Bridgewater made it a one-score game twice, but Randolph-Macon responded with a quick-strike TD and a methodical drive as the Eagles fell 25-13 on Friday.
Trailing 12-0 late in the first half, Matt Lawton hit Demetreus Jalepes for 31 yards and then found Chad Jones in the end zone for a 13-yard score with 39 seconds remaining in the half.
Instead of playing it safe for halftime, Randolph-Macon went deep for a 73-yard David Wallis touchdown to give the Yellow Jackets an 18-6 halftime advantage.
The Eagles had momentum again after an 11-play, 81-yard drive was capped by a Jalepes TD rush to make it 18-13 with 8:16 left in the third quarter.
This time, the Yellow Jackets responded with an 18-play drive that ran off nearly 10 minutes of clock. The drive stretched into the fourth quarter as RMC reached the Bridgewater 1-yard line.
Malik Crowe stuffed a pair of runs short of the goal line, and the Yellow Jackets fumbled on third down. The hosts recovered, however, and quarterback Presley Egbers finally punched it in on fourth down.
Lawton had long completions to Dylan Maclachlan on Bridgewater’s two fourth quarter drives, but the Eagles were ultimately stopped twice on fourth down in RMC territory.
Jalepes rushed for 119 yards on 12 carries and added 58 receiving yards on two catches. Maclachlan added 131 yards on six catches.
Meanwhile, Wallis racked up 145 yards on just three touches for Randolph-Macon. Egbers was efficient with 11-of-14 passing for 190 yards and two scores to go with his rushing TD.
Reigning ODAC Defensive Player of the Week Brett Tharp led the Eagle defense again with 13 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1.5 TFLs and a pass breakup.
Tyler Reynolds and Isaiah Farmer had seven tackles each.
This was the first non-playoff loss for Bridgewater since falling on the same field to Randolph-Macon back on Oct. 20, 2018, breaking a streak of 15 consecutive regular season victories.
The Eagles (1-1, 0-1 ODAC) will look to get back on track next week with a road conference game at Ferrum.
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