Dustin Green‘s interception clinched a crazy finish, as the Bridgewater College football team beat Guilford 30-28 in a thrilling ODAC opener.
In the final minute of play, Guilford quarterback Alex Manley somehow spun out of a Gary Ramey Jr. sack and threw up a prayer as he was hit by another Eagle. Montek Johnson came down with the jump ball to seemingly set the hosts up with a short field goal try to win.
The Quakers, holding two timeouts, went for the touchdown first however. Manley rolled left and then tried to throw back across the field, and Green picked it off to clinch the win for Bridgewater.
Dakoda Shrader caught six balls for 102 yards and two scores to pace the BC offense. Deshomd Denny had five tackles, a sack and an interception on the other side of the ball.
The Eagles, who trailed 28-21 heading into the fourth quarter, had taken their first three drives of the second half inside the Guilford 30 but came away with just three total points.
Bridgewater went to work again late in the fourth quarter and found the end zone on Shrader’s 24-yard touchdown catch. A blocked PAT kept Guilford in the lead however.
Braden Thomson picked off a pass at midfield, and Logan Weis drilled a 41-yard field to give the Eagles the 30-28 lead that would ultimately hold up.
Denny appeared to open the scoring less than five minutes in on a 63-yard pick six, but the score was called back due to a block in the back.
The Eagles would eventually strike first. A long Alex Galloway end-around run set BC up deep in Guilford terriroty, and quarterback Jay Scroggins carried in both the touchdown and conversion for an 8-0 lead.
The Quakers answered with a big completion to Johnson down to the one yard line, punching it in on a play fake. Tre Alexander later caught a fourth down jump ball and De’Eric Bell broke several tackles on a scoring run that put Guilford ahead for the first time, 14-8.
The Eagles took the lead right back on a clutch drive that included several nice third down pickups. Demetreus Jalepes hurdled the line to move the chains, and then Shrader made a tough catch down the sideline for another first down.
For the second straight contest, wide receiver Trey Stephens found Shrader on the trick play TD pass to make it 15-14 Bridgewater.
History repeated itself again from the Stevenson game soon after. A roughing the passer call helped Guilford take back the lead in the final minute of the first half. Jalepes broke a 42-yard rush with 13 seconds remaining however, allowing the Eagles to grab a field goal and trail just 21-18 heading into the break.
Bridgewater (2-1, 1-0 ODAC) will return home to host Washington & Lee on Saturday. Guilford, who was averaging 61 points scored coming into the contest, falls to 1-2, 0-1 on the year.
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