Bridgewater, VA – For those who follow Apprentice Football, they would certainly understand the song "On the Road Again".  For the 5^th time in a row, the Builders boarded their charter busses and headed west on I-64 towards Bridgewater, VA.  This week's game featured two teams who were looking to get back in the win column and start a run towards the end of the season.  Fr. QB Grant Swanger would get the start again for Apprentice today, but Mason Tatum would also see time behind center.  The Builders goal was to spoil Homecoming for the Eagles and head home with the win.

Apprentice wasted no time at the start of the first quarter, attacking the Bridgewater defense with a long pass that resulted in a pass interference call.  After a short run by Gabe Tejada, QB Grant Swanger found Ricardo Corpus for a pass, which resulted in a 1^st down around mid-field.  Unfortunately, the drive would stall, and the Eagles received the Jeremiah Morgan punt on their own 20-yard line.  However, the Builders defense was able to prevent Bridgewater from moving the ball, which allowed their offense to get back on the field for their 2nd drive of the game.  While they were able to move the ball, a 3^rd and 1 was unsuccessful and, once again, Apprentice would have to punt the ball.  The Eagles special teams prevented Jeremiah Morgan from punting, forcing him to scramble and they were able to take over in the redzone.  After a fumble recovery was called back, Bridgewater scored the first points of the game, on a 23-yard FG, to take the early 3-point lead, to end the quarter.

To start the second quarter, RB Lawrence Reed moved the pile and picked up a quick 1^st down.  A Swanger pass to Corpus resulted in a 22-yard gain, giving the Builders a 1^st down in Eagles territory.  Swanger would find Corpus again, this time for a TD to give Apprentice the lead, 7-3.  On the next series, the Builders' defense seized the momentum and forced Bridgewater to punt.  After moving the ball. Apprentice found themselves faced with a 3^rd down and 9 in Eagles territory, when Swanger found RB Lawrence Reed for a 1^st down at the 25-yard line.  With 15 seconds remaining in the half, Offensive Coordinator, Elton Brown called a trick play with a HB pass to QB Grant Swanger, but Swanger was called out at the 1-yard line with 6 seconds left.  The half would end with Bridgewater stopping a QB sneak, and the Builders went into the locker room with the advantage 7-3. 

The Eagles started the third quarter with the ball, but just like in the first half, the Apprentice defense was able to put together a 3 and out, giving the offense another opportunity to put points on the board.  On the first play of the series, Swanger found WR Leland Girdy on a 37-yard pass to move the ball into Bridgewater territory.  Unfortunately, they were unable to get points on the drive and after a Morgan punt, the Eagles would get the ball on their own 25-yard line.  Once again, Coach Nico Rogers defense frustrated the Eagles and did not allow them to gain a 1^st down.  However, after stalling on offense, the Builders had their punt blocked, which resulted in a special teams TD for Bridgewater, allowing them to retake the lead. 10-7.  They would add another TD and FG, to go up by two scores, 20-7 and that is way the quarter would end. 

The fourth quarter saw the Eagles open with a TD drive, for their 24^th unanswered point.  QB Mason Tatum came in to try to give Apprentice a spark was able to find Miles Goodman for a 38-yard pass play.  Tatum then found Ricardo Corpus in the endzone, but he was called for offensive pass interference.  Tatum didn't let them frustrate him, as he found Lawrence Reed for on pass to move the ball to the Bridgewater 7-yard line.  They would go for it on 4^th and goal but were unable to convert.  The offense would have a few more opportunities but as the game ended, the Builders would fall by a final score of 27-7.

Apprentice dominated in offensive yardage with a game total of 337.  QB Grant Swanger finished the game 14-19 for 175 yards and 1 TD, while Mason Tatum came in and was 7-16 for 85 yards, while rushing for 22 yards on 4 carries.  RB Lawrence Reed led the way for the Builders on the ground rushing for 43 yards with a long of 17.  WR's Miles Goodman, Leland Girday and Ricardo Corpus combined for a total of 198 yards receiving, with Corpus catching the lone TD of the day.  On defense, Paul Massey, Jr finished the game with 7 total tackles to go along with 1 sack, while Jaivon Walker also finished 7 totals tackles and Denzel Porter finished with 6.  Apprentice will return to action next Saturday as they make the short trip to Randolph-Macon College.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00pm.