College Football Final – Guilford 35, Bridgewater 28

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Josh Schow (Herndon, Va./Herndon) ran for a career-high three touchdowns and the Quakers’ defense made a key fourth-down stand with under a minute to play in a 35-28 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) football win over visiting Bridgewater College Saturday.

Schow’s final touchdown, a one-yard run, gave the Quakers (5-1. 2-1 ODAC) a 35-21 lead with 4:19 left in the game, but the Eagles (4-2, 1-2 ODAC) answered with an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by Jacob Wright’s third rushing score of the game, a one-yard plunge.

The Eagles’ William Hanna recovered the ensuing on-side kick at Bridgewater’s 46-yard line with 2:20 left in regulation. Bridgewater quarterback Ross Rushing moved his team back into the red zone thanks to a 25-yard completion to Logan Sullivan and a 15-yard run. Wright carried twice down to Guilford’s five-yard line, which brought up a third and one. Following a time out, Keith Jennings could not handle
Rushing’s pass in the back of the end zone, leading to fourth and short with 59 seconds left. Bridgewater used its final time out and called Wright’s number. The senior ran into his blockers at the line and Guilford’s Karl Roberts (Charlotte, N.C./North Mecklenburg) corralled him from behind. A measurement showed Wright inches short of the first down and returned possession to the Quakers with 53 seconds left. As Bridgewater was out of time outs, Guilford knelt down twice to end the game.

Guilford quarterback Matt Pawlowski (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford), who entered the game ranked fourth among NCAA Division III passing yards leaders, threw for 168 yards and a touchdown (both season lows), but ran for 84 yards and a score on a team-high 16 carries. Pawlowski’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Read (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay Varina) broke a 21-21 tie early in the fourth quarter. Guilford’s De’Eric Bell added 79 rushing yards on 10 carries and also caught four passes for 26 yards. Schow had 64 rushing yards in his first game back after a two-game absence due to injury. Guilford entered the contest as Division III’s leader in third-down conversions and moved the chains 15 times in 19 chances today. The Quakers went five-for-five in the red zone.

Bridgewater’s Wright led all ball carriers with 97 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Rushing added 43 yards on the ground and also completed 11-of-18 passes for 116 yards. Starting quarterback Matthew Pisarcik completed nine passes for 155 yards, including a 29-yard scoring strike to Cliff Woodard in the first quarter.

Guilford linebacker Hunter Hoots (Midway, N.C./North Davidson) made a team- and career-high 15 stops, including one of Guilford’s two sacks. Roberts and Satiir Stevenson both made seven tackles. Alex Collins paced the Eagles with nine stops.

Now 5-1 for the first time since 1997, coach Chris Rusiewicz’s Quakers hit the road to play league-rival Randolph-Macon College next Saturday (10/25) at 1:00 p.m.