By Keith McMillan
D3sports.com
With due apologies to chart-topping rap artists Cash Money Millionaires, Bridgewater College proved to be the Division III opening weekend’s “number one stunner.”
In fact, following Saturday’s 19-7 win over Western Maryland, a preseason Top 10, the Eagles might do well to make the current hit their theme song. Just a year removed from going 0-10, Bridgewater may have established itself as a contender for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title and the playoff bid that goes with it.
“It was a big win for our program,” acknowledged sixth-year head coach Michael Clark.
What made it bigger was the fact that the Eagles did it without their starting quarterback and sat on a 6-0 halftime lead while enduring a two-hour lightning delay. Last fall, lightning delayed Bridgewater's game at Johns Hopkins in the third quarter, after which they rallied to win.
Clark said incumbent starter Jason Lutz, a junior, missed the game due to an off-the-field incident. Sophomore backup Robbie Jenkins stepped in and was 19 of 29 for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
“For our backup quarterback to go up there and play as well as he did,” said Clark, “I just thought that made a good statement about what kind of team we are. At the end of the year, we’ll see how much it means, but there’s no question it was a big win for us.”
Clark knows it won’t be easy for his team to stay focused following the big-game atmosphere synonymous with both opening day and trips to Westminster, Md.
The scene will be flipped 180 degrees when the Eagles make the short trip up I-81 for a 7 p.m. kickoff against Shenandoah at Sherando High School. The Hornets lost their opener, the school’s first football game since 1967, to Bethany (W.Va.) 49-7.
“I think what we try to do,” says Clark, “is this week has nothing to do with what Shenandoah is bringing to the table, so to speak. This week is for Bridgewater to improve. We beat Western Maryland, who is a good team, but we made enough mistakes where we still have a lot to work on.”
Clark said going into a week as the favorite is a new role for the Eagles.
“We’ve got to keep the focus in-house,” he said.
It’s a task certainly made more difficult when a team short on positive history and starving for respect knocks off a team like the Green Terror, who came into Saturday riding a 30-game regular-season winning streak.
The three-time Centennial Conference champions are without some of its brightest stars from the past three seasons in 2000, but Clark says that doesn’t take the luster off the victory.
“It’s irrelevant,” says Clark. “A win’s a win. But I will say this: Western Maryland lost a great quarterback in [three-time conference player-of-the-year Ron] Sermarini and a great middle linebacker (Tom Selecky). But they didn’t win 30 consecutive games with two people.”
“I told the kids after the game,” Clark added, “you’ve got to understand most of those kids in that other locker room have never lost a regular-season game. They have the mental aspect of the game down.”
The Eagles’ defense held Western Maryland, who averaged 435 yards and 35 points per game last year, to just 198 yards of total offense and 55 passing. Defensive tackle Ryan Bailey was the catalyst, tallying three sacks, two tackles for loss and a pass deflection. He was named ODAC defensive player-of-the-week for his efforts.
Clark also says Lutz, who was pushed, hit his head and received 14 stitches over his eye in the week before the opener, will get the start against Shenandoah.
“I have a great problem,” says Clark. “Two very capable quarterbacks. A lot of coaches at a lot of levels fantasize about having this problem.”
Clark says Lutz and Jenkins, who are roommates, will handle the quarterback situation without controversy.
“I think it’s a problem both of them are mature enough to handle, and one we [the coaches] will let make this team better.”
The Eagles are wary of making too much of just one win. Perennial ODAC power Emory & Henry lies just beyond Shenandoah on the schedule, and they’ll have to fare well in their two November games, at Randolph-Macon and Catholic, if they are thinking playoffs.
“No doubt it was a big win on Saturday for this program,” says Clark. “The magnitude of it we’ll measure at the end of the season [in terms of] what did it help us do. But I’ll tell you this: It made for a nice Sunday.”
Notes
The Green Terror was not the only among the mighty to fall Saturday. Catholic’s 37-3 loss was its worst in the regular season since a 34-0 loss to Washington & Lee in the 1993 finale. The three points scored was also its lowest since a 12-2 loss to Salisbury State in 1995. The Cardinals might miss the play-calling of offensive coordinator Marty Favret, now the head man at Hampden-Sydney, but Favret's Tigers didn’t fare much better, scoring just 11 points in its debut at Sewanee... Proof that old habits never die: Susquehanna sophomore quarterback Mike Bowman connected five times with receiver Mark Bartosic, for 118 yards and two TDs in a 26-19 win over FDU-Madison. The significance? Bartosic, who transferred in this season from I-AA Bucknell, was Bowman’s favorite target at Shikellamy High School... Muhlenberg’s Josh Carter became the Mules’ all-time leader in all-purpose yardage with 3,304 after gaining 297 in a 34-10 win over Kings Point. He also tied a school record with three touchdown receptions... A strange thing happened during Randolph-Macon’s 24-21 victory over Gettysburg: The Yellow Jackets ran the ball, to the tune of 183 yards. The quarterback-tailback duo of Hunter Price and Clint Sullivan could have teams worrying about the R-MC running game for the first time since they averaged nearly 200 yards per game on the ground in 1996, before spread offense guru Scott Boone took over as head coach... When the Yellow Jackets did throw the ball Saturday, Price was finding receiver Michael Becker, who became the ODAC’s career receptions leader, passing Guilford’s Junior Lord. Becker caught 14 passes for 185 yards and a TD and now stands at 207 yards for his career. Becker is also just 254 yards shy of Lord’s career receiving yardage mark of 3,089... Bridgewater’s Marcus Richardson set a school mark and tied another with 11 receptions (tied with C.J. Witt in 1975) and 183 yards receiving... The debuts of two Virginia schools, Shenandoah and Averett, didn’t go so well. The pair was outscored 96-7 in their openers.
Week Two games to watch
Juniata at Lycoming: The opener for both squads is a matchup of the up-and-coming Eagles of the Commonwealth and the powerhouse Warriors of the Freedom. The contest figures to be a measuring stick for both: just how far Juniata has come and just how much Lycoming will miss nine offensive starters.
Western Maryland at Randolph-Macon: Coaches say the greatest improvement comes between at team’s first and second games. That should be evident in the play of first-year quarterbacks Boo Harris (Western Maryland) and Hunter Price. Both teams are known for their high-octane offenses, but this one may not be a shootout.
Emory & Henry at Ferrum: Southwest Virginia football at its finest. The regional rivals, expected to be among the best in their respective conferences, will battle for bragging rights. The Panthers are coming off a 47-0 win. It is the Wasps' opener.
Wesley at Rowan: The Wolverines are bold to open their season with a trip to Glassboro. But Wesley can hang with the east coast’s main powerhouse, though they fell 29-6 last season. A win would set the stage for a Wolverine romp through the ACFC.
