BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College football team faltered against the visiting Hampden-Sydney College Tigers via a 28-21 scoreline on Saturday afternoon at The Stadium at the Jopson Athletic Complex.
 
The result moved the Eagles to a 5-3 record on the year with a 3-2 mark in ODAC action, while the Tigers matched BC's marks at 5-3 during 2024 and a 3-2 standing in league match ups.
 
Bridgewater was stopped on the opening drive of the match up that forced an Alex Solorzano punt to H-SC. The Tigers moved the ball 83 yards on a 12-play drive, including a 20-yard pass-and-catch from quarterback Carter Sido to Manning Lasso that resulted in a touchdown. The ensuing PAT was true from Elijah Swett and the Tigers led 7-0 with 7:58 left in the first.
 
The Eagles began the next possession and scooted the ball into plus territory, but a Jaicere Bateman interception caught by Joseph Pierre for a 51-yard return gave the Tigers possession deep inside Eagles' territory with 1:46 left in the opening quarter. The BC defense held strong and forced a field goal by Swett to make the score 10-0 with 32 seconds left in the opening quadrant. Hampden-Sydney increased its lead to 17-0 following a seven-yard touchdown grab by Sutton Lasso from Sido with 9:33 to go in the opening half.
 
After a touchback, the Eagles once again put together a lengthy drive that brought the home side into the red zone, but a fumble resulted in the end of a promising drive. The Tigers put together a 10-play possession, but a fumble by Austin Fernandez was picked up by Demarco Felming to give Bridgewater life with 2:50 left in the second frame.
 
A touchdown drive, highlighted by a 20-yard reception from Ian Browne, and completed by a three-yard grab from Kyle Beck put the Eagles back in the contest at 17-7 after a PAT by Jack Hendren with 28 seconds left in the half sent the game into halftime. 
 
Hampden-Sydney received the ball to start the second half and went to work putting together an eight-play drive that resulted in a 40-yard field goal from Swett to increase the lead to 20-7 with 11:02 to go in the third quarter.
 
The Eagles took over on the ensuing drive on their own 27-yard line and worked the ball down the field before a 17-yard touchdown by Jacob Perdue from Bateman ona flea-flicker moved the scoreline to 20-14 with 5:26 to go in the third and gave the Eagles life.
 
The two sides traded possessions for the remainder of the period before the Tigers capitalized on a nine-play 62-yard drive to increase their lead to 28-14 with 13:10 remaining in regulation.
 
Each team traded possessions, but it was Bridgewater to find the end zone next as a 10-yard grab from Jamel Johnson resulted in a touchdown for BC. The 12-play drive was extended after a fourth down conversion from Bateman on a 10-yard rush kept the Eagles in the contest with 2:29 remaining on the scoreboard at 28-21 in favor of the visitors. 
 
Hampden-Sydney worked out the rest of the clock and garnered a pair of first downs, especially thanks to a 55-yard scamper by Terry Hicks, to kneel out the remainder of the clock and walk away with a 28-21 victory.
 
For the Eagles, Bateman finished 23-for-39 through the air with 229 yards with three touchdowns paired to just one interception. He also ran for 38 yards in the defeat. 
 
While Bateman was the team's leading rusher, Brendan Robinson pitched in 19 yards on six rushes and Wyatt Jervis took a team-high 12 carries for 17 yards.
 
Kyle Beck paced the Eagles with 60 yards on five catches, including a touchdown, while Cedric Drumgoole grabbed a team-high seven passes and gathered 56 yards. Browne snagged four passed for 45 yards, while Evan Welsh pitched in three catches for 29 yards of offense. Eight total pass catchers finished with at least one grab in the defeat.
 
Defensively, Aaron Moore led the Eagles with eight tackles, including seven solo stops, while Jalen Mathews finished with seven tackles. Fleming tallied 2.5 TFLs, including 0.5 sacks and a forced fumble, while TJ Lowery ended the day with 2.0 TFL that involved 1.0 sacks. Fleming also recovered the lone forced fumble on Saturday. 
 
Sido led the game with 241 yards through the air on 24 completions with three touchdowns. Hicks paced the contest with 195 yards on the ground via 26 rushes and Ethan Dowdy finished the day with a game-high 93 yards receiving after grabbing eight passes. Manning Lasso found paydirt twice off five catches for 57 yards through the air.
 
Brendan Wallace tallies 10 tackles, including nine solo, with 1.0 TFL, while Markevus Graves-Franklin made seven stops in the win for the Tigers. 
 
Joseph pulled down the only interception for the Tigers' defense, while Wallace scooped up one fumble.
 
Hendren was true on all three PAT attempts and Sweet was 2-for-3 from field goal range with a long of 40 yards and nailed both point-after tries. 
 
For the game, Hampden-Sydney outgained Bridgewater 438-316 with a 197-87 edge on the ground. The Tigers also garnered 24 first downs compared to 22 from the Eagles.
 
This is Bridgewater's first loss against Hampden-Sydney since a 24-14 decision in Farmville, Virginia, on November 6, 2021. 
 
The Eagles return to action on November 9 for Senior Day against Washington and Lee. Kickoff is set for 2 pm with Senior Day festivities to begin prior to the contest.