Jyarius Carter returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown less than a minute later, and Pickles ran in from 22 yards to make it 21-0 with 8:03 left in the quarter. Preston Bird caught a 12-yarder from Gabarri Johnson, and Johnson added the two-point pass to Cannon Pigg, so it was 21-8. Pickles added a 3-yard run in the second quarter and Mercer led 28-8. Ty Ippolito kicked a 53-yard field goal as the half ended and a 30-yarder in the third, and it was 28-14 going to the fourth.
Simon Zeidan's 29-yard field goal early in the fourth made it 31-14, and Coulter Cleland's 10-yard run with 25 seconds left made the final a respectable 31-21. Mercer never trailed, and the game was never tied.
The Mercer offense was a ground show. Mercer ran 38 times for 278 yards and threw for only 108, with no turnovers and no sacks taken, while the defense made four of its own. Samford threw for 231 and ran for 119, but threw two interceptions (one of them the pick-six). Take away that pick-six and it is a 24-21 game, which Mercer still wins.
Mercer is 6-1. Samford is 1-5. Pickles scored three rushing touchdowns and led all scorers with 30.9 Promethium points.