This year’s Randolph-Macon College football squad will long remember a lesson it learned Saturday: To have a shot at a conference title, a team has to be able to score from inside the 10-yard line.

  For most of the game, the Yellow Jackets failed to do so, and that failure against visiting Bridgewater College doomed Randolph-Macon to a 31-26 loss and left it unable to challenge Washington & Lee University for the ODAC title.

  Four times in the first 42 minutes of the game, the Yellow Jackets (3-2 ODAC, 7-2) got inside Bridgewater’s 10-yard line. All four times, they failed to get across the goal line, settling for field goals twice and turning the ball over on downs twice.

  Randolph-Macon led Bridgewater (3-2, 7-2) in virtually every statistic: first downs (26 to 7), total offense (95 plays for 456 yards to 48 plays for 308 yards), passing yards (280 yards to 87), possession time (34:43 to 25:17), and third down conversions (7-of-18 to 1-of-11).

  The Yellow Jackets led in another statistic, undesirable yet pivotal. Their offense gave up three scores to Bridgewater’s defense—two touchdowns and a safety.

  “There’s no question, that second half . . . that belonged to our defense,” Bridgewater coach Mike Clark said. “For them to play as much as they did, in the conditions that they played in, favored a big, physical Randolph-Macon team.”

  Even though the Eagles’ offense did not spend as much time on Randolph-Macon’s muddy field as the defense, it took advantage of the playing time it had. In the second quarter, when Bridgewater scored 20 points, the offense ran six plays and scored two touchdowns—on 70-yard and 78-yard passes from Hagan Driskell to Tyler Beiler.

  Driskell led the Eagles’ offense with eight completions in 15 attempts for 221 yards. Beiler finished with 7 receptions for 218 yards.

  “We saw things in their coverage we knew we could attack. When they play their cover forward, we can get one-on-one matchups,” Driskell said. “The O-line did a great job of protecting and Tyler ran great routes, made it easy for me.”

  Randolph-Macon’s quarterbacks did not fare as well as Driskell. Starter Luke Sellers completed 8 of 24 passes for 135 yards and two interceptions. Both were returned for touchdowns: a 32-yard return by Stephen Howard in the second quarter and a 15-yard return by Brandon Mitchell in the third.

  Randolph-Macon trailed 29-6 at the time that Sellers was replaced by Petrohovich with 2:35 in the third quarter. On the second play of the series, Drake Sanders scored from Bridgewater’s 42-yard line.

  The Yellow Jackets took two minutes and six plays to score on their next possession, capped by a 17-yard run by Thaddeus Scruggs with 12:43 left. They scored again on an 18-yard pass from Petrohovich to Dan Crouch with 3:56 left, closing to within 3 points, 29-26.

  Given its renewed energy and ability to score, Randolph-Macon looked every bit capable of winning in the final minutes, but with first down at its 10-yard line and 2:12 left in the game, Petrohovich threw an interception to Scottie Littles. That effectively ended Randolph-Macon’s comeback hopes, though a safety—Petrohovich was sacked in the end zone with 14 seconds left—made sure any hopes of a miracle ending were dead.

  Littles credited Darius Burrus’ coverage of Randolph-Macon receiver Earl Peoples’ with giving him the opportunity to be the hero.

  “Darius—our corner, No. 6—did a good job on 81, Peoples, cause he’s their go-to guy,” Littles said. “He jammed [Peoples] up, took him out of the read, and the quarterback just had to do something. He threw it right to me.”

  Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza was reluctant to place blame, but acknowledged that none of his quarterbacks played as well as they should have.

  “Without a doubt, our turnovers were killer,” Arruza said. “We did not play well enough at [the quarterback] position to win this game. . . . I’ve got to give credit to Bridgewater. They played a great game. They came prepared. They did a nice job.”
 
 
Bridgewater - 3 20 6 2—31
Randolph-Macon - 0 3 9 14—26

BC – Tacker FG 18
BC – Beiler 70 pass from Driskell (Thacker kick)
RMC – Storm FG 24
BC – Beiler 78 pass from Driskell (kick failed)
BC – Howard 32 interception return (Thacker kick)
RMC – Storm FG 23
BC – Mitchell 15 interception return (kick failed)
RMC – Sanders 42 run (run failed)
RMC – Scruggs 17 run (Storm kick)
RMC – Crouch 18 pass from Petrohovich (Storm kick)
BV – Safety (Petrohovich sacked in end zone)¶
 
RUSHING
Bridgewater – McKenzie 17 carries 65 yards, Tate 9-30, Team 1-(minus 1), Driskell 6-(minus 7). Randolph-Macon – Scruggs 34-140, Sanders 18-118, Sellers 8-18, Petrohovich 4-5

PASSING
Bridgewater – Driskell 8 completions 15 attempts 221 yards, 0 interceptions. Randolph-Macon – Sellers 8-24-135-2, Petrohovich 3-7-41-1.
 
RECEIVING
Bridgewater – Beiler 7 reception 218 yards, Delbridge 1-3. Randolph-Macon – Peoples 4-86, Atkinson 2-24, Sanders 2-6, Tyson 1-34, Crouch 1-18, Hendren 1-8.