Mercer Runs Past Davidson

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Highlights (YouTube) | Postgame Interview with Coach Nichols

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Mercer was dominant running the football and scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away from Davidson and take a 51-26 victory in Pioneer Football League action Saturday afternoon on Smith Field in Richardson Stadium.

A 6-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff pulled Davidson (0-9. 0-6 PFL) within 10 points late in the third quarter, but JaTarri Donald rushed for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and scored again on a 51-yard pass play for a 44-20 Mercer (8-1, 4-1 PFL) advantage that would not be relinquished.

Donald was Mercer's top rusher and receiver with 202 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and 59 yards and one touchdown on three receptions. Quarterback John Russ also rushed for two touchdowns and totaled 123 yards on 15 carries, while Caleb Brown added 81 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries as the Bears, who ranked second in the FCS in rushing yards per game entering the contest, totaled 397 yards on the ground.

Davidson's Carkhuff and sophomore wide receiver William Morris both achieved career milestones on the touchdown drive late in the third quarter. Carkhuff made his 1,000th completion a spectacular one as he found Morris on a 53-yard pass to move the Wildcats to the Mercer 12-yard line. The play also put Morris over 1,000 yards receiving for his career. Morris finished the day with seven receptions for 136 yards, while Carkhuff went 12 of 26 passing for 215 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

Other top performers for Davidson included David Rogers, who totaled 128 yards by rushing for 76 on 13 attempts and catching five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. He also had a touchdown on a halfback-pass play. Robert Klein gained a career-high 110 yards on 14. Matt Casey was the game's top tackler with 12 stops and he also registered one sack.

Devin Davidson, Cory Lockett and Mike Gray each made seven tackles to lead the Bears defensively, while Lockett made 3.0 stops behind the line, including a sack, and Gray returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown.

Mercer drove 99 yards on 10 plays for the game's first score. Jeff McDaniels had his 52-yard punt downed at the 1-yard line after Davidson's opening drive stalled out at midfield, but Russ gave the Bears breathing room with a 7-yard run, and then Donald moved Mercer into Davidson territory with a 32-yard run and a 21-yard run on the next two plays. Russ capped the drive with a 3rd-and-goal keeper from 1 yard out.

Davidson took its first and only lead early in the second quarter. After stopping a fake punt and taking over at Mercer's 47, Klein broke off a 36-yard run, and then quarterback JP Douglas found Rogers with a 5-yard touchdown pass three plays later. Rogers rushed the ball into the end zone to convert the two-point conversion for an 8-7 Wildcat advantage, but Mercer went back ahead for good on its next drive, as Donald broke off a 57-yard touchdown run for a 14-8 lead.

The 'Cats had a potential scoring drive in the works late in the first half, but Klein fumbled as he crossed into the red zone and it went out of bounds in the end zone for a Mercer touchback. Davidson got the defensive stop it needed and took over on offense with just 51 seconds remaining before halftime, but Douglas threw an interception on the second play of the drive that Gray returned 34 yards for a touchdown and a 21-8 Mercer lead at the break.

Davidson got a big turnover on a botched snap on Mercer's first offensive drive of the second half, as Dan Casey recovered it for Davidson at Mercer's 46. The Wildcats took advantage, capping a five-play drive with a halfback pass by Rogers to Jeff McDaniels from 7 yards out to make it a one-score game again. However, Rogers fumbled on his second effort for the two-point conversion and Sebastian Hicks picked it up and returned it for a defensive PAT and a 23-14 Mercer advantage.

Russ broke off a 30-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession, but the Wildcats answered with a 6-yard touchdown run by Carkhuff after he and Morris surpassed career milestones during the six-play, 84-yard drive.

Donald scored touchdowns for Mercer on their first two drives of the fourth quarter though, and another Carkhuff rushing touchdown with 7:34 remaining was all the 'Cats could muster. The Bears added one more touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in the game for the final margin.

The Wildcats play their final road game next Saturday at Stetson before concluding the season Saturday, Nov. 23 in Richardson Stadium against Campbell.

Notes: William Morris now has 945 yards receiving this season, which ranks as the seventh-most in Davidson history, and is on pace to break the single-season receiving yards record of 1,128 set by Mike Mikolayunas in 1970 … Morris has totaled 1,057 receiving yards for his career and needs 118 more to break into Davidson's Top 15 all-time… Morris' 60 catches this year rank 10th all-time in a single-season at Davidson … Carkhuff now has 1,009 completions and 10,466 yards passing for his career, extending his records … Game captains for Davidson were Seth Beeson, Bobby Freeman, Matt Casey and Jonathan Carkhuff, and Johannes Zwick '06 served as the honorary captain.

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