By Keith McMillan
D3sports.com
I have a small confession to make.
I was happy that after last week, I had no obligation to write another column until the week of the Stagg Bowl. After all, these are time-consuming efforts, not easy to put together after a day at the full-time job. Better to use that time to take care of business at home and relax.
I admit that I found it a bit silly that I covered the entire Mid-Atlantic's 11-week rush toward the postseason, only to ignore the teams that actually made it. And I was fully prepared to do just that, even though there were five participants from the region. But there are just too many good stories at this time of year to glaze over, and one particularly sparked this "bonus" column.
Ever heard of the Bridgewater Eagles?
If you hadn't before the season, or halfway through, chances are you have now.
In 1995, Michael Clark took over the Eagles, a team that broke a 22-game losing streak that year with a 7-7 season-ending tie with Davidson. He seemed to have Bridgewater on track in 1996, when they went 5-5, but they regressed in 1997, going 2-8, and bottomed out in 1998, going 0-10.
Many of Clark's juniors recall starting as freshmen and enduring a winless campaign.
"Back then," says junior Davon Cruz, the Eagles star tailback, "we thought it was great just to be starting. We didn't know it then, but we couldn't handle [the responsibility]."
"Coming from high school and playing in college is a major difference," agrees junior Henry Eggleston, a rover and one of the Eagles' defensive standouts.
Many of Clark's Eagles are now juniors and seniors with multiple season of game experience. The 21-year coaching veteran has no doubt that the 0-10 year helped Bridgewater to the first postseason appearance in school history.
Clark points to an early-season game against traditional Old Dominion Athletic Conference power Emory & Henry in 1998 as the beginning of the slide. He recalls trailing 14-13 and lining up an all-American kicker (Michael Padgett) for the winning field goal. The Wasps blocked the kick and preserved a win, going on to finish 10-0 that year.
The Eagles never got over the defeat.
"That game stole some of our kids' hearts," Clark recalls. His Eagles never stopped playing hard during the remainder of the year, but Clark says in tough games, "we always found a way to screw it up."
"Our freshman year," says Eggleston, "a lot of times we were just one or two plays away from winning. Little things cost us a lot of games that year. Now it's to the point where every little thing counts. We're concentrating on the little details, and the coaches are focusing on that too."
The players have heeded the message.
"We've come a long way," says senior wide receiver Marcus Richardson, whose first season was 1998. "When we went 0-10, a lot of people said we were the best 0-10 team they'd seen."
"Over time," he added, "we learned that the little things make all the difference."
"I don't deny [that] what happened in 1998," said Clark, "for my juniors and seniors, in a perverse sort of way, has helped."
Cruz says the biggest changes are in attitude and maturity.
"We've just grown up a lot since that year," says Cruz, who has rushed for 1,450 yards this season and averages 6.9 yards per carry. "In 1998, we tried to win, we tried our hearts out. In 1999 (when the Eagles went 5-5), we tried, and sometimes it worked out for us and sometimes it didn't."
"As we matured into this season," Cruz continued, "we didn't [say 'we] play hard,' or 'we hope we win' or 'we tried.' We expect to win, and I think that carried into this week."
It had to, considering the Eagles trailed by 25 early on and never gave in.
"That's the sign of a mature team," said Clark. "Down 28-3, we found a way to recoup and recover."
Clark and several players recall a 1999 rally being mentioned at halftime. The Eagles scored 29 fourth-quarter points to beat Johns Hopkins 37-24 last season. Bridgewater says it drew on that experience Saturday.
The-never-say-die attitude helped produce 36 second-half points en route to a 59-42 win over bigger, stronger Washington & Jefferson, the only real shocker of the playoffs' first round.
But the win didn't come as a shock to the Eagles.
"We feel we are a surprise to a lot of people," said Eggleston, who recalls being picked by coaches in the preseason to finish third in the ODAC despite returning 16 starters. Eggleston says even people who weren't surprised at the Eagles success this season didn't give them much chance going into Saturday.
"We know what we have," said Eggleston.
The Eagles biggest advantage is team speed, and they have it everywhere. It's at the offensive skill positions, along the defensive line and in the secondary. And the Eagles exploit it to their advantage.
Clark said he told his team at the half that as long as the Eagles had their speed advantage, they had a chance. Bridgewater exploited their advantage to the tune of 536 yards of offense, including 274 in the second half, and seven interceptions. W&J quarterback Brian Dawson had thrown six the entire season.
"To us, speed is a very big issue," said Eggleston. "Our defensive line compared to most offensive lines is not very big, but speed kills."
Eggleston says the Eagles were the first team to put significant pressure on Dawson. Richardson says the Eagles were the fastest team the Presidents had faced all season, and playing on W&J's artificial surface only accentuated Bridgewater's speed.
Clark isn't sure his team will have such an advantage this week, when the Eagles travel to San Antonio to face Trinity, a postseason regular who advanced by beating Wesley 21-3. Clark says the two teams are similar.
"I mean this as a compliment," says Clark, "but they are the first team we've seen that reminds me of us. They've got good team speed and they run enough option to pressure you."
