EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Bridgewater College football team took part in the inaugural Cape Henry Bowl as part of the Chesapeake Challenge at Wilkes on Saturday falling to the Colonels 35-17 at Schmidt Stadium.
 
The Eagles end the season 7-4, while Wilkes moves to 5-6 to close out the year.
 
The Colonels were able to get the first score of the game as the home side marched nearly 70 yards on five plays capped off by a two-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Rodriguez to Jason Dean. Wilkes added another touchdown from Rodriguez to Dean to make the game 14-0 with 8:36 to go in the first half. JayJay Jordan added a short rushing touchdown as the Colonels went up 21-0.
 
The Eagles used several long rushes from Kennedy Fauntleroy to get into scoring position near the end of the second quarter. Bridgewater then took a pair of shots at the end zone from inside the red zone, but both were knocked away by Wilkes defensive backs. Jack Hendren nailed a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the opening half to make the score 21-3.
 
Bridgewater finally got its first touchdown of the game late in the third quarter as Malcolm Anderson found Freddie Watkins who ran in for the score. Watkins then kept the PAT attempt and ran in for a two-point conversion to tighten the game at 21-11 with two minutes left in the third.
 
The Colonels responded with a 40-yard touchdown by Elijah Jules to go ahead 28-11 in the opening seconds of the final quarter. After getting possession again a few minutes later, the Colonels tacked on another score as Rodriguez found Devin Higgins in the end zone to make it a 35-11 game.
 
Brendan Robinson took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for his second kick return for a touchdown on the season. The two-point conversion attempt failed, which set the score at 35-17. That scoreline held until the clock hit zero.
 
Wilkes claims the inaugural Cape Henry Bowl Championship as Rodriguez was named the game's Most Valuable Player following his performance. He finished 17-for-31 passing for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Anderson threw for 217 yards on 17 completions, including the touchdown to Watkins. Jaylen Wood entered the game and completed five passes for 62 yards in the fourth quarter.
 
Fauntleroy ran for 58 yards on 12 attempts, while Robinson added 29 yards on the ground. Anderson led the team with 18 carries.
 
The receiving corps was led by senior Tyler Gilliam who hauled in four passes for 71 yards, including a 54-yard grab. Watkins finished with 53 yards receiving on three catches and a touchdown.
 
Defensively, Aaron Moore led the Eagles with eight tackles (six solo), while Shawn Harris and Aaron Nice finished with five each. Nice, Noah Hines, Cameron Martindale and Eli Rucker all finished with 1.0 TFLs, while Andrew Brown and Harris had 0.5 TFL each.
 
As a team, Bridgewater finished with 404 total yards of offensive, including 279 through the air. Meanwhile, the Eagles were 10-for-20 on third downs and actually held the Colonels to zero third-down conversions in the game.
 
This concludes the 2023 season for Bridgewater.