Bridgeport was able to turn a negative into a positive. Because of that, they turned what looked like certain defeat into a victory.

 

Coming off a thrashing at the hands of Fairmont Senior a week ago, the Indians looked to be headed for their second straight loss as they were down 10 points with less than six minutes to go to Robert C. Byrd. What happened after that was pure joy for the Tribe and pure misery for the Eagles.

 

BHS scored twice in the final five minutes to cap an amazing comeback and get a 41-35 win in a game that went back and forth for all four quarters. The late surge gave the Tribe an improbable win on homecoming night in one of the best games in recent memory.

 

The win also helped ease the sting Cole had felt from what he believed was his squad not always giving four quarters of effort in several games this year.

 

“I’m so happy for our kids,” said Cole. “There’s not much experience, and I don’t care if it is game five, we just don’t have experience. Those kids deserved to win, but let’s give Robert C. Byrd credit. Whenever we got momentum they took it back because they’re one heck of a football team. We were finally able to get the win and turn last week's negative into a positive in a game that was tough physically and mentally.”

 

Mentally, the RCB faithful had to be feeling pretty good about themselves with 6:45 to play. At that time, freshman Jeremiah King went off tackle and raced 38 yards for a touchdown. Following the last of Ryan Longerbeam’s five extra points, the Eagles led 35-25.

 

“We could have folded right then. We didn’t,” said Cole.

 

It would be Jake Bowen that would get things started in a positive fashion as he returned the kickoff to the Tribe’s 45. Four plays later, Bowen blasted up the gut and from 17 yards out and that was followed by a two-point conversion run by D’Andre Holloway for a 35-33 score.

 

Then, the Indians caught the Eagles off guard. And they did it with a play by one of their own who had never practiced it before.

 

Senior kicker Evan Ogden, who missed his first two extra points, more than atoned for it on the kick off. He pooched the ball perfectly to a section of the field where no one from RCB was located and Austin Gibson scooped it up to give BHS the ball at the RCB 34 yard line.

 

“Oddly enough, he doesn’t practice that. We have the luxury of having two kickers and (Evan) doesn’t practice that. For him to come through like that after having those tough extra point misses is pretty gratifying,” said Cole. “I hope it gives him more confidence because I knew he was somewhat of a competitor.”

 

This scoring drive produced a bit of drama. The Indians were faced with a fourth-and-inches from their own 25 and Bowen picked up three yards for new life. Two plays later he was in the end zone when he swept to the left and outraced everyone from 20 yards out to put BHS up for good. For good measure, Bowen added the two-point conversion for the 41-35 lead with 2:12 to play.

 

RCB didn’t go far on its final possession. On a fourth-and-5 play from their own 35, a pass play came up a few yards short thanks to yet another big defensive play from Austin Gibson.

 

“The kids that put in the time and investment, it paid off tonight,” said Cole. “After last week’s game, this was just huge.”

 

Bowen was huge too. He managed to finish with 252 yards on 32 carries with five touchdowns. Every single yard was needed as the Tribe finished with 363 yards of offense – 272 on the ground and 91 through the air.

 

“He’s an athlete and athletes rise. We needed him in the Liberty game and he did the same thing,” said Cole.  “We needed him tonight and, my God, did he ever … I’ll take Jake Bowen over a lot of players.”

 

The Eagles are going to have a hard time feeling they didn’t let it slip away. Along with the 10-point lead late, RCB finished with 484 yards of offense, including 362 yards on the ground as Ghovan Davidson and King put up big numbers.

 

Davidson finished with 20 carries for 241 yards. King added 108 yards on just nine carries.

 

“We knew they could run the football and they hurt us on the edge. When you get 21 (Davidson) and 23 (King), and I don’t care if he’s a freshman or not, when you get those guys on the edge and their shoulders are square and they’re coming down hill it shouldn’t be that tough to make a play, but it is.”

 

When the second half started, the Eagles had a 14-12 lead and the ball. That wouldn’t stay the case long as the Eagles fumbled and Gibson once again recovered.

