LHSAA rules Brian Bridgewater eligible to play at Scotlandville
It’s official; two-sport prospect Brian Bridgewater is eligible to play for Scotlandville High.
Scotlandville Principal Howard Davis said the school got its eligibility ruling from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association on the 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior late Thursday. Davis said contrary to previous reports, Bridgewater, a standout at Episcopal the past three seasons, plans to play football and basketball for the Hornets.
“It’s good news for him (Bridgewater),” Davis said. “The most important thing for us was to do what we needed to do from an administrative standpoint and request a ruling. Now that we have that ruling, the questions we needed to have answered have been.”
Davis said he did not expect Bridgewater to play in Friday’s football game between the Class 5A Hornets and Northeast. But Bridgewater did play, making three catches for 50 yards in a Scotlandville’s victory over Northeast.
Bridgewater played high school football for the first time last fall and had over 500 yards receiving as a tight end for Class 2A Episcopal, which advanced to the quarterfinals. LSU is among the schools recruiting Bridgewater in both sports. He is one of the state’s top tight end prospects.
Prior to 2011-12, Bridgewater garnered the most headlines for his play on the basketball court. The younger brother of former LSU player Brad Bridgewater and ex-University High player Sean Bridgewater averaged 23.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for an Episcopal team ranked in the top five.
As a sophomore, Bridgewater led Episcopal to the LHSAA’s Top 28 Tournament where it lost to eventual state champion Riverside Academy in the semifinals.
Bridgewater enrolled at Scotlandville in August, prompting school administrators to request an eligibility/move check.
Bridgewater lives in the Scotlandville zone. Scotlandville is the defending Class 5A state basketball champion and was the state runner-up in 2010 and 2011.