BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater Football team is set to tangle with Hampden-Sydney on Saturday afternoon.

When: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Where: Bridgewater, Va.
Stadium: The Stadium
Kickoff: 2:00 pm 
Gameday Forecast: Sunny, 62F        
Series Record: 18-61

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Hampden-Sydney may look very similar to the years of old with traditional Garnet and Gray uniforms, but it's a new ear in Farmville under Vince Luvara. The Tigers offense has been led by the explosive passing of Carter Sido and his favorite target Ethan Dowdy who leads the ODAC in receiving touchdowns. The HSC defense is led by Robert Clarke with thr third most tackles per game in the ODAC.

HAPMDEN-SYDNEY HEAD COACH:  Vince Luvara is in his first season ar the helm of the Tigers program after serving as the defensive coordinator at Washington & Jefferson where the Presidents' defense was one of the best in the conference and all of Div. III. Luvara's defensive unit registered 63 All-PAC honors and in 2022 allowed an impressive 12.7 points per game, 15th in all of Division III. Luvara also served as the recruiting coordinator under current W&J head coach Mike Sirriani who has been at the helm of the Presidents' program for 22 years. Mike Sirriani's brother Nick is the current head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

SPECIAL TEAMS MATTER: The Bridgewater special teams unit has been a strength all season long with multiple ODAC Player of the Week honors and momentum swinging plays. The BC return units still rank among the national leaders with the kick return group ranking ninth nationally and the punt return unit sitting 13th in Div. III. Additionally, there have only been three kick returns for a touchdown in the ODAC this season and two of those have been from the Eagles with Brendan Robinson and Cedric Drumgoole each registering a kick-six. Tate Leach ranks fourth in DIv. III in punt returns and also has a special teams score to his credit this season. The big plays have not been limited to the speedy guys, Andrew Brown blocked a potential game-winning field goal attempt by Shenandoah two weeks ago and Jack Hendren nailed a 45-yard field goal last week for his fourth-straight season with a make from 40 + yards.

QB BATTLE: The Eagles passing offense has quickly became one of the ODAC's best this season. Starting QB Jaicere Bateman ranks 26th nationally in completion percentage along with 14th nationally in completions per game. Bateman also leads the conference in passing yards, but has been a massive threat on the ground with eight rushing scores to rank second in the ODAC. HSC's Carter Sido also sits among the league's best this season as he leads the ODAC in passing efficiency and passing scores.

EAGLE NATION: Bridgewater is 3-0 at the Stadium at the Jopson Athletic Complex this season. The Eagles are outscoring opponents 165-28 at home this season and have won their last five in a row at home with the last loss coming against Randolph-Macon last season when they were ranked inside the D3Football.com top 10.

BOUNCING BACK: Bridgewater looks to turn things around after a 49-16 loss on the road at No. 24 Randolph-Macon on Saturday. This is familiar territory as BC's only other loss this season came on the road at the hands of a ranked team to open the year at Susquehanna. Following the loss, BC bounced back with a massive 80-0 victory over Southern Virginia at home, but this matchup will be quite a bit different. The Eagles are 3-0 dating back to 2022 following losses to a ranked opponent with their last defeat following such a contest coming in 2021 at the hands of now Div. II Emory & Henry.  

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Eagles and Tigers will meet for the 80th time with on Saturday, but the series makes a massive shift as Vince Luvara takes over the HSC football program following Marty Favrette's retirement at the end of last season. Bridgewater has won three of the last four meetings including its first consecutive wins in the series in quite sometime. BC head coach Scott Lemn's aggressive play calling was the key to success last year as BC went for two for the win in Farmville last season as The Eagles scored with 23 scones left. Just to note, BC is 2-0 in the calendar year when scoring late and going for the two-point try instead of settling for the potential game-tying PAT.

Tailgating opens on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Mapp Field.