Eagles Fall in Heart-Pounding Inaugural Game
MACON, Ga. - L.J. Stegall scored three touchdowns three different ways and Reinhardt University's football team led into the fourth quarter, but Mercer connected on two field goals in the final 3:17 to thwart the Eagles, 40-37, Saturday night at Mercer University Stadium in the first football game in RU history.
"We learned a lot. I think we can play better," said RU head coach Danny Cronic. "Our whole deal was to try to run the ball better than they did, but we had some penalties at the wrong times that kept their drives alive and kept our defense on the field."
After a slow start, the first touchdown in school history went to Stegall, who caught a 3-yard pass from Johnathon Chamblee to put RU on top, 6-0, with more than five minutes gone by in the opening quarter. Mercer answered right back with a three-play drive capped by a touchdown pass from John Russ to tight end Robert Brown. With the extra point sailing through the uprights, the Bears led, 7-6.
The Eagles answered right back on the following kickoff. Stegall blazed 92-yards down the field for a touchdown to shove the Eagles back on top, 13-7. The Bears would come back with a 13-play, 78-yard drive for a touchdown to take a, 14-13, lead after one quarter.
The score stayed the same until a 22-yard touchdown reception by J.T. Palmer gave Mercer the lead, 21-13. RU would drive down field with a 14-play drive that stalled out inside the Mercer 10. Still, Matthew Moon would connect from 28 yards away to make the score, 21-16, at the half.
Mercer would take advantage of an RU turnover with a 35-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to take a 28-16 lead with 9:55 left in the third quarter. The reast of the quarter, however, would belong to the Navy Blue and Gold. Niagel Curtis caught a swing pass from Ryan Thompson, then cut to the middle of the field and sprinted to daylight down the MU sideline. Diving into the end zone for the score, RU trailed, 28-22, after a muffed snap on the extra point attempt.
In the waning seconds of the third quarter, the Eagles struck again. Sam Jones ran untouched down the sidelines for a 78-yard touchdown, stunning the 12,172 in Orange and Black and giving the Ealges a, 29-28, lead.
Mercer came back on the first drive of the fourth quarter to take the lead, 34-29, on a 26-yard touchdown reception by J.T. Palmer. Another big momentum swing would happen just over a minute later. After the Bears forced a three-and-out, RU punted, with the punt being muffed by Payton Usher. Adrian Hayes fell on the ball at the 11-yard line for the Eagles, and RU was back in business. Two plays later, Stegall rushed around the right side of the line and sprinted to the pylon for a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles back the lead. When Aaron Kennedy caught Thompson's two-point conversion pass, the Eagles led, 37-34.
Mercer would get the ball back and, aided by a pair of penalties on RU that gave the Bears a first-down, the home team tied the game with a 28-yard field goal, 37-37, with 3:17 to go.
After a big return by Travis Nunley, the Eagles started with the ball on their own 39. After one first down, the drive bogged down for the Eagles at the Mercer 42. With 40 seconds to go, the Eagles called timeout.
"In the end, when it was crucial, we went for it on fourth down. I made that decision and I messed up," coach Cronic said. "I should have had us punt the ball and give them a longer field, but I was worried about an overtime situation. The indecision there really cost us in the long run."
Thompson would get stopped for no gain with 33 seconds remaining in the contest. After an incomplete pass on the first play, Russ found Jordan Marshall open down field for a 42-yard gain with 17 seconds to go. After centering the ball in the middle of the field, Josh Shutter connected for a 31-yard field goal, sending the Eagles home in defeat, 40-37.
"If you go back and look, I think we had three drives of Mercer's that were kept alive by penalties," coach Cronic said. "If we are able to keep those penalties from happening and we get the ball back in those situations, we could have had a much different game."
Both teams ran the ball 46 times, with the Eagles out-gaining the Bears on the ground 247-222. Jones led the Eagles with 112 on the ground. Stegall had 193 all-purpose yards, including his 163 yards as a kick returner. Curtis led RU's receivers with 67 yards, while Aaron Kennedy and Tyler Bradley each had a team-best four catches.
Chamblee finished the game 9-of-16 for 86 yards and a touchdown, with Thompson going 5-of-9 for 103 yards and a score.
Defensively, Jarred Johnson led the Eagles with 11 tackles, including 10 solo. Juice Arnold recorded Reinhardt's first interception in history, leaping in the air to grab a Russ pass on the game's first play from scrimmage. Ladrell Cammon had a pair of pass break-ups and a tackle for a loss, with Tevin McCoy leading the Eagles with two tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
The Eagles (0-1) will now prepare for the first home game in school history when Lindsey Wilson visits Ken White Field.