Bears Wrap Up First Scrimmage Of Preseason

MACON – Quarterback DJ Smith threw a pair of touchdown passes, while kickers Reice Griffith and Sully Croker combined to connect on a trio of long field goals, to highlight the first scrimmage of the preseason for nationally-ranked Mercer on Saturday evening at Five Star Stadium.

Smith hit Autavius Ison in the flat early in the scrimmage, and the newcomer scooted his way through traffic before hurdling into the end zone. The senior signal caller also found Adjatay Dabbs on an 14-yard scoring strike later in the evening.

Griffith made good on a 53-yard field goal to get the success started for special teams on Saturday, while Croker connected on 44- and 41-yard field goal tries.

Saturday's outing left head coach Mike Jacobs encouraged, but he stressed that there is plenty to work on as the Bears cross the 2-week threshold heading into their Week 0 contest with perennial national power UC Davis.

"I thought that we had a tremendous effort level tonight," Jacobs said. "It's a good thing that we don't play for another 14 days because there's certainly some execution things that we need to clean up. We're playing fast, we're playing physical and camp has been competitive. We certainly saw some of that tonight in all three phases.

"Again, we just need to execute at a higher level more consistently if we are going to be the team that I think we are capable of being.

Mercer will get another break from the practice field on Sunday before resuming their preseason camp with an 8:30 a.m. practice session on Monday at Five Star Stadium.

The Bears will lift the lid on their 51^st season of intercollegiate football on August 23 when they trek to Montgomery, Ala., to take on 4^th-ranked UC Davis in the FCS Kickoff. Mercer will open the home portion of its 2025 slate the following week (August 30) when it welcomes Presbyterian to Five Star Stadium for a 6 p.m. matchup.

Reserved-seat season tickets for the 2025 home football schedule have already gone on sale and can be purchased for as little as $75 by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets. Access to game day parking in the BEAR PLUS lots will continue to be based on giving levels to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. For more information about the BEAR PLUS program, e-mail maf@mercer.edu or call (478) 301-4003.

Players Mentioned

Sully Croker

Adjatay Dabbs

Reice Griffith

Autavius Ison

DJ Smith

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