Mercer Claims Second-Straight Football Title in Instant Classic Win

 

CULLOWHEE, N.C.-- For the first time since 2019, a SoCon team has claimed back-to-back SoCon football titles, as No. 10/12 Mercer claimed at least a share of the 2025 league title with an epic 49-47 win over No. 24 Western Carolina before a sellout crowd of 14,501 on-hand Saturday afternoon at EJ Whitmire Stadium.

It was Mercer's eighth-straight win in-season, 11th-straight SoCon win in contiguous seasons, and it was also the 10th-straight win over Western Carolina in the 12th all-time clash between the two before the third-largest crowd in stadium history, and the largest crowd to see a Catamount football came since 2008.

The showdown between the two top football teams in the SoCon had everything you could ask for in a matchup, but most importantly, it was a championship atmosphere that actually did live up to the anticipation and expectations coming into the clash.

Mercer, which claimed the 2024 SoCon title, claimed its eighth-straight win to improve 8-1 overall and 7-0 in Southern Conference has won more SoCon game to contest next week at home against Chattanooga, as the Bears claimed a share of their second-straight Southern Conference crown. 

Prior to this season, the Bears were one of six different champions over the past six years in the SoCon, however, by claiming no worse than a share than a SoCon title with Saturday's result in the mountains of western North Carolina, the Catamounts have become the first back-to-back SoCon champions since Wofford won three-straight titles from 2017-19.

The Bears, who were outright champions a year ago, could duplicate that feat next Saturday with a win on homecoming against Chattanooga at Five Star Stadium. Should that be the case, the Bears would become the first SoCon team to win back-to-back titles for the first time since Appalachian State did so in 2008 and '09. 

Western Carolina's loss sees a six-game win streak come-to a close, and the Catamounts fell 6-4 overall and 5-1 in SoCon play with a pair of games remaining in the league, which begins next week at home vs. East Tennessee State before closing out the regular-season on the road at VMI. 

Wins in those final two games would put Western Carolina at 8-4 overall and 7-1 in SoCon play, and one the bubble when it comes to qualifying for the FCS Playoffs. However, to the eye, the Catamounts deserve strong consideration, and in my somewhat biased point of view, the SoCon should rightly get two invites from the FCS Playoffs this season. Especially when you consider the Catamounts played the first three games without Walter Payton Award candidate quarterback Taron Dickens.

Saturday's epic showdown in Cullowhee ended up featuring 96 points, 1,167 combined yards, 994 passing yards and 10 combined passing touchdowns. 

The Catamounts, which have never won a SoCon football title since joining as an official league member in 1977, saw their efforts for No. 1 come closer than they ever had, and it took a missed 37-yard field goal as time expired to keep the Catamounts from putting themselves in position to win their first next Saturday in the Blue Ridge Border Battle against East Tennessee.

The championship race is now out of the control of the Catamounts, and Western Carolina now must hope for a Chattanooga win at Mercer next week and Western Carolina would have win the rest of the way out to claim a share of the crown. Even with that, Mercer's head-to-head win gives the Bears the auto bid to the FCS postseason.

Western Carolina's playoff drought currently sits at 42 years since the Catamounts made a run all the way to the FCS national title game where they would eventually fall in the title game to Southern Illinois, 43-7.

Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens continued to add to his awesome narrative he has established throughout the 2025 season, connecting on 33-of-49 passes (67.3%) for 551 yards and a school-record seven TD passes in the setback. Dickens threw just his second INT of the season, which came on a hail mary attempt just before the half. 

In the process of establishing another WCU passing record, Dickens connected with 11 different Catamount receivers. All told, Dickens helped power a WCU offense that had a slight edge in total yards gained, out-pacing the Bears' high-octane attack, 599-568, in the epic contest. 

His counterpart--Mercer's Freshman quarterback and Walter Payton and Jerry Rice Award candidate Braden Atkinson--finished his day by connecting on 23-of-39 passes for 443 yards and three touchdowns without an INT. 

