CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Braden Atkinson threw three touchdown passes, CJ Miller ran for three scores, and Mercer defeated Western Carolina 49-47 on Saturday in a shootout to win the Southern Conference title.

Mercer clinched the SoCon's automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.

Reice Griffith's 37-yard field goal gave the Bears their 49-47 lead with 1:30 remaining before Taron Dickens drove the Catamounts to the 15-yard line with 3 seconds left. Marcus Trout then missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt on the final play.

Dickens threw seven touchdown passes, including three in the fourth quarter when the Catamounts twice rallied from a 12-point deficit. They took a 47-46 lead on his final TD pass, a 42-yarder to James Tyre, but they failed on a 2-point attempt that would have given them a three-point

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