It was an up-and-down day for FCS college football teams from the Old North State.
On the positive front, Gardner-Webb upset a top-15 foe on homecoming, and Davidson rushed to its sixth-consecutive triumph. But the down side: Western Carolina’s playoff chances took a serious hit, while NC A&T lost to a former MEAC rival and Campbell fell to one of the CAA’s elite.
Here are final scores and highlights from week nine action in the FCS:
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Scoreboard:
| Gardner-Webb 38, UT Martin 34 | FINAL |
| Hampton 26, NC A&T 24 | FINAL |
| Mercer 45, Western Carolina 38 | FINAL |
| Richmond 44, Campbell 13 | FINAL |
| Davidson 45, Presbyterian 28 | FINAL |
| NC Central 62, South Carolina State 28 | FINAL (Thursday) |
| Elon bye |
Homecoming heroics for Gardner-Webb
Quarterback Jaylen King scored on a 10-yard run with 13 seconds left to give Gardner-Webb a 38-34 homecoming win over UT Martin. The Bulldogs earned their second straight victory on the season and their fourth in a row in a homecoming game.
Gardner-Webb improved to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in Big South/OVC action. It was the school’s first win over a ranked foe since 2021. UT Martin came into the contest as a top-15 FCS team.
Ty Anderson had a 36-yard scoop-and-score touchdown for GWU. Jayden Brown caught a 71-yard TD pass from King in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs converted all five of thier fourth-down tries on the day.
Ty French had three tackles for loss. He had one sack, putting within a half-sack of the school’s all-time record for career sacks. Narii Gaither’s 59 rushing yards put him in a tie with Tyrell Maxwell (2014-17) for the school’s Division I record for career rushing yards (2,944).
—> READ MORE ON THE GAME FROM GWUSports.com
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Win streak’s a rush for Davidson
Davidson used its customary potent rushing attack to defeat Presbyterian 45-28 on Saturday night. The Wildcats split 296 rushing yards among eight backs, with Mari Adams scoring twice and Mason Sheron adding one TD to go with his team-leading 139 yards on the ground.
Davidson pulled away in the second quarter, turning a 14-10 edge into a more comfortable 31-13 lead. Sheron had a 43-yard TD run in that stretch. Coulter Cleland completed a 12-yard touchdown throw to Brody Reina, and Adam Zouagui hit a 50-yard field goal.
The Wildcats won their sixth straight game, the second-longest win streak in the state. The ‘Cats improved to 5-0 in Pioneer Football League action, holding on to bragging rights in the Carolina Border Clash/Battle for the 1919 Cup. Davidson has now won 17 of its last 18 home games dating back to 2021.
Coach Scott Abell’s team is averaging better than 50 yards per game during their current win streak.
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Six turnovers doom Western Carolina
A season that showed so much promise and put the Catamounts in the FCS top 10 has come crashing back down to earth. Western Carolina fell behind early and couldn’t catch all the way back up in a 45-38 defeat to Mercer.
WCU had six turnovers on the day, three fumbles and three interceptions. Mercer turned two turnovers directly into points, a pick six and a 24-yard fumble return.
Quarterback Cole Gonzales threw five touchdown passes in the losing effort and had 388 passing yards.
Western Carolina battled to the end, getting a Richard McCollum field goal with seven seconds left to pull within 45-38. But Mercer covered the onsides kick, and WCU (5-3) suffered its second-straight home loss in conference play.
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Positive strides for Aggies despite loss
At long last, NC A&T showed life in the passing game, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat Hampton. The Aggies fell 26-24 on the road.
A&T (1-7) got a 46-yard touchdown pass from Kevin White to Taymon Cooke in the game’s opening minutes – the first TD throw of the season for the Aggies. White connected with Kenji Christian on a 75-yard scoring play in the third quarter.
That play pulled the Aggies to within 19-14, but Hampton returned to kickoff for a touchdown to make it a 26-14 game. NC A&T’s last points came from an Owen Daffer field goal and an interception return for a touchdown by David Laney.
“There were a lot of really positive things that happened today that had not been on display in the other games,” A&T head coach Vincent Brown in a story posted on NC A&T’s sports Web site. “Offense created some explosive plays today and gave us a chance to win it. But unfortunately, we had too many errors there that didn’t allow us to win the game.”
—> Read more on the game from NCATAggies.com
