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Army Black Knights dominate Mercer Bears, 49-3

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The Black Knights of Army returned from a successful trip to San Antonio to host the Mercer Bears, an FCS level team from the Southern Conference who were playing their second game of a three-game 2020 season.

Christian Anderson and Jemel Jones remained sidelined by injuries; so for the second game in a row, Cade Ballard and Tyhier Tyler shared the duty at quarterback.

The Bears came primed to play and played nearly matched Army’s statistics on offense and defense for the first two quarters, but 3 interceptions and a blocked punt gave Army a defensive touchdown and 3 short field possessions that led to 28 points for the Black Knights.

Here’s how the game unfolded:

First Quarter - Mercer scored first on a FG, but a 53 yard TD pass from Ballard to Robinson gave Army a 7-3 lead.

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McCoy and Ballard in action
McCoy and Ballard in action (Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports)

On their initial possession, the Bears converted 4 first downs to reach the Army 15 yard line, but the Black Knight defense held them to a negative 7 yards on the next three plays, and Mercer had to settle for a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.

Army started their first possession on their own 25, and Cade Ballard came out to start the game at QB. The Black Knights picked up a quick first down on two running plays by fullback Sandon McCoy and Ballard, but on the next series, it took Army 4 downs to pick up their second first down at the 47, two-yard conversion by back-up fullback Jakobi Buchanan. On the next play, Ballard dropped back and threw a strike to slotback Tyrell Robinson who scampered into the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown to give Army the lead at 7-3. It was Robinson’s first career touchdown pass.

Mercer was called for holding on the next kick return to start their second possession on the 22. The Black Knights held Mercer to a one-yard gain on first down, and Cam Jones picked off a Frost pass on second down to give Army the ball on the Mercer 39. Tyhier Tyler came in at QB to run the second possession offense. Mercer held Army to 9 yards on the first three plays, and Buchanan was called on to convert his 2d fourth-down attempt of the game. Ballard came back in and was dropped for a two-yard loss to the Mercer 13 as time ran out in the first quarter.


Second Quarter - McCoy scored twice to extend Army’s lead to 21-3 at the half. 

Cameron Jones (27) celebrates his interception with defensive back Cedrick Cunningham Jr. (22) and defensive lineman Nolan Cockrill (95) during the first half
Cameron Jones (27) celebrates his interception with defensive back Cedrick Cunningham Jr. (22) and defensive lineman Nolan Cockrill (95) during the first half (Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports)

Cade Barnard carried for a big 7 yard gain on the first play of the quarter to give Army a third and 4, but Tyler was stopped a yard short on his third-down attempt; so Monken sent in Buchanan to make his 3d fourth-down conversion of the game. Sandon McCoy plunged in from a yard out on the next play to extend Army’s lead to 14-3.

Mercer let the kickoff run through the end zone to start their third possession on the 25. Mercer QB, Harrison Frost, scrambled for a first down on third and 2, and followed up with two pass completions for another first down at the 47. Frost ran the ball for 5 yards to the Army 48, but then two incomplete passes brought up a 4th and 5 and Mercer opted to punt it away.

The punt bounced into the end zone for a touchback, and Army started its third possession of the game on their own 20. A Mercer defender swatted the ball out of Ballard’s hands-on first down, and Ballard pounced on it for a 1-yard loss. Tyler came in and ran for 3 to bring up a third and 8, and Ballard came back in to attempt a pass but was sacked to force a 46-yard punt by Zach Harding to the Mercer 34.

Mercer picked up a 1 first down to midfield, but the defense held Mercer to 2 yards on the next three plays, and Reikan Donaldson broke through to block Mercer’s punt to give Army another short field possession on the Mercer 38.

McCoy was held to a short two-yard gain on first down and then was called for holding to negate a 10 yard run by AJ Howard to bring up a long second down and 17 on the 46; but Reikan Donaldson ran a reverse for a big 29 yard gain to the Mercer 16 and the Army fullbacks took over from there to score in 4 more plays. McCoy capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge for Army’s third touchdown with a minute left in the first half.

Army special teams stopped the Mercer kick return at the 17. Frost went to the air to reach the 45, but linebacker Arik Smith sacked Frost for a 6-yard loss to bring up a third and 11 at the 39. Frost completed his next pass for a big twenty-yard first down at the Army 41, but on the next play, middle linebacker Jon Rhattigan intercepted and returned the ball to the Mercer 21 with seconds left on the clock. Landon Salyers came in to attempt a 49-yard field goal that went wide left as time ran out in the half.

First Half Stats: 

• Rushing Offense: Army 109 yards to Mercer’s 53

• Passing Offense: Army 1 completion in 1 attempt for 53 yards and a TD: Mercer 13 completions in 19 attempts for 99 yards and no TDs with 2 INTs.