The game featured three lead changes inside the final three minutes. It could have had a fourth, however, Marcus Trout pushed the potential game-winning field goal wide right. 

The Turning Point:

The game had plenty of momentum shifts throughout and in a close game like Saturday's between the Bears, special teams ultimately played a big role in the outcome. No, I am not talking about the miss by Marcus Trout as part of the turning point, but ultimately, it was Mercer's John McConnell's ability to flip the field in Mercer's favor that ended up coming up huge in the end. 

With Western holding a narrow 14-7 second quarter lead, A 56-yard punt by McConnell was caught by WCU punt returner David Tyre inside his own 5, and he opted to try and return the punt only to be tackled at his own 4. On the first play following the punt return attempt, Taron Dickens was sacked by Mercer's veteran-most defender, in defensive tackle Jordan Swain, who brought down Dickens before he could escape the end zone, giving the Bears two-point safety and seeing the momentum of the game switch from that point forward.

With the score now at 14-9 with 13:06 remaining in the opening half, the Bears got the ball back off the free kick by the Catamounts. The Bears then drove 69 yards and needed only seven plays to take their second lead of the day, as Kendall Harris hauled in a 6-yard scoring strike from Atkinson to take a 15-14 lead  with 10:18 left in the half. The Bears attempted a two-play, however, the pass was broken up to keep the Mercer advantage at one.

This was a small detail in a game filled with plenty of details, but it was ultimately the two points the Catamounts ended up chasing all day, and the two points at the end of the game proved the difference in the game, which was a valiant championship worthy battle fought on both sides.

How It Happened:

1st Qtr

Western Carolina would ultimately get on the board first in what would be a game that, like most had predicted, had no shortage of offensive fireworks, especially through the air. 

The Catamounts would make the most of their opening drive of the game when Dickens connected with Michael Rossin for a 35-yard scoring strike to complete a 9-play, 65-yard drive and give Western Carolina the early 7-0 lead with 11:40 left in the opening quarter.

The Bears would strike back to tie the contest late in the opening quarter when CJ Miller finished off a 7-play, 68-yard Mercer drive to tie the game, 7-7, with 3:31 left in the opening frame. The scoring run was set up by a 50-yard bomb from Braden Atkinson-to-Brayden Smith on the very first play of the drive. 

2nd Qtr

The Catamounts would ultimately put together another scoring drive, which started late in the first and would end early in the second, as Western Carolina used six plays to cover 54 yards to pull back in front when Dickens did most the damage through the air with his arm, accounting for all but 13 yards of the scoring drive on two completions. The 21-yard scoring strike to Patrick Boyd Jr. out of the backfield and Marcus Trout's PAT just five seconds into the second quarter, restored Western's seven-point lead, at 14-7.

After Western's defense came up with a rare stop in a game that saw very little played on either side, it set the stage for McConnell's 56-yard punt and big special teams play from the Bears and subsequent safety, allowing for the Bears to take their first lead of the game when Atkinson connected with Harris on the short 6-yard scoring strike with 10:18 left in the half, and the Bears now leading 15-14. 

The Catamounts put together one of the more impressive drives of the contest to quell the momentum established by the Bears following the safety and ensuing touchdown drive in what was a string of nine-straight points, as WCU marched 79 yards in 11 plays. Dickens found Patrick Boyd Jr. to restore the Catamount lead at 21-15 on a 21-yard scoring strike with 5:25 to play in the half.

Mercer closed out the half with the final points, however, as the first field goal of the day was knocked through by 24-yard field goal with 1:43 remaining in the half after Mercer put together a 10-play, 68-yard drive  to cut the WCU lead to three, at 21-18. It looked like they were going to take a lead into the half with a 1st-and-goal at the 9, but the Catamount defense did its thing and turned away the Bears to force Mercer to settle for three instead of the desired seven. 

That's how the first half would end as, WCU carried the narrow lead into the half.

