GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a soggy Saturday afternoon affair, both in the forecast and in play at Appenzeller Field in the Armfield Athletic Center, the Bridgewater College Eagles (1-4, 1-1 ODAC) completed a second half comeback to surpass the Guilford College football team (1-4, 0-2 ODAC), 19-14 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.
The Quakers defense was strong, racking up six sacks, including a scoop-and-score on one of them, and held the Eagles to under 300 total yards, at 283 overall, but the offense struggled to gain traction, picking up just 173 yards in the contest. This led to a 22 to 10 advantage on first downs. GC did yield 104 net rushing yards to the ODAC's worst rushing offense while also permitting 179 yards through the air. The hosts, meanwhile, were held to double-digits on the ground for the third-straight game, netting 60 yards while only accruing 113 in the passing game. Penalties were also a major storyline, as one of the least-penalized teams in the nation got hit with 10 flags accounting for 98 yards, including multiple in crucial situations, against five penalties for 50 yards on the Eagles.
Tristan Gabrels (Buford, Ga.) completed just 4-of-16 pass attempts, albeit for 75 yards and a touchdown and also finished as the team's leading rusher, scrambling seven times for 58 yards. Without the threat of his arm, Guilford made a swap under-center and turned to
Nick Danciu (Simpsonville, S.C.) and he did not fare much better, connecting on 6-of-15, taking a tandem of sacks, and throwing an interception on the Quakers last gasp heave. While only bringing in three catches,
Alex Wilson (Four Oaks, N.C.) reset his career-high for receiving yards with 78 to lead all players.
Drew Winkler (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) had GC's lone offensive score on his one reception.
Malik Woodard (Wilson, N.C.) was also notable, finishing second on the team in rushing with 28 yards on just two totes.
Parker Burke quarterbacked all-but-one drive for Bridgewater, completing 13-of-24 for 107 yards and a touchdown. A lot of the action went to his running backs, Wyatt Jervis and Tommy Nelson, who each approached 100 total yards. Jervis was the better rusher, taking 18 carries for a game-high 59 yards to go with four catches for 40 yards and score, while Nelson was the more-frequent pass-catcher, taking five grabs for an Eagles best 62 yards alongside 10 carries for 34 yards.
Defensively,
Garrett Wilson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) racked up a Guilford season-high 17 total tackles including 1.0 TFL.
Owen Whelan (Asheboro, N.C.) added 13 stops while
Simeon Reid (Morganton, N.C.) continued his great play with four hurries and one PBU on top of 1.5 sacks, 2.0 TFLs and seven solo tackles.
AJ Norfus Jr. (Greenville, S.C.) had 1.5 sacks including a strip-sack that
Joshua Ricks (Rocky Mount, N.C.) recovered and took for a score. Oscar Whitely led BC's defense with 11 tackles, Joey Strong had 1.0 sack and 1.5 TFLs among his six stops, and Kyle Galloway had the game-sealing interception.
This one opened normally, with traded three-and-outs before the Quaker defense made its' mark. Norfus Jr. got home on a rush, sacking Burke for the second-straight play, jarring the ball free, and Ricks was on the spot, corralling the loose ball and bringing it 20 yards for scoop-and-score to get the opening points on the board. Despite a 10:12 to 4:48 disadvantage in time of possession, the 7-0 score in Guilford's advantage is where the tallies stood at the end of the quarter.
The second frame would open with the Eagles getting on the board, completing an 11-play, 59-yard drive that straddled the quarter break with a chip-shot, 22-yard field goal from Ben Bermudez before the score narrowed further on the games' second abnormal scoring play. At the end of Guilford's second three-and-out in three possessions, they went to punt from their own 27, but
Will Stalker (Staley, N.C.) airmailed the snap.
Ryan Black (South Hill, Va.) tracked it down to prevent the BC touchdown, but he was in the endzone when he did, resulting in a safety. After taking over via a turnover on downs, they had what would have been another three-and-out, but a roughing the kicker flag on the punt gave them a second chance. With the new life, they finally sustained a drive using 11 plays to traverse 69 yards in the two-minute drill thanks to chunk plays of 15 yards to Wilson through the air and a 20-yard scramble by Gabrels. With just six seconds left, GC punched it in, using a tight end screen that had the entire Eagles defense fooled, allowing Winkler to walk into the endzone with his second score in as many weeks, upping the lead to 14-5 at the break despite the guests out-gaining the Quakers, 125-66 and controlling the ball for 20:23 in the opening half.
Bridgewater made the adjustments they needed out of the break. After a few fruitless drives to open the half, the near 30 minutes the Guilford defense had spent on the field started to take its toll, as the Eagles went to a running back-centric attack. Be it by true rushes or passes to the flat, the guests rode Jervis down the field on a 13-play, 81-yard drive, capped by a Jervis catch and score from five away. The Quakers still commanded the game, 14-12 as they entered the fourth, however.
The Eagles completed the comeback with a tandem of time-consuming drives in the fourth. The first, nine play, 58-yard trek, ending in a 31-yard field goal for the lead, then later an eight-play drive that only netted 20 yards but got them close enough for Bermudez's third field goal of the day, this one from 50, getting their lead beyond a kick. Guilford got close enough for a Danciu heave at the horn, but it was picked off, sealing the 19-14 Eagles win.
Guilford hits the road in four of the final five weeks beginning at Hampden-Sydney College on Saturday, October 17 kicking off at 1:00 PM.
#GoQuakes
Â
