By Kyle Starrett
Bridgewater College Eagles (3-6, 0-5 ODAC) vs. Guilford College Quakers (1-7, 0-5 ODAC)
Bridgewater closes out their season with Senior Day against Guilford.
When: Saturday, November 13
Where: Jopson Athletic Complex, Bridgewater, Va.
Start Time: 2:00 p.m.
Gameday Media
Live Stats: https://bridgewatereagles.com/sports/fball/2021-22/boxscores/20211113_4q3z.xml
Video Stream: https://team1sports.com/Bridgewater/
Bridgewater Roster
Bridgewater Stats
Guilford Roster
Guilford Stats
Last Time Out
Bridgewater traveled to Hampden-Sydney in their final away game of the season. After a slow start, Bridgewater attempted a late comeback, ultimately falling 24-14.
The game saw multiple drives of 10-or-more plays, including a two-drive stint which took up 17:52 of game time. Ball control was the name of the game for Hampden-Sydney, highlighted by their 83% conversion rate on fourth downs. Time of possession was nearly even with only an 80-second gap between the two teams.
Matt Lawton led the way for the Bridgewater offense with 179 yards, a touchdown, and an interception on 22 completions. Kenneth McCray also saw significant action, throwing for 43 yards on five completions, as well as rushing for 38 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Demetreus Jalepes followed McCray on the ground with 30 rushing yards on six carries. In the air, Chad Jones had one of his best games of the season, catching 10 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Viante Tucker put together a productive day as well, catching six passes for 49 yards.
Brett Tharp led the way defensively yet again with 15 tackles and a half TFL. As a team, Bridgewater finished with two sacks, those coming from Nazeer Jordan and Preston Turner, and six TFL's, with Da'Sean Davis posting one and a half to lead the way. Val West forced the teams only fumble.
Previous Meeting
In the final game of the 2019 slate that saw Bridgewater go 10-0 in the regular season and reach the Division III playoffs, the Eagles handled a heavily over-matched Quakers team winning 41-7.
The Eagles came out firing and never looked back, dropping 41 straight before the Quakers took a kickoff return to the house for their first and only score of the day. By then, the Eagles had already switched in their backups, putting a massive bow on what was an incredible season for Bridgewater.
Quarterback Jay Scroggins had a monster day through the air, tossing 22 completions for 260 yards and three touchdowns. Three other quarterbacks also saw game action, those being Lawton, McCray, and Noah Beckley, all of whom recorded over 20 passing yards. On the ground, Albert Mensah led the way with 89-yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. In the passing game, 12 Eagles recorded at least one reception, with nine of them breaking the 10-yard mark.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles only allowed nine first downs while recording two sacks, four TFL's, and three interceptions. Leading the way was Gary Ramey Jr., Bridgewater's current running backs coach, who racked up eight tackles and a half TFL. Making the biggest impact on the scoreboard was Tharp, who returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown.
Senior Day
Prior to Saturday's contest, the Eagles will honor the Class of 2022. Those being honored include Beckley, Cole Cooksey, Alexander Cromwell, Malik Crowe, Davis, Cameron Gieseman, Dustin Green, Preston Haden, Thomas Henley, Alston Honeycutt, Jalepes, Jayden Johnson. Matt Jojokian, Jones, Lawton, Dylan Maclachlan, William Makowski, McCray, Deion Richardson, Chase Rosenthal, Tharp, Dexter Walker, Brandon Waller, Tyrone Warren II, Josh Whittington, and Isiah Williams.
Head Coaches
Scott Lemn is currently 3-6 in his first season as Bridgewater's head coach. In the season finale, he hopes to grab his first conference win in his young tenure.
Guilford's Brad Davis wraps up his first full season as head coach on Saturday after being named head coach last December. Davis currently holds a 1-7 record in 2021 and is also searching for his first conference win of the season.
Bridgewater Offense
Entering the final week of the season, Lawton still ranks third in passing yards in the ODAC with 1,563 yards. He also ranks fourth in passing touchdowns with 10. Jalepes still sits in seventh in the ODAC for rushing yards with 389. Jones ranks fourth in the ODAC in both receiving yards and touchdowns, with 588 yards and six touchdowns.
Bridgewater's offense currently ranks sixth in the ODAC in touchdowns, points, yards, and first downs. The Quakers have allowed over 50 points in each of their last four games, so if there was ever a matchup for Bridgewater to get their offense back on track, it's this one.
Bridgewater Defense
Brett Tharp is tied for second in the ODAC with 101 tackles, with Nazeer Jordan not too far behind at sixth with 74. Jayden Johnson is still the ODAC sack leader with five and also ties for first in forced fumbles with two. Jordan's eight and a half TFL's is good enough to rank him at seventh in the ODAC.
Bridgewater Special Teams
Jackson Hendren is tied third for field goal percentage in the ODAC at 75%, having gone nine for 12 on the year. He has yet to miss a PAT.
Of the four punters listed in the ODAC stats, Garrett Graves ranks first in punt yards (1,850), average yards per punt (40.2), longest punt (62), and punts inside the 20 (23).
Guilford Offense
Bailey Baker has been the primary quarterback for the Quakers this year, having thrown for 993 yards and nine touchdowns in just six games. This is good enough to rank him sixth in passing yards and fifth in passing touchdowns in the ODAC. Also seeing quarterback reps is Teddy Gassert who has gotten intermittent playing time throughout the season. He has 181 passing yards and two touchdowns this season.
At wide receiver, Tre Alexander sits at fourth in the ODAC in receiving yards per game with 70.3. He has reeled in eight touchdowns on 22 catches for 422 yards in just six games this season.
Guilford Defense
The Quaker's leading tackler is Malid Aghaiepour who has 33 tackles in six games this season. Aghaiepour also has one of the team's three sacks, along with James Pegues who leads the team in TFL's with six. Jaden James leads the team in both interceptions and pass breakups, with four and five respectively.
Guilford Special Teams
Burke Nettles has gone three for four on field goals for the year and is 11 for 12 on PAT's. Cade Ratliff averages 34 yards a punt and has six punts inside the 20.
