MACON, Ga.—The Samford football team used a strong second half to pull away from Mercer for a 47-21 win in the season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Five Star Stadium.
 
Samford trailed Mercer, 14-9 at halftime. The Bulldogs, however outscored the Bears, 38-7 after halftime.
 
"I'm proud of our team," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We had a chance to build a good lead early, but we kept bogging down in the red-zone area. We were able to hit some home runs late in the game, offensively. Our kicking game was outstanding, and then defensively, we played great. I'm just proud of the way our guys really put it down on them in the second half, because that's what good teams do."
 
With the win, Samford finishes its season with a record of 6-5 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference play. This marks the fifth-straight winning season for Samford, tying a school record. Mercer wraps up its season with a mark of 5-6 overall and 2-5 in league play.
 
For Samford offensively, Devlin Hodges completed 30-of-44 passes for 392 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Hodges also rushed 14 times for 88 yards.
 
Emmanuel Obajimi caught seven passes for 144 yards and a 94-yard touchdown. Karel Hamilton had eight catches for 101 yards. K'rondis Larry had four rushes for 102 yards and a 94-yard score.
 
Defensively for the Bulldogs, Justin Cooper had 15 tackles. Tonne Osaigbovo had nine tackles, and James Bradberry added an interception for the Bulldogs' defense.
 
On special teams, Anthony Pistelli was 4-for-4 on field goals, making and kick from 40-yards out, and three from 46 yards each. Kelvin McKnight returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown, to go along with his seven catches for 76 yards.
 
Mercer was led offensively by John Russ, completing 15-of-32 passes for 142 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Sam Walker had eight catches for 100 yards and two scores. The Bears' defense was led by Lee Bennett with 13 tackles and an interception.
 
Mercer struck first to take an early lead. Russ hit Walker for a 15-yard touchdown on the Bears' first drive for a 7-0 lead with 6:57 left in the first quarter.
 
Samford put its first points on the scoreboard late in the first quarter. Pistelli kicked a 40-yard field goal to cut the Mercer lead to 7-3 with 1:00 to go in the opening period.
 
Pistelli added his second field goal of the day, this one from 46-yards out, to make the score 7-6, Mercer, with 11:44 left in the second quarter. Pistelli added another 46-yard field goal with 6:00 to go in the second quarter to give Samford a 9-7 lead.
 
Mercer's Russ scored on a seven-yard run with 57 seconds left before halftime to give the Bears a 14-9 halftime lead. The score was set up by an interception by Bennett, giving Mercer the ball at the Samford 26-yard line.
 
Pistelli got the scoring started in the third quarter when he booted his fourth field goal of the game to cut the Mercer lead to 14-12 with 7:28 left in the third quarter. Samford took the lead for good when Denzel Williams scored on a one-yard run to make the score 19-14 with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Obajimi took a pass from Hodges and went 94 yards for a touchdown to push the Bulldogs' lead to 26-14 with 13:04 left in the game. After the Samford defense forced a Mercer punt, McKnight took the punt back 77 yards for a touchdown to make the score 33-14 with 11:58 to go.
 
Samford pushed its lead to 40-14 when Williams scored on a three-yard run with 6:39 left in the contest. Larry then scored on a 94-yard run with 4:25 left to make the score 47-14. Mercer added one final score when Russ hit Walker for a 29-yard score with 1:19 left to make the final score 47-21.