Bears Rally Back, Then Top Western Carolina On Last-Second Field Goal

Saturday, October 10

Macon, Ga.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

5-2 , 2-1

Western Carolina

3-4 , 1-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Western Carolina	0	7	0	7	14
Mercer	0	0	7	10	17

Bears Rally Back, Then Top Western Carolina On Last-Second Field Goal

10/10/2026 8:47:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Mercer battled back from a halftime deficit with 14-straight points in the second stanza, and then used Simon Zeidan's 42-yard field goal as time expired to knock off visiting Western Carolina, 17-14, on Saturday evening at Five Star Stadium.

It was 23^rd win in the last 26 Southern Conference outings for the Bears (5-2, 2-1 SoCon) who have now won 11-straight matchups in the series with the Catamounts (3-4, 1-2) who have not bested the Orange & Black since a 24-21 thriller on Oct. 10, 2015. Mercer limited Western Carolina to just 73 rushing yards in the outing, while also holding The Cats to their fewest points since a 49-6 setback to the Bears in 2022.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 17 Western Carolina 14
RECORDS: Mercer 5-2 (2-1 SoCon); Western Carolina 3-4 (1-2 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Five Star Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

No scoring

INTERCEPTION‼️ What a play from @evinmcdowell_ 😮‍💨 #ATTACK https://t.co/VT9yG7lDEA
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 10, 2026

2ND QUARTER

Lex Thomas engineered a 9-play, 82-yard drive that produced the only points of the first half and gave the visitors a 7-0 lead heading into the locker rooms. Thomas went 4-for-6 on the possession for 69 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown toss to Marlin Cochran who managed to keep a foot in-bounds as he fell to the sideline. WCU 7, MU 0

3RD QUARTER

Mercer got off the mark late in the third period with a scoring drive that kept the Catamounts off balance. JP Pickles got the march started on a 12-yard pass to Samuel Albee that moved the hosts into enemy territory, and then connected with a diving Brayden Smith on an 18-yard touchdown strike down the near sideline. MU 7, WCU 7

TOUCHDOWN BEARS‼️ @JPPickles19 finds @BraydensmithMU who makes the diving catch for 6! 🤝 3Q | 0:38 Mercer 7, WCU 7 #ATTACK https://t.co/4sgAsoVOgd
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 10, 2026

4TH QUARTER

Long on yardage but short on time, Mercer took its first lead of the afternoon on the back of a 4-play, 99-yard scoring drive that was capped when JP Pickles connected with Zahmari Palode-Gary on a 63-yard scoring toss. Pickles rattled off a 26-yard scamper on the opening play of the possession to get the Bears out of the shadow of their own end zone, and Devon Caldwell followed with a 12-yard run to keep the momentum going. MU 14, WCU 7

Western Carolina answered on the ensuing possession, driving 75 yards on 16 plays to eventually even the score back up with a trick play. Lex Thomas threw for 41 yards and ran for 24 more, and then caught a touchdown pass from wide receiver Jai Boyd to cap the march. MU 14, WCU 14

Mercer took over possession at its own 26-yard line with just 81 seconds showing on the game clock, and used the legs of JP Pickles, as well as a costly facemask penalty, to eventually set up the game-winning kick. Pickles scampered 15 yards to move the Bears inside the 30-yard line, and Zahmari Palode-Gary followed with a 4-yard gain on first down, before Mercer called upon its sophomore kicker to finish it out. MU 17, WCU 14

TOUCHDOWN BEARS‼️ @ZahmariG is gone! 🔥 4Q | 6:29 Mercer 14, WCU 7 #ATTACK https://t.co/YE1PyJDSIb
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 10, 2026

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior JP Pickles threw for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-15 passing with one interception, while also adding 71 rushing yards on 19 carries.
+ 5^th Year Zahmari Palode-Gary accounted for 129 all-purpose yards, including 66 yards on the ground (12 carries). He also added a 63-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Senior Brayden Smith also logged a touchdown catch.
+ Freshman Ronin Dangler and sophomore Jyarius Carter both turned in a team-best nine tackles, with Carter also registering a quarterback hurry. Evin McDowell tallied his first career interception on defense as well.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer has now won 11-straight games in the series with Western Carolina and improved to 11-2 in the series with Saturday's result. The Bears have also won 23 of their last 26 games against Southern Conference teams dating back to the 2023 season, including a 12-2 mark at home across that skein.
+ Western Carolina was held to less than 300 total yards (293) for just the second time this season, but the first since FBS foe Cincinnati limited the Catamounts to 241 yards in mid-September. WCU had not been held to less than 300 total yards by an FCS school since mustering 287 yards in a home loss to Campbell on Sept. 7, 2024.
+ Mercer has surrendered a combined 134 rushing yards over the last two weeks, including a paltry 73 rushing yards (33 carries) by WCU on Saturday. It is the 19^th time over the last 5-plus seasons in Five Star Stadium that the Bears have held an opponent to 100 rushing yards or fewer.

UP NEXT

Mercer hits the road again on October 10 when it makes the short hop to Birmingham, Alabama, to take on Southern Conference rival Samford. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Pete Hanna Stadium and tickets can be purchased by visiting the Samford athletic ticketing portal.

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SUPPORT THE BEARS

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