RIDGEWATER, Va. – Quarterback Karsten Miller (Thomasville, N.C./North Davidson (NW Mississippi C.C.)) passed for a career-high 429 yards and four second-half touchdowns in Guilford College’s 49-23 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) football win at Bridgewater College (4-4, 1-4 ODAC) Saturday. Sophomore Harrison Kiser (Greensboro, N.C./Page) tied the Quakers’ school record with three field goals in Guilford’s (4-4, 2-2 ODAC) second straight win.
Miller, who posted the eighth-best passing day in school history, found the defensive matchup to his liking right from the start. The senior completed a 47-yard pass to Tyriek Russell (Durham, N.C./Southern Durham) on the game’s first offensive play. Miller guided Guilford inside Bridgewater’s 30-yard line on its first five drives, three of which ended in Kiser field goals of 32, 20 and 35 yards, respectively. Miller frequently extended plays against the Eagles’ pass rush and found open receivers downfield for big plays. He had seven completions of at least 20 yards and averaged 17.9 yards per completion.
Guilford junior Montek Johnson (Hamlet, N.C./Richmond Senior) had four first-quarter catches for 100 yards and finished with a career-high five grabs for 124 yards and a touchdown. Russell caught a game-high seven passes for 120 yards, including a 10-yard shovel pass he took into the end zone for his team-leading sixth touchdown catch of the year. The score was sandwiched between Miller’s 16-yard scoring strike to his brother, Khylil (Thomasville, N.C./North Davidson (Eastern Kentucky)), and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Johnson in Guilford’s 20-point third quarter.
The Quakers’ defense and special teams contributed plays that helped put the game out of reach. Trevon Simmons’ fumble recovery late in the first quarter led to De’Eric Bell’s three-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter that gave Guilford its first lead. Rookie Daquan Mason’s (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) coal-cracker hit on Bridgewater kick returner Raymond Goodman forced a third-quarter fumble recovered by the Quakers’ Jeremiah Hedrick (Sedalia, N.C./Southern Guilford) on Bridgewater’s 25-yard line. Two plays later, Johnson broke ankles and tackles on the way to a 24-yard touchdown reception that opened a 42-16 advantage.
Guilford’s Terry Singleton had his team-leading third interception of the season and C.J. Hobbs made a game-high eight tackles.
Bell carried a season-high 28 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He has matched his career high with nine rushing scores this season, third-most in school history. Khylil Miller finished with five catches for 58 yards and sophomore tight end Evan Carnes caught two passes for 52 yards, including a two-yard fourth-quarter touchdown, his first collegiate score.
Bridgewater senior running back Malivai Barker enjoyed a big day his final home game with 152 rushing yards on 18 carries. Apart from Barker, the Eagles struggled to move the ball on Homecoming as three quarterbacks combined to complete just 10-of-23 passes for 123 yards. Alex Galloway caught three passes for 55 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown to cap the hosts’ first offensive series.
Coach Chris Rusiewicz’s Quakers host Randolph-Macon College Saturday (11/4) in Guilford’s Homecoming football game.