BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- Despite trailing 14-6 at the half, the Bridgewater College football team outscored Shenandoah 17-3 in the second half to earn a 23-17 victory at the Jopson Athletic Complex on Saturday.
Both teams entered the contest with matching 4-0 records and sporting 1-0 marks in ODAC play. The Eagles move to 5-0 on the year and 2-0 in the ODAC to remain tied for first with nationally-ranked and undefeated Randolph-Macon. Meanwhile, the Hornets suffer their first loss of the season and now sit at 4-1 (1-1 ODAC).
Each team went three-and-out to start the game before SU put together a 14-play, 74 yard drive capped off by a touchdown run by a three-yard touchdown run by Rashadeen Byrd Jr. The PAT was true and the Hornets went up 7-0 with 6:21 to go in the first quarter.
The Shenandoah defense shut down the Eagles again to force a punt near the end of the quarter. The Hornets came out and scored from 31 yards out on a pass from Steven Hugney to Jaden Roberts for a touchdown on the very first play of the second quarter as the visitors took a 14-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, the always-dangerous Brendan Robinson found a hole and nearly took back his second kick return for a touchdown of the season, but the last man back was able to trip him up after a 64-yard return. Jaylen Wood entered the game at quarterback for the first BC drive of the second quarter and the team came out passing as Wood found Freddie Watkins and Cedric Drumgoole for first downs to get the ball deep into SU territory. Jackson Hendren drilled a 27-yarder to put BC on the board, 14-3 with 11 minutes to go in the half.
Neither side could get anything going over the next several drives and the Eagles were able to take advantage of a very short punt from the Hornets as the wind held the punt inside the SU 40 yard line. Five plays later, Hendren hit his second field goal of the half, this time from 47 yards out with the wind at his back. That set the score at 14-6, which held until the break.
Shenandoah came out to kickoff to open the second half with a sky-high kick in trying to avoid a deep kick after a pair of very long BC returns earlier in the game. The kick was eventually recovered by the kicking team near midfield. The Hornets worked their way into Eagles' territory and chose to go for it on a 4th and 8 play. Aaron Nice entered the backfield untouched and hit the blindside of the SU quarterback to forced a fumble that was picked up by Zedric Hayes, but an inadvertent whistle stopped what would have been a 20+ yard return. Regardless, the Eagles marched down the field and got three more points off the foot of Hendren to cut the lead down to 14-9.
Three drives later, Shenandoah once again put together a lengthy 12-play drive to add three more points and go up 17-9. The Hornets attempted another high kickoff but this time it was fair caught by BC. The SU defense was able to force the first lost fumble by the Eagles on the season as Wood was sacked by ODAC tackle leader Ben Burgan to give the Hornets possession. Although, just two plays later, Shawn Harris jumped a route to the right-side of the field and picked off Hugney and ran 28 yards before getting taken down at the SU 2 yard line. Albert Mensah punched it in on the next play, but the two-point conversion attempt was no good, 17-15.
Hendren's kickoff sailed inside the 20 yard line and Gary Garlic mishandled the ball as he muffed the kick, which was recovered by Aaron Moore to give the Eagles possession in the redzone. Two key runs from Ronald Robinson Jr gave BC a first down on the 10-yard line as Wood found Dylan Maclachlan three plays later for a touchdown, 21-17. Wood once again used his mobility to scramble around the backfield before finding Tyler Gilliam in the back of the end zone for a successful two-point try, 23-17.
The Hornets went 3-and-out on the following drive, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave them the ball back on the wrong side of the 50-yard line as the defense had to stand tall once again to force a turnover on downs. The Eagles took over with under four minute remaining and forced a punt from Garrett Graves that pinned them inside their own 20. SU ran 13 plays on its last drive of the game and got into BC territory, but once again turned the ball over on downs after a 4th down screen play attempt that was foiled by a Moore TFL.
Despite allowing over 350 yards of total offense, the Eagles' defense stalled the Hornets' offense in the second half and created several turnovers. Harris led all players with 16 total tackles (10 solo) to go with 4.0 TFLs, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception. His 4.0 TFL is tied for second most in a single game in BC history trailing only Da'Sean Davis who finished with 4.5 TFL just last season. Not to be outdone, Moore also recorded 10 solo tackles and had 14 total stops. He had one fumble recovery, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a QB hurry. Nice continues to showcase his talents in his freshman campaign with six tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.0 sack and a forced fumble. Amari Presley registered five stops in the win, while Noah Hines had three tackles, two pass break ups and two hurries.
Offensively, the Eagles were held to just 158 yards of offense but were able to take advantage of great starting field position. Drumgoole and Robinson combined for over 100 yards in kick returns on just two attempts with a 64-yard return from Robinson and a 42-yard scamper from Drumgoole.
The Eagles move to 5-0 for the first time since the 2019 season and will return to action in one week on Oct. 15, as they travel to take on nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon. Kickoff is set for 1 pm.
Eagles' Late Comeback Downs Shenandoah in Thriller
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20221008_969b.xml
2022
Shenandoah
17
Bridgewater
23
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shenandoah (4-1) | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Bridgewater (5-0) | 0 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 23 |
Oct 08, 2022