NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

MACON, Ga. --- The 20^th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team forced three turnovers, allowed zero rushing yards, and used a school-record five field goals from Clayton Crile to help secure a 22-10 victory at Mercer inside Five Star Stadium in Macon, Ga., during crucial Southern Conference play on Saturday evening.
 
Chattanooga improves to 5-2 overall and 4-1 inside SoCon action after the victory. Mercer drops to 4-3 on the season and evens its league record to 2-2 after the defeat.
 
"If you don't give up any rushing yards, that's a pretty good day. We talk about it all the time coming on the road, executing in the game and just not turning the ball over. We went out there and did that," said head coach Rusty Wright following the game.
 
"Couldn't be prouder of this group. This is a tough place to play, and they've got some pretty good players. The resilience of this group, they're tired and beat up, but they played their hearts out tonight. It was a lot of fun to watch and be around."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga's Clayton Crile converted a 32-yard field goal on the game's opening drive to give the visitors a quick 3-0 lead within the first four minutes of action. Mercer surrendered another three points off Crile's foot after a bad snap on a punt attempt gave UTC a short field, ultimately leading to a 6-0 Mocs edge after one quarter of play.
 
After a scoreless 10-plus minutes kicked off the second, Crile added his third field goal of the first half (37 yards) to give Chattanooga a two-possession lead at 9-0 with 4:23 left. Mercer marched down the field and threatened inside the UTC 10 before Jay Person forced a possession-altering fumble at the 2:00 mark to keep the Bears off the board.
 
The score-stopping turnover led to a 10-play, 59-yard scoring drive for the UTC offense, ending with a Crile 45-yard field goal to give the Mocs a 12-0 halftime lead. The four field goals from Crile in the first half tied the school record for most made field goals in a game.
 
Mercer registered the game's first touchdown after taking advantage of a short field, going 33 yards in five plays and scoring on a 10-yard touchdown throw and catch to pull within five, 12-7 (10:26 3Q). UTC immediately responded with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive as Chase Artopoeus connected with Sam Phillips on a 30-yard touchdown toss to extend the lead to 19-7 (6:55 3Q).
 
The Bears made it a nine-point game, 19-10, after a 36-yard field goal capped off a 10-play, 54-yard drive with 2:35 left in the third quarter. Still holding the 19-10 lead with under 10 minutes to go in the game, Jordan Walker forced a crucial Mercer fumble on what would have been a 28-yard gain in UTC territory, as Kameron Brown recovered the loose ball to provide an extra spark.
 
The turnover eventually led to Crile's school-record setting fifth field goal as he knocked a 27-yarder through inside the right upright, giving the Mocs a 22-10 advantage with 3:52 on the board. Kobe Joseph sealed the deal on the ensuing Mercer drive with an interception over the middle to secure the 22-10 victory.

SCORING SUMMARY
1^st Quarter
UTC – 11:04 – C. Crile 32 yd field goal – 3-0 UTC
UTC – 3:42 – C. Crile 37 yd field goal – 6-0 UTC
 
2^nd Quarter
UTC – 4:23 – C. Crile 37 yd field goal – 9-0 UTC
UTC – 0:09 – C. Crile 45 yd field goal – 12-0 UTC
 
3^rd Quarter
MER – 10:26 – T. James 10 yd TD reception thrown by C. Peevy (XP GOOD) – UTC 12-7
UTC – 6:55 – S. Phillips 30 yd TD reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – UTC 19-7
MER – 2:35 – R. Griffith 36 yd field goal – UTC 19-10
 
4^th Quarter
UTC – 3:52 – C. Crile 27 yd field goal – UTC 22-10

RECORDS – No. 20 Chattanooga 5-2, 4-1 SoCon ∙ (RV) Mercer 4-3, 2-2 SoCon
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 22-11-1.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW | MORE
1. Clayton Crile set a new school record for field goals made in a game after going a perfect 5-of-5… previous mark was four which was set three different times… most recently by Craig Camey at Jacksonville State on September 8, 2007.
2. Defense limited Mercer to 280 yards of total offense with ZERO on the ground and 280 by air...zero rushing yards allowed are 8th fewest yards allowed in school history...fewest since 364 days ago holding VMI to -4 on Oct. 15, 2022.
3. 4.0 tackles for loss for edge Jay Person…ties career high set in the win last year at ETSU…now 1.5 shy of 50 for his career (48.5). Person's sack gives him 20 for his career…5th Moc to top 20 for a career.

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Rusty Wright on importance of taking points.
"I'm taking points whenever I can get points in a game like that. I thought about going for it a couple of times, but at the end of the day you take points when you can get points. We've got a good kicker, so yes we'd like to have touchdowns, but we'll take the points."
 
QB Chase Artopoeus on changing the mindset from putting up a ton of points to just playing mistake-free football.
"We have an expectation as an offense to score a lot of points, and we just weren't really able to do that tonight. Thankfully our defense was there to alleviate some of that pressure on us. I think in the second half we played a lot better and just controlled the line of scrimmage much better."

NEXT GAME – Saturday, Oct. 21 – No. 20 Chattanooga (5-2, 4-1 SoCon) vs. ETSU (2-4, 1-2 SoCon) – 1 p.m. ET – Finley Stadium – BUY TICKETS

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