3rd Qtr

The second half would see Mercer receive the opening kickoff of the second half, and would  make the most of their opening drive of the second half, driving it 75 yards in six plays to re-take the lead. The pivotal play came when quarterback Braden Atkinson hooked up with Adjatay Dabbs for a 45-yard scoring strike, as Dabbs got behind the WCU secondary to help give the Bears a 25-21 lead after Reice Griffith's PAT. 

The Bears then would see their defense seize upon the momentum of that opening drive to put the offense in great position to add to Mercer's lead, when Bears redshirt senior defensive lineman Justin Gilbert came through and recorded a strip-sack on Dickens and the Bears offense took over with their best field position of the day. The Bears needed just four plays to cover the 35 yards and took a double-digit lead with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter, as Atkinson found Harris for a 24-yard scoring strike to make it a 32-21 game. 

Western Carolina would then score its first points of the second half when Dickens found Malik Knight for a 32-yard scoring strike to make it a one-possession game once again, at 32-27. However, the Bears hit right back before the end of the third, as CJ Miller took a handoff from Atkinson and raced 26 yards for a TD, restoring Mercer's 12-point lead, at 39-27 with just 24 seconds remaining in the quarter.

4th Qtr.

There was no end to the fireworks in the fourth quarter, either. The Catamounts and Bears would produce a combined 30 points in the fourth quarter, with WCU out-scoring the Bears, 20-10, in the frame.

First, Dickens continued the aerial show, as he again found Malik Knight on a big-time scoring play, which covered 54 yards and put the Catamounts back to within five, as the Catamounts needed just three plays and 32 seconds to cover the 64 yards to the end zone, cutting the deficit to give, at 39-34, with 14:28 remaining. 

A little over a minute later, the Bears had restored their two-score lead when Atkinson found Dabbs on what proved to be Mercer's longest scoring play of the night, as Dabbs hauled in an 81-yard bomb from Atkinson with 13:25 remaining, giving the Bears a 46-34 lead after the PAT. 

A little past the midway point of the final period, Western Carolina would hit back again with another touchdown pass from Dickens, who found Jai Boyd on a drag route across the middle to make it a five-point game once again with 6:13 remaining, at 46-41. 

The Catamount defense would then force Mercer into its first three-and-out of the night to get the ball back with 4:36 remaining. 

The Catamounts would then gain their first lead of the second half covering 82 yards in just three plays, as Dickens found James Tyre on a 42-yard scoring strike to make it a 47-46 game. Western's three-play scoring drive was set up by a 39-yard connection from Dickens to wideout Dominic Dutton and then a one-yard run by Patrick Boyd Jr. on the next play. 

With the Bears now finding themselves with their backs against the wall late in the game, the Bears got the ball back with 3:13 remaining and got what proved to be the game-winning points, as Mercer was forced to settle for a field goal after reaching the WCU 20 before being turned back by the Catamount defense. Reice Griffith trotted on to split the uprights on a 37-yard attempt to give the Bears a 49-47 lead with 1:30 remaining.

With the ball back in its possession, the Catamounts drove right back down the field to put itself in position to potentially be in the driver's seat for a first SoCon title, however, despite having an identical 37-yard attempt as Griffith, Trout's attempt sailed just right of the goalposts, and even confused the PA announcer and some fans who rushed the field in celebration of a win that wasn't. Mercer's sidelines erupted in celebration of what was a second-straight SoCon title, as the Bears lived up to lofty preseason expectations, despite that early-season hiccup vs. Presbyterian.

Next week, the Bears close out their SoCon slate by facing Chattanooga (5-5, 4-2 SoCon) at Five Star Stadium in a 3 p.m. EST kickoff.  With a win Saturday, the Bears would become the first SoCon team to finish the season with an 8-0 record in league play for the first time since Samford went 8-0 in the league in 2022. 

Western Carolina faces East Tennessee State (5-5, 3-3 SoCon) in the Blue Ridge Border Battle in a kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. The Catamounts also play VMI the following week to close out SoCon play, likely needing to win both to have a chance at a playoff bid.