Mercer wins season opener at Austin Peay

Mercer faced its first road season opener Saturday night at Austin Peay.

And that didn’t faze the Bears one bit.

Mercer’s defense came up with a strong showing and the offense had plenty of balance as the Bears pulled out a 28-7 win.

Alex Lakes had two 1-yard touchdown runs, and Tee Mitchell caught a 42-yard scoring catch from John Russ and added a 1-yard scoring run of his own. Lakes finished with 159 yards on 23 carries, while Mitchell had 101 yards on 15 carries.

Russ completed 17-of-27 passes for 176 yards as the Bears rolled up 437 yards of total offense.

Austin Peay finished with just 244 yards, including just 53 rushing yards on 33 carries.

Mercer had three turnovers in the first half but none in the second half, and Lee Bennett came up with a pivotal interception in the fourth quarter.

The Bears return for their home opener this week as they take on Stetson at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Mercer wins season opener at Austin Peay ."