Chattanooga Native Darrell Bridges Faces Football Moc Saturday

It was the fall of 2012 and a talented trio – Darrell Bridges,  Vonn Bell and Shaqualm McCoy – at Ridgeland High School ran the Wing T offense to near perfection over, around and through most every opponent who dared step on the field under Friday Night Lights.

Also known as “Earth, Wind and Fire”, the threesome led the Panthers under coach Mark Mariakis to a school record 13-2 win-loss mark and a state runner-up finish.

Today, those three – Bridges (earth), McCoy (wind) and Bell (fire) - are now displaying their pigskin talents at the college level as Bell has a national championship ring for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Bridges is the lead running back for Presbyterian College of the Big South Conference and McCoy is a running back for the Blue and Gold of the UTC Mocs after a year at LaGrange College.

UTC vs. Presbyterian: Saturday night, Chattanooga travels to Clinton, S.C. to face Bridges and the Presbyterian College Blue Hose at 7 p.m. at Bailley Memorial Stadium where the hosts are a modest 3-0 at night since installing lights last year.

“It’s a big deal to play UTC this week here on our field as I know several of their players,” said Bridges a redshirt sophomore running back who will also face the Mocs next fall at Finley Stadium in a return game.

Both teams are coming off important wins as the No.8 Mocs defeated Southern Conference foe Samford, 31-21, on the road, while the Blue Hose topped Campbell, 23-13, at home.

The 6-1, 200-pound back was a key to the Presbyterian win as he rushed for a career-high 132 yards and two scores and is averaging 106.3 yards per game.

“I feel I am running well and look forward to Saturday night to see how I do against the Mocs defense,” said the all-state prep player who rushed for a Chattanooga area record 2,430 yards and a school record 39 touchdowns as a senior three years ago.

 “I am sure (UTC defensive end) Keionta Davis and I will meet around the line of scrimmage several times Saturday night and may the best man win,” Bridges said with a laugh.

Rude Awakening: But the prep standout with an all-everything resume quickly found the impressive past and press clippings from Friday nights alone wouldn’t earn him a start on Saturdays.

“I didn’t come to Presbyterian in top shape and tore a hamstring muscle the first day of practice and  ended up redshirting my freshman year,” Bridges stated. "I learned the hard way that I was not physically ready for college football.

“I also discovered that winning at the college level takes more than just running with the ball, but it’s year round dedication to the sport and spending a good deal of time studying  film of the opposing defenses.”

The history major who plans to coach and teach after college, also acknowledged being humbled by the early college injury.

“At this level you cannot just rely on speed and talent to win as we did in high school, but it’s understanding schemes and strategies.”

So for the Chattanooga native, the demands of college football has brought the former prep star back down to earth, took a little wind out of his sails early on, but the setbacks have caused a renewed fire in him to work hard and succeed on Saturdays especially this week against his hometown college.

• Game Notes: in 2009, UTC traveled to Clinton and UTC coach Russ Huesman earned his first college road win as a head coach, 29-13

• Since night games returned to Bailley Memorial Stadium in 2014, PC is now 3-0 under the lights after defeating Campbell 23-13 last Saturday night.

• The Blue Hose opened the 2014 season with a night game against Bluefield that ended in a 69-14  rout. PC then earned a 10-7 win over 12th-ranked Furman the following week under the lights (and in the fog.)

• PC is 2-4 all-time versus the Mocs but 0-1 since transitioning to Division I in 2007. The only meeting between since 2007 came in 2009 in Clinton with UTC claiming a 29-13 victory.

• PC won the first ever meeting between the two with a 7-6 victory in 1930. The Blue Hose then earned their second victory over the Mocs in 1961 with another one-point victory at 10-9

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net