On Saturday Sept. 27, ETSU went up against Mercer University at home in William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. This was not only was the first Southern Conference game of the season for the Buccaneers, it was against the 2024 SoCon champions.
In a pre-game press conference with ETSU’s Head Coach Will Healy, he said that “we’ll have to play our best to have a shot” in the game against Mercer, considering they were 2-0 in conference, with an overall score of 3-1 before playing ETSU.
The first quarter of the game started out slowly for the Bucs, with Mercer scoring the first point with a 49-yard field goal. Afterwards, ETSU got into the groove and soon scored a touchdown thrown by quarterback Cade McNamara and caught by wide receiver Hakeem Meggett. Ewan Johnson successfully kicked the extra point, making the score 3-7. ETSU then scored the last points of the first quarter, with Johnson kicking a 21-yard field goal.
The second quarter started off strong for the Bears, where they scored a touchdown to tie with the Bucs. ETSU came back and scored another touchdown, which was thrown by McNamara to tight end Charlie Browder, with the extra point once again being successful from Johnson. Mercer, with their fighting spirit, rebutted with a touchdown of their own, tying the score once again. ETSU rebounded by scoring yet another touchdown thrown by McNamara that was caught by Meggett, and a successful extra kick from Johnson. Johnson then came back moments later and kicked a 32-yard field goal, making the score at halftime 17-27 with ETSU in the lead.
The third quarter was a tug-of-war between these two teams, with no points being scored until halfway through. Mercer was the first team to score, with a touchdown and successful extra point. ETSU scored soon after with a touchdown thrown by McNamara and caught by Meggett, with an extra point being scored by Johnson. At the end of the third quarter, the Buccaneers were in the lead with a score of 24-34.
The fourth and final quarter was where Mercer began to turn the tide, scoring 2 touchdowns, putting them into the lead for the first time since the first quarter of the game. The Buccaneers could not pull ahead after that, causing the final score to be 38-34 with Mercer taking home the win.
ETSU football will be back on Saturday Oct. 4, where they will play against SoCon opponent Furman in Greenville, South Carolina. Kickoff is at 2pm, and will be available to watch on ESPN+.
For more information on ETSU football, you can go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
