After two weeks on the road, the Bears returned to Mercer to compete against the Austin Peay Governors following the road loss to Samford the previous week.
Immediately after the opening kick-off, the Bears marched down the field, as the Governors had no answer for Alex Lakes on the ground as he plowed his way into the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown run. The Governors, unable to get anything going, were forced to punt to the FCS leading returner Chandler Curtis. Curtis made them pay as he returned the punt 61 yards to put the Bears on top 14-0, only minutes into the first quarter.
The Governors were unable to mount any offense against Mercer on the next drive and were forced to punt again. John Russ wasted little time as he hit Tee Mitchell for an 80-yard strike on the first play of the drive.
The Bears defense once again held strong as they forced yet another punt. Russ completed his second touchdown pass of the game this time with Avery Ward on the receiving end.
After the teams traded punts, the Governors finally found the end zone in the early part of the second quarter as Malik Boyton caught a pass from Micky Macius to cut in to the lead by 6 after a missed extra point. Mercer would answer back quickly as Russ found JT Palmer for Russ’s third touchdown pass of the game, putting the Bears up 35-6 going into halftime.
Austin Peay did manage to score coming out of the half as the found the end zone for the second time, but Mercer would answer with two fourth quarter touchdowns by Alex Lakes and Derek Owings.
The Governors’ late touchdown and two point conversion was not enough to overcome the Bears. The Mercer Bears defeated the Austin Peay Governors 49-21 to move to 5-2 on the season as the remain undefeated in non conference play.
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