BRIDGEWATER, Va. -

Junior running back Thomas Tate crossed the century mark for the third straight game as the Bridgewater Eagles (4-2, 1-1 ODAC) found their rhythm on offense en route to a 40-9 route over the visiting Guilford Quakers (1-5, 0-2 ODAC) on Homecoming day at Jopson Field.

Tate's 157 yard afternoon marked the fourth 100-plus yard game for the Staunton, Va. native in just six career games.

BC got things started early with a Tate 15 yard run which was set up by a 53 yard kick return by senior David Argaud, putting the Eagles up 6-0 following a missed PAT with 14:32 left in the opening frame.

Bridgewater forced a three and out on the first Guilford possession of the game, giving BC the ball back at its own 23 following a D.J. Wilson punt.

Tate then scampered 77 yards to the endzone to give the Eagles a 12-0 advantage. Sophomore Tyler Kelly missed his second PAT in a row to keep the game at a 12-0 margin.

At a 12-0 deficit after just three Bridgewater offensive plays, the Guilford offense was able to manufacture a nine play drive of its own, which culminated with a 27 yard field goal splitting the uprights as the BC lead was cut to a 12-3 gap.

The game would remain 12-3 through the remainder of the first quarter before the Eagles opened the second quarter scoring with an 11 yard strike from Hagan Driskell to Argaud, putting Bridgewater ahead 18-3. BC would convert on a fade pass to Rudy Jackson on the two-point conversion attempt to give the Eagles a 20-3 advantage with 8:12 left in the first half.

Guilford answered two minutes later when a sneak by quarterback Billy Watkins bridged the gap to bring the Quakers to within 11, after the Guilford PAT was missed, keeping the score at 20-9.

Arguad put BC back on the scoreboard immediately with a 93 yard kickoff return, giving the Eagles a 26-9 advantage after another Kelly PAT failed to split the uprights. Argaud's kick return was the longest kick return for the Eagles this year.

Bridgewater's defense then forced another Guilford three-and-out, putting the ball back in the Eagles hands with less than five minutes remaining in the opening half.

Seven plays later, Tate found the back of the endzone again, with an eight yard burst, giving the Eagles a 32-9 lead. Sophomore kicker Will Davis would convert BC's first PAT of the day, giving BC a 33-9 lead, which is where things remained as the game headed to the intermission.

With the game in hand, the Eagles tacked on one more score late in the third quarter on a 32 yard strike from Driskell to Tyler Beiler to give BC a 40-9 lead, which is where the scoring would end, giving Bridgewater its first Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory of the year by a 40-9 margin.

Tate led all runners on the day with his 157 yards. Tate's three touchdowns and his 77 yard run are both team high's for the Eagles in 2009.

Through the air, Driskell led the way with 173 yards on 11-of-18 passing, to go along with two touchdown passes. BC got three quarterbacks into the game, with senior Vince Reese completing 2-of-5 passes and freshman Jacob Hutchinson completing his first career pass in the middle of the fourth quarter, as part of a 1-for-2 afternoon.

On the receiving end, Patrick Smoot led all receivers with seven catches for 91 yards.

Guilford was led on the ground by Earl Womble's nine carries for 38 yards.

Through the air, Billy Watkins threw for a game-high 184 yards on 17-of-30 passing.

BC outgained Guilford by a 422-280 clip and edged the Quakers by a 18-17 margin in first downs. Bridgewater's 422 yards of total offense was 100 yards above what the Guilford defense, ranked No. 3 in the ODAC coming into the game, was allowing on the year.

Defensively, the Eagles were led by eight tackle performances from Seth Little and Scottie Littles. Guilford linebacker Richie Paul recorded a game-high 11 tackles to led all defenders.

At halftime, the Eagles honored four newcomers to the BC Athletics Hall of Fame, with Nicoll Kenney, Dee Morris, Donald Mitchell and Chris Sizemore joining the 91 previous Hall of Fame inductees.

Bridgewater is back in action on Saturday Oct. 24 when the Eagles travel to rival Emory & Henry for an ODAC showdown with the Wasps. Kick-off from Fullerton Field is slated for 1:00 p.m.