GREENSBORO, N.C. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College football team closed its season with a dominant 58-0 victory over Guilford on Saturday.

The game opened wth a series of punts until an interception gave the Quakers some life. the BC defense went to work and stalled any chance of a rive as a Tucker Harris sack on third won forced another punt. The GC punt had no chance as the entire BC front line busted through the line and Oscar Whitely blocked the kick. Joey Strong scooped up the loose ball and carried it the distance from 37 yards out for the score to make it 6-0. BC went for a fake field goal on the PAT, but a bad snap ended the play.

Guilford got the ball back and instantly went backwards as a Jalen Cunningham sack on the opening play of the series pushed GC inside their own 10 yard-line. A short punt followed a few plays later and a decent return gave BC a short field to work with. BC took its time and slowly worked from the GC 25 yard-line through the quarter break and eventually found the endzone as Brendan Robinson scored from two yards out on a carry. Jack Hendren made the PAT to make it 13-0 early in the second quarter.

BC ot the ball back quickly as Donald Brooks II picked off a pass but the Eagles did nothing with it. The Eagles forced another punt and a nice return from Leach put th Eagles inside the Guilford 15 yard-line. Bridgewater wasted no time as the second play of the set saw Jaicere Bateman find Jacob Perdue in the endzone for the score from six yards out. Hendren’s kick followed and made it 20-0 just over halfway through the second quarter.

The Bridgewter secondary came up with another turnover as Aaron Moore picked off a pass in Eagle territory and the offense went back to work. BC was working methodically to start the drive until a 31-yar strike from Bateman to Ian Browne put the ball at the Guilford three. Bateman called his own number on the next play for the rushing touchdown. Hendren’s kick made it 27-0 heading to the half.

Demarco Fleming came up with a forced fumble on the first Guilford series out of the half and TJ Lowery fell on it to give he offense another short field to work with. BC got behind the sticks after a penalty to tart the drive, but a 10-yard rush by Bateman got the yardage back and a Wyatt Jervis rush from a yard out found the endzone. Hendren’s PAT made it 34-0 three minutes into the half. The Eagles tagged onto the lead later in the half with another short field as Jaylen Wood called his own number on the quarterback keeper from 13 yards out to make it 41-0 following Hendern’s PAT.

BC’s defense wasn’t done causing problems despite the 41-point lead as Amari Presley came up with an interception and took the return down to the Guilford 13-yard line. BC took just two plays to add on as Bateman completed a pair of passes to Freddie Watkins with the second finding the endzone and pushing the lead to 48-0 after the kick from Hendren. Fleming got involved again as he forced another fumble just before the end of the third quarter and Lowery fell on the loose ball again to give BC another short field to work with. A sack stalled the drive and forced Hendren to trot out for a 25-yard field goal that went right between the pipes to make it 51-0.

The defense forced another Guilford punt and the offense took its time driving down the field up big. BC converted on fourth down in Guilford territory and looked to have scored on the very next play, but a holding penalty called the play back. The Eagles got backed up to third won and goal from 12-yards out and Wood found Watkins on a lob to the back of the endzone and the grad student caught it over a defender for the game sealing score. Hendren’s PAT was true to make it 58-0. BC had one more big play after getting the ball back as Wood scampered for a 46-yard gain before he Eagles were able to knee out the rest of the remaining clock

The Bridgewater offense amassed 353 yards of total offense in a well spread attack. Wood led the Eagles on the ground with 78 yards rushing, while Bateman’s 89 yards and two scores through the air led the passing game. Watkins had a pair of touchdown catches and a game-high 56 yards receiving.

Despite the offensive stats, it was the defense that paced the game. BC allowed just 72 yards and forced five turnovers. Fleming, Lowery and Cunningham led the tackling with six total, but it was Fleming’s monster day that stood tall. The sophomore tallied 4.5 tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles.

The Eagles season comes to a close with the victory at a 6-4 overall mark.

— BC Athletics —