BRIDGEWATER, Va. - After 78 points and over 750 total yards of offense between the two teams, the Bridgewater Eagles (1-0) football squad won a shootout over the Averett Cougars (0-1) by a 44-34 margin in today's season opener at Jopson Field.

Bridgewater opened the scoring early by marching downfield in two minutes and 20 seconds after receiving the opening kickoff. BC's five play, 45 yard drive was capped off by an 18-yard strike from junior quarterback Hagan Driskell to junior wide receiver Tyler Beiler as the Eagles got on board early at a 7-0 tally.

Three minutes and 28 seconds later, after a 60-yard drive stalled out at the 14 yard line, sophomore Will Davis booted a 31 yard kick through the uprights to put BC ahead by a 10-0 score.

After the ensuing Averett and BC drives stalled out, senior Tim Newman's punt gave Averett good field position at their own 44.

Three plays later, backup quarterback Cody Ladutko made the first major mistake of the game for either team as he tossed a ball into the waiting arms of sophomore defensive lineman Mike Clements. Clements took the ball 44 yards to the house to put Bridgewater up by a 17-0 margin with three and change to play in the first frame.

After jumping out to 17 points in the first as the offense, defense and kicking team each got BC on the scoreboard, the return unit got a score of their own as junior Rudy Jackson took a punt 83 yards to pay dirt to give Bridgewater a commanding 24-0 lead with 9:05 to play in the opening half.

With the game being all BC early, Averett would respond with a score of their own as Brian Daniels capped off a six play, 45 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown burst to cut the Eagles lead to 24-7.

Bridgewater would then answer Averett's score with a four yard scamper from junior Thomas Tate to put BC back up 24 at a 31-7 score.

Averett would tally one more score before the teams headed to the locker room when with 60 ticks left on the clock, Dontavious Watson scampered for a dozen yards and an Averett score. The ensuing PAT would be missed by the Cougars with the score remaining 31-13 at the break.

Out of the halftime intermission, Averett's Antwan Hughes would burst for a nine-yard touchdown to get the Cougars within 11 as Bridgewater held on to a 31-20 lead.

BC got the final stanza started when Driskell connected with Dallas Cole for his second touchdown pass of the day, putting BC back ahead at a 38-20 margin.

Averett would answer five and a half minutes later when a breakdown in BC's coverage led to a 60 yard strike to Anthony Squillini, cutting Bridgewater's lead to 10 after Phillip Kwiatkowski's two-point conversion attempt connected with Steve Oristian, bringing the lead down to a 38-28 BC advantage.

Bridgewater would effectively put the game away when Driskell hit Jackson for a 19 yard strike with 2:17 to go, to give Bridgewater a 44-28 after Davis' PAT failed.

Averett would close out the scoring as the clock expired when Ladutko scampered 11 yards to the endzone, to end the ball game at a 44-34 score.

Despite outscoring the Cougars by 10, Bridgewater was outgained by a 444-to-320 margin.

On the ground, Bridgewater was led by Tate's 52 yards, with the junior also picking up a touchdown as BC tallied up 169 yards on the ground.

Averett pounded out 189 yards on the ground and was led by Watson's 63 yards on nine runs.

Through the air, Driskell wrapped the game up with a 15-of-27 performance for 151 yards. Driskell tossed three touchdowns and was picked off once.

For Averett, Kwiatkowski mainly nickel and dimed the Eagles as he was 18-of-40 for 205 yards and a touchdown to go along with two interceptions.

Beiler led the Eagles in receiving with four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, while Squillini led the Cougars with five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Darius Burrus led all tacklers with eight stops, while Averett's Zane Cooper picked up a team-high seven tackles.

The difference in the game came down to Bridgewater's defense forcing turnovers as the squad picked the Cougars off three times on the day.

Bridgewater is back in on Saturday September 12, when the squad looks to avenge a defeat last season when the Eagles take on Shenandoah. The opening kick from Shentel Field is slated for 7:00 p.m.