MACON, Ga. - The Citadel raced to an 18-point halftime lead and held on for a 28-26 victory over Mercer to get the Bulldogs into the win column in Southern Conference play.

The Bears outscored the Bulldogs 16-0 in the second half and pulled within two on a two-yard touchdown run by Alex Lakes with 3:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. Mercer used a gadget play on the two-point conversion try, with wide receiver Chandler Curtis taking a pitch and throwing back to Russ, but Citadel cornerback DeVonta Delaney broke it up in the end zone.

Mercer (5-5, 1-5 SoCon) elected to kick deep with all three timeouts remaining, but three first down runs by The Citadel (3-6, 1-3) including a 22-yard carry by Aaron Miller on third and four finally sealed the win.

The game was the first between the teams in 83 years. Mercer dropped its football program after the 1941 season and returned to the gridiron in the Pioneer League last year before joining the SoCon in July.

The Bulldogs ran the ball on 67 of their 70 plays from scrimmage (including one sack of Miller) and rushed for 493 of their 507 total yards. Cam Jackson led the way with a season-high 142 yards on only eight carries, and his 64-yard jaunt on The Citadel's first offensive snap represented the longest play of any kind for the Bulldogs this season.

Vinny Miller added a career-high 99 yards on nine rushes, and Aaron Miller added 18 totes for 83 yards with both scoring a touchdown. B-backs Tyler Renew (12-65) and Isaiha Smith (14-53) combined for another 118 yards with Smith scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Russ led the Bears with 178 passing and 96 on the ground and accounted for a touchdown both ways. The Citadel held Lakes to 58 yards on 22 carries after he entered the game leading the SoCon with an average of 102.6 yards per outing.

The Citadel scored the first three times it had the ball to take a 21-10 lead early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs capitalized on Jackson's long run when Smith went in from the one with just 1:56 expired in the first quarter. A 48-yard field goal by Mercer's Jagger Lieb cut it to 7-3 before The Citadel went back on the march.

Jackson ran for 23 yards and Vinny Miller had two long runs, the second for 19 yards and a touchdown to make it 14-3 with still 7:29 left in the first quarter. The Bears answered on a four-yard run by Russ, but a 14-yard run by Vinny Miller set up a two-yard scamper by Aaron Miller that made it 21-10 with 10:55 to go before the half.

After an exchange of punts, The Citadel defense came up big at midfield when Carl Robinson and Dondray Copeland combined to stop Lakes on a fourth down run with 1:12 left on the clock. The Bulldogs needed only 29 seconds to drive 53 yards, with Smith going in from 21 yards out to make it 28-10 at intermission.

The Bulldogs rushed for 275 yards over the opening 30 minutes with Jackson gaining 101 on three carries. His final total eclipsed his previous season best of 116 yards against Charlotte.

Although the Bulldogs continued to move the ball on the ground in the second half, they were not able to finalize drives, allowing Mercer to get back in the game. The Bears reached Citadel territory on their first drive of the half, but Delaney made his first big defensive play when he picked off a pass at the one.

The interception was the second of the season for Delaney, who also grabbed one last week at Western Carolina.

The ensuing punt set Mercer up in good field position, and Lieb booted a 31-yard field goal to make it 28-13 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs then reached the Bears' 35 before turning the ball over on downs, and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Avery Ward on the next play made it 28-20 in the final seconds of the third quarter.
 
A 42-yard field goal attempt by Eric Goins came up short, and a Tyler Renew fumble at the Mercer 39 left the door open for the Bears. Two penalties on The Citadel defense kept Mercer's drive alive and resulted in the Lakes' touchdown that proved to be the final points of the day.

Nick Willis led the Bulldogs with nine tackles followed by Tevin Floyd and Malik Diggs with eight. Mitchell Jeter and Justin Oxendine had sacks, giving both of them 10 in their career.

The Citadel returns to Johnson Hagood Stadium for the next two weeks beginning with its Homecoming game against Furman next Saturday at 2 p.m.