Mercer blows out Stetson for third straight year
Mercer handled Stetson easily the past two seasons.
But those games just served as a warm-up for the Bears’ home opener Saturday night at Five Star Stadium.
Mercer dominated from start to finish and cruised to a 57-14 victory to improve to 2-0. The Bears scored 51 points and rolled up 476 yards in the first half, setting modern program records for both.
“We took care of business, the last two years we took care of business, too,” junior quarterback John Russ said. “We knew we were the better team, and we just made plays happen.”
The Bears finished with 623 yards to set another modern program record as they played mostly reserves after halftime. The previous yardage record was 554, set against Carnegie Mellon in 2013.
“I don’t know if you can play any better in the first half on offense and defense,” head coach Bobby Lamb said.
“The thing I was proud of the most was our offense was not able to push the ball down the field last week, and we didn’t make enough plays in the passing game. This week, we made some big-time plays in the passing game.”
Russ completed 16-of-19 passes for career highs in yards (336) and touchdowns (four). The scores covered 4 yards to Grant Radakovich, 49 yards to Avery Ward, 18 yards to Marquise Irvin and 46 yards to Tee Mitchell.
“It’s very exciting,” Russ said of the career night. “You have no idea how easy it is to throw to these guys. I mean, Avery, he broke that corner off so hard, and that was an easy shot. They make my life so easy, and the offensive line protected really well. And it was just throwing to open guys.”
Running back Alex Lakes had 62 yards rushing on 11 carries and a 26-yard touchdown run, while Mitchell had 71 yards rushing and a 69-yard scoring run in addition to his three catches for 57 yards.
“It feels good to be part of that combination,” Mitchell said. “Alex established himself last year as one of the best backs in the (Southern Conference), and I was banged up. In the offseason, I worked hard to get back to where I need to be. A dose of me and Alex the whole game, along with John Russ and some other guys with the offensive line playing well is hard to stop.”
True freshman cornerback Stephen Houzah shined in the first half with two interceptions, while Corey Lockett had an interception in the end zone. Junior defensive end Tosin Aguebor had a sack, and redshirt freshman defensive Isaiah Buehler had two.
Lendell Arnold and Tyler Ward led the way with four tackles each, while Jeremy James had 3.5 tackles.
“I just prepared all week for it, watching film and just doing what the coaches saying to do, and they put me in the right position,” Houzah said of his two interceptions.
The Bears, who improved to 13-3 at home, return to the road Saturday when they face Tennessee Tech. Mercer’s next home game is Oct. 3 against Wofford in the Southern Conference opener.
This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Mercer blows out Stetson for third straight year ."