Mercer uses all phases and holds off East Texas A&m 23-15

Jaylen King threw a touchdown and Cameron Goggins returned an interception for a score as Mercer held off East Texas A&M 23-15 in Saturday night’s season opener in Macon, Georgia. Mercer, ranked 21st in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, took control early on a 55-yard field goal by Simon Zeidan and a 12-yard TD pass from King to Jackson Kostmayer for a 10-0 lead. Zeidan later added field goals of 21 and 33 yards to make it 16-0 at halftime. An Eric Rodriguez pick-6 to Goggins widened the advantage to 23 points. East Texas A&M closed to 23-15 on a late touchdown and 80-yard TD run by Quay Middlebrooks. The Bears sealed it with an interception that helped run out the clock on 4th-and-goal.