MACON, Ga. — Myles Redding returned an interception 25 yards for a first-quarter touchdown, and Whitt Newbauer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter for the hosts at Five-Star Stadium as seventh-seeded Mercer beat 10th-seeded Rhode Island 17—10 on Saturday in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The Bears (11-2) advance to the FCS semifinals for the first time and will travel next weekend to face No. 2 North Dakota State (11-2), a 51-31 winner Saturday against No. 15 Abilene Christian (9-5). The Bison, who are in the playoffs for the 15th year in a row, have won nine FCS titles.
Mercer returned to competition in the 2013 season after seven decades of dormancy for the program, and the Bears reached the FCS playoffs for the first time last year, doing so as an at-large selection and winning their opener before falling in the second round, 41-0 at South Dakota State, which went on to repeat as national champion. The Bears returned to the postseason this year with an automatic bid after winning the Southern Conference championship outright and received a bye as one of the top eight seeds in the 24-team bracket.
Saturday against Rhode Island (11-3), Redding swooped in front of Hunter Helms’ intended receiver for his seventh interception of the season with 3:33 left in the first quarter, tying him with teammate T.J. Moore for the most in the nation. Rhode Island got a 17-yard field goal from Ty Groff as time expired in the first half, then took the lead late in the third quarter when Helms connected with Marquis Buchanan on a 56-yard touchdown that made it 10-7.
Mercer senior Dwayne McGee set up two fourth-quarter scores for the Bears, slashing through the right side for a 33-yard gain to give them first-and-goal at the Rhode Island 10. On third-and-goal from the 4, Newbauer found Adjatay Dabbs for the go-ahead touchdown. After the Bears twice forced the Rams to punt in their own half of the field, McGee ran 40 yards on first down to give Mercer a first down at the Rhode Island 25, setting up a 24-yard Reice Griffith field goal for the game’s final score.