 

"For him to have a game like that has to be gratifying,” said Cole on Gibson’s play throughout, which included a stop on a fourth-and-one play in the third as well.

 

With the ball at the RCB 38 after the fumble, it would take seven plays and one fourth down conversion before Bowen struck. On a third-and-six play he exploded up the gut from 23 yards out and left BHS up 18-14 following a failed two-point conversion pass.

 

As the quarter began to wind down, the Eagles didn’t seem to be in a good place. The club started at the six, but soon turned bad field position into a touchdown.

 

After moving the ball away from the goal line, they managed to work the ball to their own 42. On second down, Xavier Lopez stood tall in the pocket with pressure coming at him and hit a wide open Gage Harman for the touchdown and a 21-18 lead on the final play of the third following the PAT.

 

RCB would put itself in position to go up 10 points for the first time after Jaden Marino came up big and snuffed out a Bridgeport fourth down play. And it didn’t take long for the Eagles to capitalize.

 

Davidson took the handoff on the first play and plowed over a Bridgeport defender and shook loose from a couple of additional tackles for what turned into a 70-yard run and a 28-18 lead with 9:14 to go.

 

Again, Bowen had the answer. Bridgeport managed to get the ball to midfield on a pass interference call and Bowen took advantage of the situation on the next play. The senior tailback exploded up the gut from 50 yards out to make the score 28-25 after Ogden hit his first and only point-after kick of the game.

 

RCB scored on its next drive when King put the visitors back up 10 only to watch the late rally.

 

The Indians would strike first in the contest and they would do so on the second drive of the game. It was the type of drive the hosts wanted as they would use 10 plays to cover 87 yards to get the early advantage.

 

Although the drive consisted of nine runs, it was a pass play that put Bridgeport in position to score. Devin Vandergrift, who finished 4-for-10 for 91 yards, took advantage of the Eagles putting nine men in the box and hit Connor Robe for a 36 yard pass play that put the Tribe into RCB territory at the 39.

 

Four plays later, including a 16-yard Jake Bowen run to the 1, Bridgeport was in for six. Trey Pancake did the honors with a one-yard plunge up the gut. Unfortunately, in what would be a harbinger of things to come the extra point hit the goal post and the Tribe was up 6-0 with 1:15 in the first.

 

If the score rattled the Eagles, it didn’t show. In fact, the visitors would need just three plays to cover 70 yards and eventually gain the lead.

 

The drive started with a Lopez 23-yard pass to Sponaugle in the middle of the BHS defense. Two plays later, King shrugged off two Bridgeport tacklers that hit him high and rambled 44-yards for the score. The first of two first half point-after kicks by Longerbeam made it 7-6 Eagles with 11:50 to go before the break.

 

Bridgeport would take the lead two possessions later. The Indians used five plays to cover 75 yards with Bowen doing the honors. The Tribe overloaded the boundary to the right and Bowen exploded through a hole and went 40 yards for the score.

 

The score would remain 12-7 when the point-after kick was well short of the mark with 4:58 to go in the second. Again, the Eagles would answer.

 

Starting at their own 35, the Eagles rode the legs of Davidson to the Promised Land. He capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 10-yard score off of a stretch play to make it 14-12 with 2:07 showing.

 

The first half stat line looked like a reversal from most close contests between the two schools. The Eagles had 185 yards rushing and 65 yards passing for 250 yards. Bridgeport finished the half with 176 yards of offense, but 72 of it came through the air.

 

Bowen finished the half with 82 yards on 12 carries as BHS rushed the ball 18 times for 104 yards. Vandergrift was 3-for-7 with an interception for 72 yards.

 

Davidson was the main threat for the Eagles. He had 12 carries for 138 yards. King had six carries for 52 yards.

 

Lopez finished the half 4-for-10 passing for 65 yards. He would finish the game 11-of-21 for 162 yards.

 

Bridgeport returns to action next week against Buckhannon-Upshur at Red Crites Field.  Robert C. Byrd will return home next Friday to face off with Lewis County.

 

Both games begin at 7 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by Ben Queen and Joey Signorelli of www.benqueenphotography.com.