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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team used a dominating all-around performance to earn a 44-20 win over the 23^rd-ranked Mercer Bears Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford ends the 2021 spring season with a mark of 4-3, all in Southern Conference play. Mercer finishes with a record of 5-6 overall and 5-3 in SoCon games.
 
"I thought this was a dominating performance, even though it got close there late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "Our guys responded each and every time they needed to. This was a ranked opponent coming in and they were on a pretty good hot streak."
 
For Samford in the win, quarterback Liam Welch completed 39-of-49 passes for 443 yards and one touchdown. Montrell Washington caught six passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. Ty King hauled in seven passes for 73 yards for the Bulldogs. Jay Stanton rushed 10 times for 96 yards and three touchdowns, while DeMarcus Ware rushed for 55 yards and a score.
 
On defense, Nathan East led the team with 11 tackles and one pass break up. Josiah Cotton tallied 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Armond Lloyd had a forced fumble that was recovered by Jeremy Garth. On special teams, Mitchell Fineran made field goals from 44, 20 and 47 yards out.
 
As a team, Samford rolled up 596 yards of offense, 443 passing and 153 rushing. Mercer compiled 502 yards, with 246 coming on the ground and 256 through the air.
 
For Mercer, Deondre Johnson rushed 22 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Carter Peevy threw for 162 yards for the Bears.
 
On the opening drive of the game, Mercer drove to the Samford 16-yard line, but the Bulldog defense held and the Bears' Caleb Dowden missed a 33-yard field goal attempt, giving Samford the ball back. On Samford's second offensive drive, Fineran kicked a 44-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Samford's Ware scored on a 30-yard run to make the score 10-0 with 1:02 to go in the opening period.
 
Samford added to its lead when Stanton scored on a four-yard run to push the Bulldogs' lead to 17-0 with 11:03 to go in the second quarter. Welch hit Washington for a 43-yard touchdown pass to make the score 24-0 with 3:59 left in the second quarter. Stanton scored his second touchdown of the game on a seven-yard run, giving Samford a 31-0 lead with 1:29 left in the second period. Mercer's Johnson scored on a one-yard run to cut the lead to 31-7 on the final play of the second quarter.
 
On Mercer's first offensive drive of the third quarter, Julian Beres scored on a two-yard run to cut the lead to 31-14 with 10:05 left in the period. Fineran kicked a 20-yard field goal to push the Samford lead to 34-14 with 12:05 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Mercer's Johnson scored on a one-yard run with 9:42 left in the fourth quarter, but Samford's Joshua Long blocked the extra point, making the score 34-20. Fineran booted a 47-yard field goal to make the score 37-20 with 7:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.  Stanton scored on a 33-yard run with 1:19 to go to make the final score 44-20.
 
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