BRIDGEWATER, Va. (WHSV) – The Bridgewater football team returns to the Jopson Athletic Complex this weekend to host Hampden-Sydney.

Bridgewater (5-2, 3-1) is coming off their first conference loss at Randolph-Macon 49-16. The Eagles turned the ball over three times on offense, which included two Jaicere Bateman interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

Bridgewater head coach Scott Lemn says the offense lacked consistency, adding that the mistakes on offense were too much to overcome.

“We have to be able to learn from this,” Lemn said after the loss. “We have a new competition and a new team that wants to be able to beat us.”

The Randolph-Macon loss puts Bridgewater one game back of Randolph-Macon and Washington and Lee for first place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

“We still have a lot of goals in front of us,” Lemn said.

Hampden-Sydney is led by first-year head coach Vince Luvara after serving as defensive coordinator at Washington & Jefferson. Under Luvara, the Presidents’ defense was one of the best in all of Division III, recording 64 All-Presidents Athletic Conference selections.

Offensively, the Tigers (4-3, 2-2) are led by Carter Sido. Lemn describes him as dynamic and a player who can beat you with his arm and legs. Sido looks to Ethan Dowdy, who leads the ODAC in receiving touchdowns.

“It’s a group we have to be ready to defend on the backend, but also to rush,” Lemn said.

Defensively, Lemn expects Hampden-Sydney to feature a variety of looks.

“You see a team playing on an upward trend,” Lemn said.

Kick-off on Saturday is at 2 p.m

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