Carter’s big day leads Bridgewater to 45-19 victory over McDaniel
BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Philip Carter rushed for 158 of Bridgewater’s 314 total yards on the ground to lead the Eagles to a 45-19 victory over McDaniel in season-opening non-conference football action on Saturday.
Carter scored four of his five touchdowns in the first half and reached the 100-yard plateau before halftime, staking Bridgewater (1-0) to a 28-3 advantage at the break.
Brad Baer (Westminster, Md./Westminster) led the Green Terror (0-1) with 71 yards on the ground in addition to 183 yards passing, completing 21 of 31 attempts.
Jeff Highfill added 98 yards passing for the Eagles, going 10-for-18 through the air.
Carter, who accounted for 53 yards on the opening drive, capped the 12-play, 80-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown dive at the 8:40 mark of the half.
Bridgewater gave the Green Terror defense a healthy dose of Carter early on, handing him the ball on the first four plays of the game to get the ball in McDaniel territory.
Nearly six-and-a-half minutes later, Carter scampered 23 yards to put the exclamation point on a 5-play, 56-yard drive that lasted just 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
Trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, McDaniel forced the Eagles to punt for the first time in the game, but a muffed punt, gave Bridgewater a first-and-goal and the one-yard line. Carter punched it in on the first play to make it a 21-0 game after the Luke Taylor extra-point.
After the third Green Terror punt of the day, the Eagles put together another 62-yard drive, using eight plays over a 2-minute, 16-second span, capped by Carter’s 24 jaunt around the left side.
Trailing 28-0, McDaniel put together its first sustained drive of the game but it stalled after 14 plays inside the five-yard line. The Green Terror elected to break up the shutout, sending in Jay Leonard (Westminster, Md./Westminster) for what amounted to an extra-point attempt, pulling the visitors within 28-3 at the break.
McDaniel carried that momentum over into the second half, helped in large part to a T.J. Develin (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) 40-yard catch-and-run, but Leonard could not convert from 34 yards out.
On its second possession of the second half, Bridgewater went back to the Carter show, handing him the ball eight times on a nine-play drive, capped by a one-yard dive to finish off the 44-yard march.
On the ensuing Green Terror possession, McDaniel marched 72 yards in eight plays before Eric Zwilsky (Knoxville, Md./Brunswick) put the finishing touches on the 2-minute, 55-second drive with a one-yard dive over the top to make it a 35-9 game.
After a perfect 14-for-14 showing last year, Leonard missed his first attempt of the 2007 season.
A Kyle Beach 32-yard field goal and Brad Jones 55-yard burst down the left sideline stretched the lead to 45-9 with 5:06 to play.
Leonard added a 22-yard field goal and freshman Raymond O’Hara (Yardley, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Tom Wenrich (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser) for his first collegiate score.
Matt Bergbauer (Westminster, Md./Westminster) led the Green Terror with seven catches for 51 yards while Zwilsky added 33 yards rushing and 25 yards receiving.
Derek Zabko (Dade City, Fla./Wesley Chapel) led the defense with nine tackles while Mike Weick (Holland, Pa./Penn Charter) had eight.
Bridgewater outgained McDaniel 438-340 overall, including 314-101 on the ground – the most yards the Green Terror defense has allowed rushing since allowing 318 to the Eagles in last year’s opener.
McDaniel returns to action in the Centennial Conference opener at Moravian on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
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