BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College football team looks to spoil Homecoming Weekend for Shenandoah as the two sets will square off on Saturday night at 7 pm at Glo Fiber Field at Shentel Stadium in Winchester.

Bridgewater at Shenandoah
When: Saturday, October 7, 2023
Where: Winchester, Va.
Stadium: Glo Fiber Field at Shentel Stadium
Kickoff: 7:00 pm
Gameday Forecast: Partly Cloudy; hi of 61
Series Record: BC Leads 19-16(Last Meeting: 2022; BC won 23-17)


SCOUTING THE HORNETS:  Shenandoah enters this week with a matching 3-1 record, as Bridgewater has. The team most recently opened ODAC action a week ago with a 38-3 victory against Ferrum. Corey Kidwell was named ODAC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the defense limit the Panthers to just 163 yards of total offense. Kidwell tallied five total stops with a pair of sacks that took 18 yards off from the opposing offense. His second sack caused a fumble that led to a 22-yard scoop-and-score near the end of the third quarter. On the season, AJ Maxwell leads the team with 211 yards and five touchdowns, while Steven Hugney has tossed for 711 yards through the air with a 56.9 completion percentage. He's thrown all seven of the team's passing touchdowns. Broden Domenico leads the receivers with 210 yards and four touchdowns on 17 catches, while Andre Jackson has 119 yards and a score on 10 catches. Defensively, Matt Conroy paces the Hornets with 49 tackles (24 solo) with 0.5 TFL. He's broke up a pair of passes, blocked a kick and also recorded one QB hurry. Keyshawn Wilder has grabbed a team-best three interceptions and blocked two kicks of his own through four games of the 2023 season. 

SHENANDOAH HEAD COACH:  Scott Yoder assumed the head coaching role for Shenandoah in January 2013 as the third person at the helm of the program since it was re-instated in 2000. He holds a 54-45 record with a 30-36 mark in ODAC contests since taking over the program and became the team's all-time wins leader following a win over Apprentice in 2021. He's coached the Hornets to six seasons of .500 records or better, including an 8-2 record in 2022 with the only losses coming the nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon and Bridgewater. Yoder came to Winchester after 12 years as an assistant coach at Hobart, where he graduated from with a degree in economics. Yoder was a member of the Hobart lacrosse team that won the 2000 Patriot League Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in team history.  

LAST MEETING: Bridgewater picked up a 23-17 win in a thrilling contest of unbeaten teams at the Jopson Athletic Complex one year ago. The Hornets held on to a 14-6 lead at halftime of the game, but a 17-point second half from the Eagles led to the final scoreline as BC remained unbeaten at that point of the season. Jack Hendren was true on three field goals, including one from 47 yards, for all the scoring for the Eagles in the first three quarters. Shawn Harris came up with a huge interception and nearly returned it for a touchdown to lead to the first Bridgewater touchdown from Albert Mensah before Aaron Moore forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give BC possession once again. A touchdown pass to Dylan Maclachlan from Jaylen Wood and a two-point conversion sealed the game.

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Eagles lead the all-time series 19-16 in a match up of two competitive teams that always prove to be entertaining games. Bridgewater has the edge over the last 10 game at 6-4 and are 5-3 playing at Shenandoah since the 2008 season. The Eagles are averaging just under 24 points per game against the Hornets since 2008, as well. 

HAVE A GAME!: Bridgewater running back Kennedy Fauntleroy ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns in the thrilling victory against Hampden-Sydney last weekend. The performance was not only good enough to earn ODAC Offensive Player of the Week and a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week, but the total stands as the sixth-highest single-game rushing total in program history. Fauntleroy is the first to run for 200 yards since Anthony Carter in 2011 and just the 28th time a BC back has surpassed 200 yards on the ground in nearly 125 years as a program.

SHUTDOWN CORNER: Bridgewater junior defensive back Noah Hines had another stellar game against the Tigers a week ago as he broke up four passes to match his career high for a single contest. He not only leads the conference in the statistic, but also stands second in all of Division III with nine pass breakups and is second with 2.5 pass breakups per game.

HOLDING THE LINE: The Bridgewater offense has posted two of the best overall rushing performances in team history across its last two games. The Eagles rushed for 345 yards against N.C. Wesleyan before raising the total to 360 yards against Hampden-Sydney. Those marks are the second and third most in a single game in team history with last week's performance only four yards off of the team's single-game record. The Eagles average just a few decimals shy of 250 yards per game and rank ninth in Division III with the total and third in the ODAC in 2023. 

PUTTING UP NUMBERS: With another game of scoring at least 35 points, the Eagles have now scored at least 35 points in all of their wins this season. The team is averaging 33.5 points per game, which makes for an interesting match up with the Hornets who's defense allows just 16.5 points per game. The Eagles have scored at least 35 points in five of their last seven regular season games, including four of those on the road.

FAMILIAR FOE: Despite the two sides only meeting 35 times in history, Shenandoah is Bridgewater's most common opponent dating back to the spring 2020-21 season. The two sides squared off three times that season, plus once each of the next two years. The last five games have been decided by a touchdown or less with counts of 27-21, 19-18, 22-14, 34-27 and 23-17. The two teams will also play a JV game on Sunday afternoon. 

WINNING WHEN IT COUNTS: The Eagles start off the year at 1-0 in ODAC games following last week's victory against Hampden-Sydney. The team has now collected a 17-8 record in league play in the last five years, which is a .680 winning percentage. The Eagles have won eight of their last 10 contests against ODAC schools dating back to the 2021 season. 

SUBTRACTING YARDS: The stout Eagles' defense ranks sixth in the country with 9.0 tackles for loss per game, which also leads the conference. The experienced defense recorded 12.0 TFL against Southern Virginia and upped that number to 14 negative-yardage plays against N.C. Wesleyan in Week Three. The Eagles added 6.0 more TFL last week with 2.0 sacks, including TJ Lowery's sack as time expired to prevent a pass on Hampden-Sydney's final play of the game. 

Following the game, Bridgewater returns home for an Oct. 14 matchup with No. 10 Randolph-Macon as part of Hall of Fame Weekend on campus. The department will induct three members into the Athletic Hall of Fame with a ring ceremony during halftime. The game will begin at 2 pm.