The fifth-seeded Eagles would normally host the seventh-seeded Tigers, but a paperwork oversight left Bridgewater ineligible to host a postseason football game. Clark says he and athletic director Thomas Kinder take full responsibility for the error.
"The paperwork came in around Oct. 1," Clark said. "We have a new AD, and I'm new at this. Playoff football games and Bridgewater are two things that don't go together. At the time, I'm worried about having a winning season. Yeah, looking back on it, I wish we had done it."
Several insiders speculated that Bridgewater would have hosted Wesley in first round had the paperwork been filed. Seven-seed Trinity would have traveled to two-seed Washington & Jefferson in that case.
The history of Bridgewater football has not been pretty. Entering this season, the Eagles has posted just 127 wins in 101 seasons of football, and had a .261 all-time winning percentage. A member of the ODAC since its inception in 1976, Bridgewater's best record against a conference opponent is 9-22 against Washington & Lee. The Eagles are 1-25-1 against Emory & Henry.
Clark says learning to put the past behind them has benefited the Eagles. Their 37-35 last-second loss this season left the Wasps as the hurdle Bridgewater can't seem to jump. Though finishing 9-1 to Emory & Henry's 8-2, the Wasps won the ODAC title by virtue of identical conference records and the win over Bridgewater.
"The kids were able to take that pain," says Clark, "which was tremendous, and let it go and move on."
Now, all the Eagles want to do is move on to the next round, and they aren't fazed by tradition.
"Personally," says Cruz, "I think tradition doesn't have anything to do with Saturday's games. The players on that field on Saturday were not the players that were there 10 years ago. That doesn't have anything to do with you. What has to do with you is today's game."
"If you want to think about tradition," Cruz adds, "we're creating one."
"Being able to let go of where we've come from has helped us," said Clark, who never made it to the postseason while coaching at Murray State with Frank Beamer, or at Virginia Tech, Cincinnati or VMI.
And to hear the Eagles talking about each other, the family atmosphere and a tight-knit team is awfully reminiscent of a couple of teams whose tradition the Eagles don't mind pursuing.
"We're still hungry," said Eggleston. "Pacific Lutheran and Mount Union, we want to experience the feelings that they had [winning the last four national championships]. We want the whole nation to know that this is a school that nobody has really ever heard of, but we're going all the way this year, and look for us again next year. That's the statement we're trying to make."
Around the region
Western Maryland's second consecutive first-round playoff win over the ODAC champion has gone largely unnoticed in the wake of Bridgewater's upset. The Green Terror made quick work of a solid Emory & Henry team. Though both teams have to beat squads from Texas, Western Maryland would like nothing more than a quarterfinal rematch with Bridgewater. If not for the Eagles' season-opening 19-7 win, Western Maryland would be riding a 40-game regular-season win streak. Don't think the Green Terror and their fans aren't sick of being passed over for a newcomer to the playoff scene, and a team it thinks it should have beaten. ... Eagle head coach Michael Clark says he's rooting for Western Maryland, but more to avoid another trip to Texas should his team win than to support a local rival. ... Saturday was a good day to be a sixth seed, as all four won. All three Pool C teams (Bridgewater, Ohio Northern and St. John's) won as well. All four third-seeded teams lost. ... A quick Western Maryland-Hardin-Simmons preview: The Green Terror fans claim its' sixth seed showed a lack of respect for the team's accomplishment, but Western Maryland can earn a world of respect by knocking off the 10-0 Cowboys. Hardin-Simmons made it to the quarterfinals (round of 8) last season, and averaged 31 points per game while allowing 10 this season. The American Southwest Conference champions will have to gear up to stop Green Terror quarterback Boo Harris, if he plays. Harris left last week's game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Regardless of his status, the focus in this game will be on the defenses. Simply put, the defense that plays best wins.
Just for fun
I'll take a stab at predicting winners in eight playoff games this Saturday, but beware. In recreational picks last week, I predicted only seven of 12 winners. Pat Coleman did me one better, going 8-4 with clean sweeps of the East and West. My picks for this week:
North region
Mt. Union and Wittenberg: It's hard to beat a team twice in one season, but not when you're Mount Union. What a shame for ONU. These guys could beat just about anybody, and they keep getting matched up with the Purple Raiders. Hanover has a good chance at beating Wittenberg, but I wouldn't bet on it. Casey Donaldson and the unbeaten Tigers are just too much.
East region
Brockport and Widener: OK, I'm weak on some of these teams, but these are two games I think are locks. I think the time off will have Brockport anxious to play, and Widener is just too strong on offense for Hobart. I think.
West region
Linfield and PLU: Hard to pick against Central and St. John's, playoff regulars, but if you saw the Stagg Bowl last year, you know why I respect the Northwest Conference. One will make it to the final four.
South region
Hardin-Simmons and Bridgewater: This is tough. Both Texas teams are strong, but I think Bridgewater can continue their run against a weaker-than-usual Trinity. Western Maryland is capable of winning, especially with that caliber of defense. But I think Hardin-Simmons is a tough matchup for any team, anywhere. From what I hear, these guys are strong all-around. Texas is fertile ground for football players. Can two of our region's finest survive the weekend there? Let's hope so.
