Mercer Dominates Season-Opener at Western Carolina

Saturday, August 31

Cullowhee, N.C.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

1-0 , 1-0

Western Carolina

0-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mercer

Western Carolina

Mercer Dominates Season-Opener at Western Carolina

8/31/2019 11:45:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Notes

Big plays lead Bears to winning start

By: Jace Sanders

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Mercer scored five, 30-plus yard touchdowns and stifled the Western Carolina rushing attack to start the season with a 49-27 Southern Conference road victory at E.J. Whitmire Stadium Saturday night.

The Bears (1-0, 1-0 SoCon) offense had the ball over 17 minutes less than the Catamounts (0-1, 0-1 SoCon), but averaged 7.6 yards per play and scored seven touchdowns – six of which came in the first half.

Turning Point
The game turned in Mercer's favor as early as it possibly could – as David Durden took back the opening kickoff to the Western Carolina 18-yard line. A few plays later, Robert Riddle made a circus-like pass to Tyray Devezin – who snagged the ball out of the air, tiptoed the sideline and dove for the pylon to put the Bears up early.

It Was Over When
Only up a touchdown at the end of the first quarter, the Bears responded with back-to-back scoring drives capped by big plays to essentially put the game out of reach. Riddle found a streaking Tucker Cannon down the seam for an 85-yard strike, then Deondre Johnson took his second career carry 64 yards to the house just two plays later.

Offensive Star
Riddle completed just 11 passes on the night, but four of those 11 ended up in the end zone. His four touchdowns were a new career-high and his 85-yard connection with Tucker Cannon was the second-longest play from scrimmage in Mercer football history.

Defensive Star
Malique Fleming recorded eight tackles from his outside linebacker position, five of which were solos, to help pace the Bears defense. Fleming also got his first career sack, bringing down the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Tyrie Adams for a loss of 10 yards right before halftime.

Stats That Matter
Mercer rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the game, led by 115 yards from redshirt freshman Deondre Johnson and two touchdowns from Tyray Devezin – Devezin added a receiving touchdown, as well.

David Durden caught three passes for 106 yards with a touchdown and fell just a yard short of another score. Overall, Riddle found four different receivers for his four touchdowns – Devezin, Durden, Cannon and Chris Ellington.

Notable

Mercer improved to 4-2 all-time and have won four straight over the Catamounts.
Robert Riddle found Tucker Cannon on an 85-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The play marked the second-longest offensive play in program history – the longest coming when John Russ threw a 93-yard touchdown against Valparaiso in 2013.
Overall, Mercer put up 42 points in the first half, making tonight's the highest-scoring first half since the Bears scored 51 against Stetson in 2015.
BJ Bohler set up another Mercer score in the first half with a 71-yard interception return to the Western Carolina three-yard line. The pick was the third of Bohler's career.
FULL NOTES

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