• Turnovers: Army 2 Interceptions plus a blocked punt

• Third Down Conversions: Army 1 of 5, Mercer 6 of 9

• Fourth-Down Conversions Army 3 of 3

Scoring Summary
Qtr Time Summary Mercer Army

1st

08:08

MER - Caleb Dowden 36 yd field goal 15 plays, 56 yards, TOP 6:52

3

0

1st

04:34

ARMY - Robinson, T. 53 yd pass from Ballard, Cade (Salyers, Landon kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:34

3

7

2nd

13:12

ARMY - McCoy, Sandon 1 yd run (Salyers, Landon kick), 11 plays, 39 yards, TOP 5:36

3

14

2nd

01:05

ARMY - McCoy, Sandon 1 yd run (Salyers, Landon kick), 8 plays, 38 yards, TOP 3:55

3

21

3rd

10:39

ARMY - Barnard, Cade 3 yd run (Salyers, Landon kick), 8 plays, 40 yards, TOP 4:13

3

28

3rd

05:13

ARMY - McCoy, Sandon 1 yd run (Salyers, Landon kick), 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:57

3

35

3rd

04:39

ARMY - Moore, Jabari 29 yd interception (Maretzki, Quinn kick)

3

42

4th

01:00

ARMY - Blackman, J. 6 yd run (Maretzki, Quinn kick), 17 plays, 91 yards, TOP 10:03

3

49

Final

3

49

Third Quarter - Army fullbacks scored two more TDs and Morrison added 7 on a pick 6 to increase Army’s lead to 42-3

Robinson returned the second half kick to the 45 and a face mask penalty tacked on another 15 yards to the Mercer 40 for another short field possession. Tyler started the half at QB and picked up a quick first down on a 15 yard run to the Mercer 23. Army gained 9+ yards on the next three plays to bring up another 4th down and short, and Buchanan came in to get his fourth conversion on a 4 yard gain to the 12. Three plays later, Cade Barnard scored from 3 yards out to increase the lead to 28-3.

The ensuing kickoff bounced through the end zone, and Mercer started their first possession of the half on the 25. Frost threw incomplete on first down and Devazin rushed for 3 yards to bring up a third and 7. Malkelm Morrison sniffed out the next play and dropped a Mercer receiver for a 5-yard loss to force a punt to the Army 41 yard line.

Ballard came out to run the offense again, and Army picked up a first down at the Mercer 47 on three running plays. Tyler came back in at QB and fumbled momentarily but scooped it up and ran 11 yards for another first down at the Mercer 36. Tyler overthrew his target on first down but then ran outside for 30 yards to the 6 and followed it up with a 5 yard gain to the 1-yard line. Buchanan was held to no gain, but McCoy came in to score his third touchdown of the game, and Army had a 35-3 lead with 5:13 left in the quarter.

Mercer was called for an illegal block on the next kickoff; so Army kicked it again from the 50 and stopped the return on the 22. Mercer picked up 2 on first down, but defensive back Jabari Moore intercepted on second down and ran the ball in for an easy defensive touchdown to increase Army’s lead to 42-3, putting the game out of reach for the Bears.

Mercer brought in a freshman QB to run their offense on the next possession, and Army sent in a crew if reserves on defense to get some game experience. Mercer drove the ball 62 yards in 9 plays to reach the Army 13, but The defense held there and Mercer missed their field goal attempt to keep the score at 42-3

Monken sent in his reserves led by freshman Christian Parrish at QB and Mercer held the offense to a negative 11 yards on three plays before time ran out in the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter - Army’s reserves drove 91 yards for the final score.

Maurice Bellan came in as the 4th Army QB in the game and completed a 10 yard pass to Cole Caterbone for a third down conversion. It was a career first completion by Bellan and a career first reception for Caterbone. Bellan and Parrish took turns at QB as the reserves drove the ball 91 yards in 17 plays while taking 10 minutes off the game clock. Fifth string fullback Tyson Riley carried the ball 9 times for 45 yards on the possession, and senior slotback Jordan Blackman scored his first career touchdown from 6 yards out to cap the drive.

Mercer took the field with a minute left in the game and ran three meaningless plays before time ran out in the game.

Quick Team Statistics

• Total Offense: Army 360 yards to Mercer’s 221

• Rushing Offense: Army 297 yards to Mercer’s 113

• Passing Offense: Army 2 completions in 3 attempts for 63 yards and 1 TD; Mercer 16 completions in 24 attempts for 108 yards and no TDs with 3 INTs

• Penalties: Army 4 penalties for 29 yards; Mercer 3 penalties for 40 yards

• Turnovers: Army 3; Mercer 0

• Time of Possession: Army 35:10; Mercer 24:20

GBK will provide individual statistics and further analysis in our Monday Morning QB article.

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