by Mike Hustava, Sports Information Assistant
Despite holding a 17-3 lead in the fourth quarter, the Saint Vincent Bearcats dropped their season opener in overtime to the Bridgewater Eagles by a final score of 20-17. 

Tied at 17 going into overtime, Saint Vincent started with the ball at the 25-yard line. On the first play, All-American defensive end Dominic Jeter tackled Mike Kale from behind and forced a fumble and Bridgewater had the ball. Five plays later, Will Davis kicked a game-winning 23-yard field goal to give the Eagles the 20-17 win. 

Leading 10-3 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Bearcats embarked on a 17-play, 73-yard drive capped by a one-yard run from quarterback Aaron Smetanka to push their lead to 17-3 with just under 11 minutes left. However, Bridgewater then went on a scoring drive of its own. The Eagles moved the ball down the field and were aided by a facemask against the Bearcats. Several plays later, Darrin McKenzie plunged across the goal line to cut the Saint Vincent lead to seven with juts over seven minutes left in regulation. 

The Bearcats caught a break on the ensuing kickoff as it sailed out of bounds and gave Saint Vincent great field position. With five minutes left, Huey Ehredt was stopped on fourth-and-one at the Bridgewater 27-yard line. The Eagles got the ball back and took only four plays to move the ball 73 yards, with Carlos Gonzalez connecting to Cassidy Burns for the game-tying score. 

With just under three minutes left, Saint Vincent attempted a potential game-winning drive but came-up short and the game went into overtime. 

The Bearcat offense opened the game with an up-tempo, fast-paced offensive scheme. Smetanka connected on several short passes while the running back tandem of Kale and Ehredt provided a balanced rushing attack. The drive stalled at the Bridgewater 21-yard line before freshman Morgan Porter gave the Bearcats a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal. 

While the offense gave Saint Vincent an early lead, the Bearcat defense set the tone for the first half. The Bearcats limited the Eagles to only 65 yards of offense on 28 plays and held the Bridgewater quarterbacks to a single completion on ten attempts. Saint Vincent also forced the Bridgewater offense to go three-and-out on four their six offensive possessions in the half. Linebacker Anthony Johnson led the way with seven tackles and fellow linebacker Armando Fortunato added five stops. 

The Bearcats first touchdown of the season came with just over eight minutes left in the second quarter. Kale scored on a one-yard run and gave Saint Vincent the 10-0 lead heading into halftime. The score was set-up by a 30-yard pass from Smetanka to Chace Ginyard that got the ball down to the Bridgewater three yard line. However, Ginyard was injured on the play and, while he walked off the field under his own power, he did not return to the game.

Offensively, Kale rushed for 119 yards on 30 attempts and scored one touchdown, while Ehredt carried eight times for 27 yards. Smetanka and Chris Brown rushed for 15 and 13 yards, respectively. Smetanka completed 18 of 28 passes for 190 yards and was sacked three times in the game.

Defensively, Johnson picked up right where he left off last season as he registered 12 tackles. Fortunato added nine stops and Chaz Coleman contributed with seven tackles, six unassisted. 

For Bridgewater, Gonzalez and Hutchinson split the quarterback duties and combined to go only 8-for-27 for 145 yards. McKenzie carried 19 times for 68 yards to lead the Eagles rushing attack. 

The Bearcats outgained the Eagles offensively, 367-277 yards and ran 83 plays compared to Bridgewater's 64. Saint Vincent turned the ball over twice on fumbles while the Eagles lone turnover came on an interception. 

Among the highlights of the first half was a spectacular one-handed interception by defensive back Dan Wirkowski. The safety ranged over and jumped a pass from quarterback Jacob Hutchinson and gave the ball back to the Bearcats with great field position. He left the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be an ankle injury. 

Bridgewater got its first points of the game in the third quarter on a 29-yard field goal from Davis at the 4:15 mark.