BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College football team moved the 6-1 on the season with a 23-16 win against Averett at the Jopson Athletic Complex on Homecoming Saturday. 

The Eagles used a 16-point fourth quarter to retake the lead after going into halftime tied at 7-7. The Cougars (2-5, 0-4 ODAC) scored late, but it was not enough as the Eagles improved to 4-0 on the year in home contests. 

In front of a full house for Bridgewater Homecoming, the Eagles opened the scoring nearly six minutes into the game as Albert Mensah capped a seven-play drive with a six yard touchdown. Jackson Hendren's PAT was good and set the score at 7-0.

The score held as the only points on the board for the rest of the first quarter and almost through the half as a stalemate between both offenses and defenses was the story of the first half. With under two minutes to go in the first half, Averett got on the board as it manufactured a nine-play, 88 yard drive to tick over four minutes off the clock. Quarterback Ryan Curle found Shawn Watlington over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown as Will Caviness tied the game with a PAT, 7-7.

As the second half started, the Cougars got the ball first after winning the coin toss and deferring their decision. The offense stalled after getting a first down and were forced to punt. Mason Smith dropped his punt inside the 10 yard line and Malcolm Anderson's first drop back of the second half saw him get sacked in the end zone for a safety as AU went ahead 9-7 in the contest. 

On the following drive, the Eagles' defense started to stand up as Amari Presley grabbed his first career interception in his first collegiate start and got a return to near midfield. The Eagles' offense, however, was held to a three-and-out and had to punt the ball right back. The Cougars used several big plays to drive down the field and got deep into Bridgewater territory before facing a 4th & 1 scenario on the 29 yard line. Instead of kicking, the visitors chose to go for it, and were stuffed behind the line of scrimmage by Shawn Harris to turn the ball over on downs. 

The next drive milked out the remaining time in the third quarter as the Eagles were moving the ball. Montez Greene grabbed a near 25 yard catch to end the quarter and put the Eagles into scoring position. Mensah eventually hit pay dirt on a one yard rush to push the Eagles back into the lead after a successful two-point conversion, 15-9. 

The Eagles added onto the lead with a 48-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Viante Tucker to push the lead to 23-9 after a successful two-point try on a fake PAT. Freddie Watkins passed to Kyle Beck to complete the two point conversion.

The Cougars scored another touchdown late, and had the ball with under two minutes to go, but stalled out and turned the ball over on downs to end the game at 23-16.

Anderson went 7-for-18 for 136 yards through the air with one touchdown. He also rushed for 48 yards on nine carries. Jaylen Wood also saw time in the pocket in the win.

Mensah rushed for 64 yards on top of his two rushing TDs, while Ronald Robinson Jr. added 37 yards on 10 carries. Tyler Gilliam took two reverse plays for nearly 30 yards to go with his two catches for 43 yards.

Tucker led all receivers with 48 yards, while Jamel Johnson and Dylan Maclachlan also hauled in a pair of catches. 

Defensively, Presley led the Eagles with eight tackles, including five solo stops, to go with an interception and a pass break up. Shawn Harris had seven solo stops with 1.0 TFLs. Aaron Moore and Jalen Cunningham ended the game with six tackles, while Tucker Harris had five stops including 1.0 TFL, 1.0 sacks and three quarterback hurries. Aaron Nice continued his solid freshman campaign with four tackles with two of those being for loss, including a sack, and also broke up a pass and rushed the quarterback once. Noah Hines increased his team lead in PBUs as he contributed two more break ups. 

Bridgewater outgained Averett as a team with 328 yards of total offense compared to 287 from the Cougars.

The Eagles return to the turf on Saturday, October 29, as they head to Ferrum for a 2 pm kickoff.