New Tailback Ready To Go (Daily News-Record)

Bridgewater faces Shenandoah in football today.

Daily News-Record - By Jeremy Cothran

BRIDGEWATER — When Phillip Carter chooses to express himself, he often takes a trip down the left – i.e., creative — side of his brain.

Sometimes, it’s finding his inner shutterbug through digital photography, or perhaps impromptu poetry. Often, it’s via spontaneous, violent thrashes of a No. 2 pencil in his sketchbook.

Bridgewater College football coach Michael Clark, however, plans for Carter to express himself in a different avenue today – right through, around and over Shenandoah’s defense.

The Eagles (1-0) have a 1 p.m. date with the Hornets (0-1) at Jopson Field, and Carter will start at tailback in place of the injured Winston Young. It’s a role Carter has prepared himself for the entire summer, at the urging of Clark.

"Coach [Clark] always tells us that we’re ‘one play away,’" Carter said after practice this week. "We know that anybody can step up and make plays in this program."

Carter rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown in the second half of BC’s 41-0 romp over McDaniel on Sept. 2. Rocket Gadsden will move up to the No. 2 spot.

Offensive coordinator Joey Soltis said the Eagles’ backups – in particular Carter — are more than ready to carry the load.

"If Winston had graduated [last year]," Soltis said, "this is the guy everybody would be talking about."

At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Carter is a punishing runner, an attribute the BC staff worked hard to refine this summer. The knock on the Spotsylvania native’s game last year was that he hit the hole too soft, and you couldn’t trust him in passing situations, but those are issues Soltis said have all been rectified.

"He’s really been one of our most improved players," Soltis said.

And much like the way Carter defines himself through artistic expression, BC has been known to get a little creative with the play calling whenever it faces Shenandoah. Last year, the Eagles relied on not one, not two but three trick plays for touchdowns, a well-known favorite of former offensive coordinator Bob Colbert – now the head coach at St. Vincent – but an area that hasn’t yet been tapped by Soltis.

BC emphasized during the offseason that its trademark trick plays – "special" plays in the Eagles’ parlance – would remain part of the repertoire. Whether they’re unveiled against Shenandoah remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure -- don’t expect any such wizardry from the Hornets.

Shenandoah, a traditionally run-heavy team under coach Paul Barnes, carried the ball 40 times against Catholic in its season-opening loss. But it’s the 2004 contest, a comfortable 35-13 victory by BC, that still gives Clark nightmares. The Hornets ran 94 plays from scrimmage, a majority of them on the ground, and chewed up 41 minutes on the clock.

Clark said the key to stuffing the Hornets’ offensive game plan is to put SU in obvious passing situations. Starting quarterback Derby Blake was ineffective for Shenandoah last week, completing only four of 16 passes and tossing a late interception. SU will be without backup and former Bridgewater quarterback Richard Glick, who will miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg.

Clark noted the Hornets added some variety to their ground game this year. After watching film of SU’s 17-6 loss to Catholic, he noticed Shenandoah dropped its traditional wing-T formation in favor of an I-formation with multiple receivers in an attempt to spread the field and create more running lanes.

"It’s an offense in transition," Clark said. "That being said, they’ve had a lot of success against us running the ball. We’ve got to be prepared."

Offensively, the Eagles are riding high after carving up the Green Terror for 505 yards. Junior quarterback Jeff Highfill was BC’s leader through the air (187 yards, two touchdowns) and on the ground (105 yards, one touchdown), but the Eagles’ coaches are asking for more consistency from the Roanoke native, who looked effective throwing the ball down the field but often overthrew or skipped short passes.

"He was exceptionally good with the driver," Clark said with a chuckle, "bad with the short putts."

Just as importantly, BC hopes its vaunted rushing attack remains in gear. BC gained 318 yards against McDaniel, despite having Young for only a quarter and a half.

To remain productive, the Eagles probably will have to rely on their resident artiste, who embraces many disciplines. Well, everything except painting.

"It’s not my thing," Carter said, "but I’ll get dirty."

Which, of course, is music to a coach’s ears.