GREENSBORO, N.C. – Bridgewater College broke free from a 0-0 tie with 17 points in the final six minutes of the first half Saturday night and the Eagles went on to defeat Greensboro College, 38-21, at Grimsley High School's Jameson Stadium.
The Eagles took the lead with 5:59 left in the first half when quarterback Ross Rushing scored on a 5-yard run. Chandler DeHaven tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Bridgewater lead.
After the Bridgewater defense forced a three-out, the Eagles took over at midfield following a Greensboro punt.
Rushing hit Kevin Barr with a 10-yard pass to move the chains to the Greensboro 40. After a 4-yard loss, Rushing scampered for 18 yards and a first down at the Pride 26. A pass from Rushing to Jeffrey Moore moved the ball to the 18, but the drive stalled and the Eagles settled for DeHaven's 35-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead with 1:09 left in the half.
On the ensuing possession, the Pride moved quickly into Bridgewater territory and called a timeout with 20 seconds left. Bridgewater cornerback Daniel Brent then picked off a Mac Graham pass and returned the interception 34 yards to the Greensboro 25.
On the final play of the half, Rushing connected with Tyler Moneymaker on a 25-yard scoring strike and DeHaven's PAT gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead at the break.
Greensboro emerged from the locker room, took the second half kickoff and drove 65 yards for the Pride's first points. Graham connected with Armani Williams on a 54-yard scoring pass to trim the Bridgewater lead to 17-7.
The Eagles defense gave the offense a short field to set up the next Bridgewater score. Following a Greensboro punt, the Eagles took over on the Pride 43. Rushing hit Peter Monteleone with passes for 12 and 16 yards to give BC a first down at the Greensboro 12. Nick Ollie struck paydirt on a 12-yard run and the extra point by DeHaven made the score 24-7 with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
Bridgewater used the big play to pad its lead early in the fourth period when Rushing and Aaron-David Beidleman hooked up on an 80-yard TD pass to push the margin to 30-7. DeHaven added another successful PAT for a 31-7 lead with 11:42 left in the game.
The Pride struck again when Graham and Raymond Bridges combined on a 46-yard scoring pass with 5:29 left in the contest, making the score 31-13. The extra point kick failed.
Bridgewater threatened on its next series, but the Pride intercepted a pass at the 1-yard line to stop the Eagles potential scoring drive.
Greensboro failed to move the ball and was forced to punt from its end zone and a 15-yard punt return by Moore put the BC offense in business at the Greensboro 21. Ollie broke loose and scored on the first offensive play of the drive and DeHaven added the extra point, making the score 38-13.
The Pride scored the game's final points in the closing seconds when Graham ran for a 2-yard touchdown. Graham found Bridges for the two-point conversion pass, making the final score 38-21.
Ollie had a productive night on the ground for the Eagles with 78 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries. Rushing and Matthew Pisarcik combined to pass for 293 yards. Rushing completed 14-of-27 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. He had two passes picked off. Pisarcik was 7-of-12 for 88 yards with one interception. Moore led the offense in pass receptions with eight.
The Eagles were plagued by turnovers as they also lost three fumbles to go along with the three pass interceptions.
Bridgewater's defense did come up with four takeaways on the night. Brent and Jason Monroe each picked off a pass while John Piette and Joshua Jenkins each recovered a Greensboro fumble.