BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College football team is set for one more game this season as it is prepared to take on Apprentice in the 2022 Neptune Bowl, presented by Double Tree by Hilton Virginia Beach, on Saturday, November 19.

Bridgewater (9-1) vs. Apprentice (8-1)
When: Saturday, November 19
Where: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Stadium: Virginia Beach Sportsplex
Kickoff: 2 pm
Gameday Weather Forecast: Partly sunny, chilly
    High: 51; Low: 38
Series Record: Bridgewater leads, 19-15

SCOUTING THE BUILDERS: The Builders travel to Virginia Beach holding an 8-1 record on the year and earned a 44-0 shutout victory against Sussex Community College a week ago. The Builders average 37.8 points per game and hold victories over several Division III schools, including a 27-14 win against Averett to start the season and a 38-35 win at Christopher Newport in mid-September. Mason Tatum leads the offense with 17 touchdown passes and 1,905 yards through the air, while a split rushing attack features Lawrence Reed, Curtis Green and Tatum who have all eclipsed 200 yards on the ground on the year. 

APPRENTICE HEAD COACH:  Vincent Brown leads the Builders into this weekend's contest in his second year leading the program. This is his fifth season with the team after previously serving as assistant head coach and as the leader of the defensive unit. Brown came to Apprentice after coaching at Campbellsville University. A 2005 graduate of Morgan State, Brown also spent time as a player in the Memphis football program and has garnered coaching experience in high school, junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division III and European football.

LAST MEETING: The Eagles walked away with a 27-7 victory last season after a dominant second half featured BC scoring 24 unanswered points. The Builders actually led at halftime, 7-3, after a 10-yard pass-and-catch from Grant Swanger to Corpus Ricardo capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive. The second half was all Bridgewater with Freddie Watkins returning a punt for a touchdown, Malcolm Anderson finding Chad Jones for a 36-yard touchdown and Ronald Robinson Jr. fell in for a two-yard score. 

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Eagles and Builders square off for the 35th time with the Eagles holding a 19-15 edge in an all-time series that dates back to 1949. The two Virginia schools have played in seven games since the 2011 season, including BC victories in four of the last five match ups. This will be the first time Bridgewater heads east to take on the Builders since playing in Newport News in 2016, which is also the last time Apprentice earned a win in the head-to-head. 

KICKING IT OFF: Bridgewater totes the best kick return team in Division III with an average return of 28.00 yards. Involved in that is the 90-yard kick return for a touchdown by Viante Tucker in last weekend's victory. Brendan Robinson leads the kick return group with a nation-best 32.4 yard per return average. Robinson also housed a kickoff earlier this year.

MAKING WAVES: Bridgewater College meets Apprentice in the 2022 version of the Neptune Bowl. The game is played at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and is presented by Double Tree by Hilton Virginia Beach. This is the second rendition of the contest with the first one featuring the Builders and Randolph-Macon in 2019 with R-MC coming out on top. The postseason bowl game features Apprentice and the highest-finishing ODAC team that does not reach the NCAA Playoffs. 

EVERYBODY SCORES: The Bridgewater College offense exploded for 64 points on Saturday and marked the third time this season the Eagles tallied at least 50 points in a game. Prior to this season, BC crossed the 50-point plateau just five times since 2013. Bridgewater ended the regular season with a 34.4 points per game scoring average that was second in the ODAC with only Randolph-Macon (44.4/game) scoring at a higher clip.  With that point total per game, 15 different players have seen the end zone for touchdowns this season, including a pair of touchdowns for defensive back Aaron Moore and a touchdown grab by defensive lineman Tucker Harris, plus Robinson's kickoff return for a touchdown. In comparison, the Eagles allow just 18.1 points per game. 

HAVE A NICE DAY: Highlighting last weekend's 64-22 win at Guilford was a 6.5 sack performance by freshman linebacker Aaron Nice. The total broke the ODAC single-game sack record and the BC tackles for loss single-game record, as well. Nice finished the contest with a season-best 10 total stops and ended the regular season with an ODAC-best 10.0 sacks. He is the first Eagle to record at least 10.0 sacks in a season since Ryan Bailey dropped the quarterback 11.5 times in 2000 and 11.0 times in 2002. Nice is just the second played in team history to record double-digit sack totals in a season. For his efforts, he was named ODAC Defensive Player of the Week and claimed a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: Bridgewater missed out on the NCAA Playoffs after a stellar 9-1 season, but finished the regular season at No. 6 in the regional rankings. Region III saw Trinity (Texas), Randolph-Macon and Mary Hardin-Baylor rounded out the top three spots, while Huntingdon and Hardin-Simmons grabbed the No. 4 and No. 5 slots, respectively. The final team in the rankings was Shenandoah at No. 7 who snuck in after earning a triple-overtime victory against Washington and Lee last weekend. 

OTHER BRIDGEWATER TEAMS IN ACTION: The Bridgewater College men's and women's swim teams are in action all weekend as they each travel to the Diamond City Invitational that will take place from Friday through Sunday. Emily Smeds will represent the Eagles at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship race and the men's basketball team hits the road to face Penn State Harrisonburg.