DANVILLE, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College football team got into the win column behind 233 rushing yards as a unit.

Bridgewater wasted no time getting the ground game going as Wyatt Jervis broke off rushes for 18 and 15 yards in back-to-back plays during the opening drive. The Eagles continued to move the ball through the air and on the ground including a 12-yard rush by Tommy Nelson that made it first down and goal to go. A bad snap derailed the Eagles progress as they had to settle for a field goal. Ben Bermudez drilled a 29-yard attempt to make it 3-0 for the Eagles.

Averett attempted to get the ground game going on its opening drive with two positive rushing plays, but a pass on third down was broken upo by Jamari Lewis to force a punt. The Eagles got the ball back and were quickly forced to punt the ball away, but a big return by the Cougars gave them a short field to work with. Averett did not move the ball on the first two downs of the drive, but took a shot to the end zone on third down, but the potential touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty. AU went back to the air attack on the retry of third down, but coughed up the football and Aaron Nice fell on it.

BC got the ball back and started to work its way down the field. The Eagles got the drive rolling to midfield after three-straight 10+ yard carries coming from Jervis, Jaicere Bateman and Tate Leach. Bridgewater kept grinding down the field with the run game and short passes before Bateman scampered in from three-yards out to cap off the 15 play drive that spanned 7:16 of game time. THe PAT from Bermudez cleared the uprights to make it 10-0. The Eagles forced another AU punt thanks to a big stop by Andrew Brown behind the line of scrimmage. A short punt gave BC a short field, but a holding penalty threatened to stall the progress. Bateman connected with Brandon Anderson on third down for a 29-yard pick up to move the chains down to the COugars’ four yard-line. After an exchange of penalties at the goal line Bateman snuck it in for another rushing score. the PAT made it 17-0.

AU had the offense starting to get rolling , but a false start stalled the drive. Averett attempted a fake punt, but it went nowhere as the Eagles took over from midfield. Bridgewater responded quickly as a 23-yard completion to Clayton Forsythe took BC down to the red zone, before a pair of rushes by Jervis put the Eagles in the endzone. The kick was good to make it 24-0 with 90 seconds to go in the half. AU tried to respond, but that plan was foiled by the Eagles as Aaron Nice broke up a pass and Jordan Harper secured the interception to keep the shutout alive heading to the half.

Averett went nowhere on the first drive of the second half. Bridgewater was quickly forced to a fourth down in Averett territory and went for it. Bateman got the conversion and more as he tok the rush 34 yards to the house for another rushing score. Bermudez’s kick made it 31-0.The Cougars marched down the field and were deep in Bridgewater territory again, but another AU fumble ended the drive. Amari Presley knocked the ball free after a completed pass and Elijah Choy fell on it to secure the takeaway.

Bridgewater turned the ball over on the very next play as a fumblke went the other way,. Averett faced a fourth and goal at the three yard line and they looked to be stopped but a targeting penalty reset the chains and allowed AU to score two plays later on a short pass play. The Cougars failed on the two-point conversion attempt to leave it at a 31-6 score.

Brendan Robinson helped get the offense rolling with a 55-yard kick return into Cougar territory following the score. The touchdown saving tackle added on 15 yards to the return after a face mask penalty. Jervis opened the drive with a pair of 10+ yard carries and the Eagles added on to the lead shortly after as Bateman Connected with Evan Welsh from fie yards out to make it 38-6 after the PAT from Bermudez.

BC forced another AU punt, but a turnover on downs during the next Eagles’ drive gave Averett the ball back early in the fourth quarter. AU got back on the board with a 23-yard passing touchdown from Ethan Ross and the two-point conversion that followed was successful to make it 38-14 with 11:44 to play. Averett went for the onside kick, but was unable to recover to give the Eagles the ball back. Bridgewater drove down the field and had it to the Averett one after an 18-yard carry from Tommy Nelson. A pair of holding penalties stalled the drive, but a 36-yard field goal from Bermudez made it 41-14 with 6:13 on the clock. Averett got the ball back and drove down the field, but was stood up deep in BC territory as Pierre Harris Jr. had the break up to secure the turn over on downs and ultimately the victory.

Jervis was BC’s first 100-yard rushed of the season as he led the rushing attack with 122 yards and a score. He also averaged 9.0 yards per carry. Bateman added 69 yards on the ground and three rushing scores to go along with 148 yards through the air. Presley and Nice led the defense with four total stops. Jamari Lewis had a pair of tackles for loss while Elijah Rogers and Andrew Brown added one each as well.

Ethan Ross had 212 yards passing to fuel the AU offense, but the BC defense limited the home team to 246 yards of total offense including 34 on the ground. Comparatively, Bridgewater tallied 410 yards of total offense with 233 on the ground and 177 in the air.

The Eagles are back in action next Saturday at Shenandoah. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

— BC Athletics —