MACON, Ga. –  On Saturday night, the Wofford College football team was defeated 22-21 by Mercer at Five Star Stadium to begin Southern Conference play. Down 13-7 at the half, the Terriers scored the first two touchdowns of the second half for a 21-13 lead. The Bears added a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and stopped a fourth-down attempt by the Terriers with two minutes remaining to hold on for the 22-21 win.
 
Wofford opens the season at 0-3 and 0-1 in the SoCon, while Mercer is 1-1 and 1-0 in the league. The Terriers were led on offense by Ethan Drumm on 7-of-17 passing for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Ihson Jackson-Anderson added ten carries for 79 yards. Braden Anderson led the Bears with 26-of-36 passing for 311 yards and a touchdown.
 
"I hurt for our players and coaches after this hard-fought battle against a good football team," said coach Shawn Watson. "I was really proud of the way the kids played. We had some really good things happening on defense and they got four huge turnovers. We had some big explosive plays on offense and moved the ball. We just have to keep working. We're a young team and we are getting better each week. I'm really proud of the way these kids have hung in there and really fought. You know they come to work every day, and they're young and resilient."
 
The Bears had the ball to open the game and had five first downs. The Wofford defense held in the red zone and Mercer took a 3-0 lead on a 19-yard field goal. After the Terriers went three-and-out and punted, the Bears picked up three quick first downs and scored on a three-yard run by C.J. Miller for a 10-0 lead with 4:47 on the clock in the first quarter. With the ball back, Ihson Jackson-Anderson had a 68-yard run but a fumble was forced just before crossing the goal line and recovered in the endzone by the Bears. After a 26-yard pass for a first down, Eli Campbell picked off a pass by Braden Atkinson and returned it to the 33-yard line. Wofford was unable to pick up a first down and punted.
 
After the Bears had one first down on their next drive, they punted and the ball was downed at the one-yard line. Wofford went three-and-out and punted. Mercer took over at midfield and had one first down but had to punt. The Terriers took over with 10:22 on the clock at the 20-yard line, but once again went three-and-out. The Bears had four first downs and got the ball to the one-yard line. Wofford's defense stood tall and forced a 20-yard field goal attempt that was wide right. Taking over at the 20-yard line, on second down Ethan Drumm found Ivory Aikens for an 80-yard touchdown. After the extra point, the Mercer lead was 10-7 with 3:31 left in the second quarter. The Bears and Terriers traded three-and-outs, with Mercer taking over with 16 seconds left on the clock. After one first down, a 40-yard field goal as time expired pushed the Mercer advantage to 13-7 at the half.
 
On the opening drive of the second half, Wofford had two first downs and then Ethan Drumm found a wide-open Isaiah Scott for a 51-yard touchdown. The Terriers had a 14-13 lead at the 13:21 mark of the third quarter. The Bears had one first down before Eli Campbell had his second interception of the game, and he returned it 53 yards to the seven-yard line. Wofford wasted little time in getting into the endzone as Ethan Drumm found C.J. Adams for the touchdown and a 21-13 lead with 10:46 on the clock. Mercer responded with a drive that included three first downs and ended with a 44-yard field goal. The Wofford lead was 21-16 at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter.
 
A Mercer drive saw them pick up three first downs to move inside the 20-yard line. On a completed pass, Elijah Washington forced a fumble that was recovered by C.J. Coombes at the three-yard line with 1:46 left in the third quarter. Wofford was unable to gain any yards and punted. Working with a short field, the Bears had a 16-yard touchdown pass with 14:03 on the clock in the fourth quarter to go up 22-21. An offensive penalty on the two-point conversion attempt kept it a one-point game. Wofford had two first downs on the next drive before a fumble lost 17 yards and was fortunately recovered by the Terriers. After the punt, the Bears took over at the 25-yard line with 11:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.  
                   
With the ball, Mercer had two first downs before a fumble was forced by Elijah Washington and recovered by Maximus Pulley near midfield. Jayden Whitaker entered the game at quarterback after an injury to Ethan Drumm. Wofford had one first down and then faced a fourth-and-three and the run went for no gain to turn the ball over on downs. The Terriers forced a three-and-out and Mercer punted, but the ball was downed on the two-yard line with 3:04 left in the game. On the first play, Jayden Whitaker found Isaiah Scott for a 43-yard completion and first down. Facing fourth-and-eight at the two-minute timeout, a sack and fumble gave the Bears the ball back on the 36-yard line. Mercer was able to take a knee three times to close out the game.
 
Wofford had a season-high 292 total yards, with 237 passing yards. Mercer had 463 total yards, with 311 of those passing yards. Wofford had eight first downs to 28 for the Bears. Wofford was 2-of-12 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down. Mercer was 5-of-15 on third down. Mercer was called for four penalties, while Wofford was called for eight. Mercer had a 38:54 to 21:06 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. Mercer Post-Game Notes
This was the 18^th meeting between the two teams. Mercer has an 11-7 lead in the series and has won the last five games.
 
Eli Campbell had his fourth career interception in the first quarter and added his fifth in the third quarter. It was his second career game with two interceptions, as he had two on October 28, 2024, against ETSU.
 
Overall, Wofford had four takeaways in the contest (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) and only two turnovers.
 
The 80-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Drumm to Ivory Aikens was the fourth-longest in school history. It was also the first career touchdown pass by Drumm.
   
The defense was led by Maximus Pulley with 14 tackles. Six different players had a tackle for loss.  
 
Game captains were C.J. Coombes, Seth Foster, Quincy Hughes, and Isaiah Scott.       
 
Attendance at Five Star Stadium was 7,404.
 
Wofford will remain on the road and play Virginia Tech on Saturday, September 20. After the open week, the Terriers will play three straight home games.