The eighth-ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team forced six turnovers while running back Ailym Ford surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards to help lift the squad to a dominant 41-21 victory over No. 11 Mercer in a crucial Southern Conference matchup in front of 9,092 fans at Finley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 6-1 on the season and remains perfect in SoCon play at 4-0. Mercer drops to 6-2 on the season and suffers its first league loss to fall to 4-1.
Chattanooga picked off Mercer’s Fred Payton three times during the victory and forced six turnovers in total. Payton entered the contest with 21 touchdowns through the air to just one interception.
“That’s a good win. That’s a group out there prepared themselves all week. It’s a fun group to be in locker room with,” said head coach Rusty Wright following the game. “We aren’t always the best, but it’s a good group. I promise you it’s a great day in my mind. I promise you. I’m so excited for that group and those coaches. A lot of fun down there.”
Chattanooga forced a Mercer turnover on the opening kickoff and quick turned it into three points after Aaron Sears knocked through a 32-yard field to put UTC ahead 3-0 at the 12:38 mark of the first. Just two plays later, Kameron Brown picked off a Fred Peyton pass and took it 53 yards to the house to extend the lead to 10-0 with 11:55 on the board.
After the defense came up with another stop and forced a Mercer punt, Preston Hutchinson found Jamoi Mayes on a 34-yard deep ball in the back of the endzone to continue the first quarter onslaught as the lead grew to 17-0 before the break.
Ailym Ford extended the Chattanooga lead to 24-0 with 12:25 left in the first half when he turned the corner from 10 yards out. Mercer got on the board a minute later with a 39-yard throw and catch to cut into the deficit 24-7 (11:24 2Q) before a 29-yard Sears field goal made it 27-7 (6:54 2Q). The Bears countered with a 14-yard TD pass to make it 27-14 as the teams headed into the locker room at half.
“It’s just really kind of letting us know that we are the team that we think we are and that we have the tools we need to succeed and finish out the rest of the season the way we want to. And we have four games left. We’re going to get four good games. Everybody’s going to play best of their ability against us. So we’re looking forward to it and just ready to finish the season right away.” – Ty Boeck after the statement win.
Chattanooga received the opening kick in the second half and went 75 yards in just six plays when Sam Phillips made a defender miss in route to a 53-yard catch and run to up the lead to 34-14 (12:12 3Q). Mercer scored for the third-straight drive when Payton converted a three-yard TD pass to Devron Harper on fourth down to cut into the UTC lead, 34-21 (6:52 3Q).
The final score of the game came when Hutchinson tossed his third touchdown pass of the game, this time finding tight end Jay Gibson from three yards out with 11:58 left in the game to eventually cap off the 41-21 rout. UTC forced six turnovers which marked the most in a game since forcing seven at No. 8 Samford on October 28, 2017.
NEXT GAME
Chattanooga (6-1, 4-0 SoCon) at Furman (6-2, 4-1 SoCon)–
Sat., Oct. 29 – 2:00PM ET –
Television: ESPN+
This article is comprised of information and media from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics department. For more sports, news, and entertainment, follow us on Twitter @SESNsports or like our page on Facebook.
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