No. 18Mercer Bears

Past match

Mercer Bears won.

Mercer Bears beat the East Texas A&M Lions

0-1 15 – 23

Ranked #18 · 1-0

Final · Sat, Aug 29

Game Details

Five Star Stadium (Macon) · 8,378 fans · ESPN

Highlights

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

Jaylen King threw for a touchdown and Cameron Goggins had an interception return for a touchdown and Mercer held off East Texas A&M 23-15 in a season opener on Saturday night.

Recap via ESPN

1:13 East Texas A&M Lions vs. Mercer Bears: Full Highlights

0:10 Simon Zeidan kicks 55-yard field goal

0:20 Jaylen King throws 12-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Kostmayer

0:31 Picked! Justin Ferguson hauls in the interception

Clips play on ESPN

Line Score

	1	2	3	4	T
ETAM	0	0	7	8	15
MER	10	13	0	0	23

Win Probability · Mercer Bears

kickoffnow: 0%

Game Leaders

East Texas A&M Lions

Eric Rodriguez · 15/31, 232 YDS, 1 TD, 3 INTPassing Yards
EJ Oakmon · 14 CAR, 87 YDSRushing Yards
Micah Simpson · 9 REC, 165 YDS, 1 TDReceiving Yards
Anthony Gray · 1Sacks
Orion Kupu · 8Tackles

Mercer Bears

Jaylen King · 15/28, 177 YDS, 1 TDPassing Yards
Zahmari Palode-Gary · 8 CAR, 87 YDSRushing Yards
Brayden Smith · 9 REC, 131 YDSReceiving Yards
Jyarius Carter · 0.5Sacks
Cam Moore · 6Tackles

2026 Southland Conference Standings

Team
Stephen F. Austin
Lamar
Houston Christian
East Texas A&M
SE Louisiana
Incarnate Word
Nicholls
UT Rio Grande Valley
McNeese
Northwestern State

2026 Southern Conference Standings

Team
East Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech
Chattanooga
Wofford
Furman
Mercer
Western Carolina
Samford
The Citadel
VMI

Scoring

Q4 11:10

TD Quay Middlebrooks 1 Yd Run (Eric Rodriguez Run for Two-Point Conversion)15–23

Q3 6:47

TD Micah Simpson 48 Yd pass from Eric Rodriguez (Ozlo Rigby Kick)7–23

Q2 0:15

TD Cameron Goggins 38 Yd Interception Return (Simon Zeidan Kick)0–23

Q2 0:30

FG Simon Zeidan 33 Yd Field Goal 0–16

Q2 5:20

FG Simon Zeidan 21 Yd Field Goal 0–13

Q1 3:04

TD Jackson Kostmayer 12 Yd pass from Jaylen King (Simon Zeidan Kick)0–10

Q1 6:45

FG Simon Zeidan 55 Yd Field Goal 0–3

Team Stats

East Texas A&M LionsMercer Bears

Offense

383 Total Yards 352

232 Passing Yards 177

151 Rushing Yards 175

15 First Downs 16

Efficiency

5-17 3rd Down 3-15

1-3 4th Down 1-1

15/31 Completions 15/28

Turnovers & Clock

3 Turnovers 0

7-45 Penalties 5-29

30:14 Possession 29:46

Box Score

East Texas A&M Lions ▾

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Eric Rodriguez	15/31	232	7.5	1	3
Team	15/31	232	7.5	1	3

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
EJ Oakmon	14	87	6.2	0	24
Quay Middlebrooks	14	36	2.6	1	15
Eric Rodriguez	9	25	2.8	0	24
Micah Simpson	1	3	3.0	0	3
Jordon Hamilton	1	0	0.0	0	0
Team	39	151	3.9	1	24

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Micah Simpson	9	165	18.3	1	48
Sean Sallis	2	31	15.5	0	23
Andrez Lewis	3	30	10.0	0	16
EJ Oakmon	1	6	6.0	0	6
Team	15	232	15.5	1	48

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Orion Kupu	8	6	0	0	0	0
Tramar Gilbert	7	4	0	1	1	0
Jamari Mosley	7	3	0	1	1	0
Wesley York Jr.	5	5	0	0	0	0
Duncan Parham	5	2	0	0.5	0	2
Elijah Hughes	4	4	0	0	1	0
David Spruiells	4	1	0	0	1	0
Caleb Nuhi-Yandall	3	3	0	0	0	0
Roman Kupu	2	2	0	0	0	0
Kai Baugh	2	2	0	0	0	0
Salehe Koonooka-Williams	2	2	0	0	0	0
Samarion George	2	1	0	0.5	0	0
Luke Williams	2	0	0	0	0	0
Anthony Gray	1	1	1	1	0	0
Erron Brown	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dakari Harris	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kemani Wilson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Isaiah Hare	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zachary Weaver	1	0	0	0	0	0
Quay Middlebrooks	1	0	0	0	0	0
Team	60	38	1	4	4	2

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Micah Simpson	1	19	19.0	19	0
Team	1	19	19.0	19	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Ozlo Rigby	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
Team	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Ben Mehan	8	334	41.8	1	3	49
Team	8	334	41.8	1	3	49

Mercer Bears ▾