SALEM, Va. The Southern Virginia football team took a third
quarter lead against Bridgewater, but could not stop a rally from
the Eagles in the fourth quarter, losing 32-23. A Zach Garner to
Brick Wilce pass of 23-yards gave the Knights the lead, 23-21 at
the 13:21 mark of the fourth quarter. After tying the game up at
7-7 in the first quarter, the Eagles had outscored the Knights
14-3, and went in to halftime up 21-10.
SVU responded to the deficit with an attacking flair, and a
Garner-to-Wilce pass of 64-yards got the visitors to within four of
BC. Despite the scores through the air, the defense could not find
an answer for Bridgewater quarterback Hagan Driskell. Throwing for
227-yards, the Eagles' quarterback hit Tyler Beiler for 39-yards
and the winning touchdown with almost 11-minutes left in the game.
A field goal with two minutes left in the game iced the win for the
Eagles.
Garner had been effective all night in his passing as he threw
for 258-yards on 15-of-24 throws, and two touchdowns. Bridgewater
started the scoring in the first quarter with a short pass play
that finished off a 6-play 22-yard drive. SVU responded immediately
with a drive that took less than two minutes, and culminated with
Garner's 1-yard touchdown dive.
Bridgewater punched back quickly, ad a 43-yard run gave the
Eagles a 14-7 lead. The defenses were looking for stops before the
fireworks display got out of hand. Bridgewater dug their heals in
first in stopping the Knights, and SVU could not find the score to
even up the game. Another running score in the second quarter gave
Bridgewater a 14-pont lead, and thing looked grim for SVU.
The defense came up with a stop, after Driskell fumbled, and the
ball was recovered by Pres Crawford. The fumble came at the
Bridgewater 19-yard line, and SVU was looking to score quickly to
get within a touchdown of the D.III school. Bridgewater's defense
prevented any movement by the Knights, who had to settle for a
30-yard Tyler Bowen field goal. The game went to the half at 21-10,
and with the Knights in striking distance of a win. The second half
started with SVU dominance, but the visitors could not get the
timely stops to preserve the win.
A thorn in the side of the SVU offense was the inability to get
a run game going. Bridgewater again held an opponent to under
100-yards rushing, as they stifled the run offense of the Knights
at 48-yards. The Knights found other ways to move the ball, and
totaled 306-yards of offense to Bridgewater's 362. Wilce had a
standout game, as he hauled in 6-passes for 127-yards, and the two
touchdowns.
Even with the SVU defense unable to keep Bridgewater from
scoring, the Knights had standouts on the defensive end. Tommy Davidson and Matt Mellor combined for 22-tackles on the night. The
duo accounted for roughly a third of the team's tackles against BC.
Robert Williams and Josh Hodges had big games in the secondary, as
they recorded 6-tackles apiece.
The game was memorable for things other than the loss, as the
crowd of 423 helped the Southwest Virginia chapter of Feed America
with its ticket income, and program income. The loss to BC drops
the Knights to 2-4 on the season. SVU will return to action Oct. 9
when they host Guilford at Parry McCluer High School. The game will
be the homecoming game for SVU, and will begin at 1:00 pm.
