JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 27, 2025) – The ETSU football team held a 34-24 lead on No. 23 Mercer entering the fourth quarter, but the Bears battled back to earn a 38-34 victory against the Bucs on Saturday from Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. Saturday’s loss moves ETSU’s record to 2-3 this season, which includes a 0-1 mark in SoCon play.
Saturday’s game began with punts from each team. Mercer would crack the scoreboard first on a 49-yard field goal from Reice Griffith. ETSU quickly answered with a three-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from McNamara to Meggett.
Before the first quarter was done, ETSU grinded out a 15-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Ewan Johnson nailed a 21-yard field goal through the uprights to make the score 10-3 ETSU.
The second quarter had both teams trade multiple touchdown drives in a row. Mercer answered with two touchdowns in the second with two of their own. McNamara found Charlie Browder for a 20-yard touchdown, which was Browder’s first of his college career.
McNamara followed that by finding Meggett again on a 35-yard strike. With the two teams matching each other, a shift of momentum seemed to happen as Oggs forced and recovered a fumble that set the Bucs up with excellent field position inside of two minutes to go before halftime. While that timely turnover didn’t end up in a touchdown for the Blue and Gold, it did receive another made field goal from Johnson (this one from 36 yards) to go up 27-17 at the half.
A fumble by the Bucs set up Mercer’s next scoring drive in the third quarter. The Bears, who held the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the third quarter, punched in a touchdown from a yard out, making it a three-point game, 27-24. McNamara and Meggett linked up for their third touchdown of the night later in the frame to grow the Bucs’ lead back to double digits, 34-24, heading to the final quarter.
Another ETSU turnover sparked another score by the Bears. Like it did in the third quarter, Mercer possessed the ball for the majority of the fourth (10:14) and ran a balanced attack (48 rushing yards, 46 passing yards) in the fourth. The start of this production was punctuated with a 19-yard touchdown from Braden Atkinson to Brayden Smith. An ETSU punt on its next drive promptly gave the ball back to the Bears. Mercer’s running back CJ Miller ran for 41 of the team’s 65 yards on the drive and found paydirt to give his squad their first lead of the contest, 38-34.
The Bucs had two more possessions to try and regain the lead in the game’s final minutes, but neither turned into points as the Bears held on for the 38-34 victory.
Next Up – The Bucs will begin the month of October with a road trip to Furman next Saturday. Kickoff between the Bucs and Paladins is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Greenville, S.C
