MACON, Ga. – Mercer forced four turnovers, as Gardner-Webb saw their season come to an end with a 17-7 loss in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 25.
 
After both teams traded punts early, Gardner-Webb (7-5) found themselves deep in Mercer territory following a short punt by the Bears. Mercer (9-3) stopped the Runnin' Bulldogs on fourth down and two however, after a fumble by Jaylen King kept GWU off the board. Gardner-Webb answered with a defensive stand of their own at midfield thanks to a pass break up by Ty Anderson, and the teams continued to be scoreless halfway through the opening stanza.
 
Mercer finally put together a drive, aided by a pair of late hit penalties by the Runnin' Bulldogs, and a two-yard rushing touchdown by Carter Peevy gave the Bears a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. King and the GWU offense answered with a 29-yard pass to Karim Page, but a sack by the Bears forced another Runnin' Bulldog punt.
 
The Bears added to their lead on the next drive, with Peevy scampering 72-yards to the endzone on a read option play to swell the Mercer lead to 14-0. Gardner-Webb put together a drive, with a 39-yard catch by Ephraim Floyd and a third-down conversion by Jonathan Burns got the Dawgs into the redzone. King found Page in the back of the endzone with a pass, and GWU cut the Mercer lead to 14-7 with 6:01 left in the second quarter.
 
Gardner-Webb started to put together a drive late in the first half, but an interception gave Mercer the ball back. The defense forced a three-and-out by Mercer, thanks to back-to-back sacks by Brandon Wilson and Ty French, and Gardner-Webb went into the locker room down 14-7.
 
Early in the second half, Caleb Borders picked up an 18-yard punt return to get Gardner-Webb deep into Mercer territory. The drive stalled, and a 45-yard field goal attempt by Jay Billingsley went wide left, keeping the Bears on top 14-7 halfway through the third quarter.
 
On the next Gardner-Webb drive, the Bears forced a fumble deep on the Runnin' Bulldogs side of the field. The GWU defense made a big stop thanks to a tackle-for-loss by Jimmy Bowdry, and Mercer settled for a field goal attempt, which went wide right. On the ensuing drive, GWU pushed the ball across the 50-yard line, but a sack on fourth down gave Mercer the ball back to end the third quarter.
 
Mercer got another drive rolling, including a conversion on fourth down inside the redzone, but French picked up his third sack of the day, forcing a Mercer punt. The Bears got the ball back, and the Gardner-Webb defense again forced a field goal, with Mercer connecting from 29 yards out to go ahead 17-7 with 8:48 left in the game.
 
Gardner-Webb got another chance to get on the board with four minutes left in the game, but a pair of interceptions by Mercer on Gardner-Webb's final two drives iced the contest, and the Bears ended the Runnin' Bulldogs season with a 17-7 win in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Austin Hendley recorded a career-long 60-yard punt in the first quarter.
• With 15 tackles, William McRainey finishes the season with 105 tackles. It is the third straight season McRainey has tallied at least 100 tackles in a season. It is also his first 15 tackle game since Nov. 13, 2021 when McRainey had 18 tackles vs Charleston Southern.
• GWU was held to just 47 rushing yards on 31 attempts (1.5 yards per carry).
• With three sacks, Ty French recorded at least two sacks in back-to-back games. His 9.5 sacks this season are the seventh-most in a single season in program history.
• With 401 rushing yards this season, Jaylen King recorded the sixth-most rushing yards in a single season by a Gardner-Webb quarterback.

 
CAREER WRAP-UP

• William McRainey finishes his GWU career with 338 career tackles. That is the eleventh most in program history.
• Ty French finishes his Gardner-Webb tenure with 33.5 career sacks. That is the most in program history and Big South history. His 62 career tackles-for-loss are also the most in program history, as French is the only Gardner-Webb player to record at least 60 career tackles-for-loss.
• Narii Gaither finishes his career with 108 receptions, the most by a running back in school history and the 17^th most by any player in program history. Gaither also finishes his career with 952 rushing yards, also the most by any running back in GWU history. The Rock Hill, S.C. native also finished with 3,090 rushing yards for his career, a new Division-I rushing record and the second-most in program history. His 5.7 yards per carry are the third-most in program history.
• Twenty-six Gardner-Webb seniors suited up for the final time this season. Brice Bass, Jamari Brown, Jacob Brigman, AJ Covan, Andunte Devereux, Tray Dunson, Narii Gaither, Ty French, Austin Hendley, Anthony Herock, Kendall Massey, Keeath Magee, Matt McCray, Brennen McGuire, William McRainey, Jeremy Mitchell, Raequan Ousley, Christopher Richardson, Ian Sauter, Kyle Schneider, Josh Taylor, AJ Thomas, Gabriel Thompson, Honus Wagner, Christian Wright and Josiah Wright were honored on Senior Day last week. Student assistant Carson Hailey was also honored.

 
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