Bridge to play at Emory & Henry

STUARTS DRAFT — On Thursday Stuarts Draft High School’s Cody Bridge said that his football days were not over.

Bridge committed to play football at Emory & Henry, a NCAA Division III school in Emory. Bridge said that he chose the school because of its size and its location.

“It’s a lot like Stuarts Draft,” he said. “I like the classes because they are really small.”

The Wasps hold the record for the most Old Dominion Athletic Conference titles with 10, but have not won the conference outright since 2000. Last season, Emory & Henry tied for first on top of the standings in the ODAC, but Randolph Macon took home the title based on tiebreakers.

Bridge said that the Wasps’ football tradition was one of the reasons he chose them.

“The football program seemed really strong,” he said. “They have about as many kids on their team as we did.”

In addition to Emory & Henry, Bridge also looked at attending Averett and Shenandoah, but narrowed his choice after reviewing the academics.

“It is a little stricter on classes and I like the structure,” he said.

Bridge said that he would start his NCAA career as a wide receiver, but he hoped to put on additional weight during workouts to make a switch to the line.

“I’ll be going out as a wide receiver, but if I gain like 50 pounds I’ll switch,” he said.

Now that his high school football days are over, Bridge hopes to take the lessons he learned at Stuarts Draft with him.

“I learned leadership; that was the biggest part,” he said. “I learned a lot in the last two years.”