Former Nansemond River High School football standout Ray Goodman III impressed in his freshman season.

Making the transition from high school sports to college isn’t easy. There are so many things that come into play not only during sport but away from it as well. However, Goodman was able to make a strong transition to his first year at Bridgewater College.

Goodman carved out a role in the running back rotation and on special teams. For the season, he played six games and finished with 38 rushes for 137 yards and a touchdown to go with 536 kick return yards and another touchdown. His kick return yards led the team.

Back in October, Goodman was named to the D3football.com team of the week for returning a kick return for 100 yards, tying a national record.

Goodman felt good about his first college season.

“I felt good about it, but I just wanted to come in and show what I can do,” Goodman said. “When I was given the opportunity, I showed full effort and contributed in the best way that I could.”

When Goodman came in, Bridgewater already had two veteran kick returners in front of him. Once he earned the starting spot, he never looked back. He didn’t think he was going to have an opportunity to make the contributions that he did so quickly.

For his sophomore campaign, he is looking to carve out more of a role in the running back rotation, as he saw limited action there in his first year. When he got to camp last season, there were 10 running backs in the meeting room, so Goodman knew he had his work cut out for him. After a few scrimmages, Goodman started to make a name for himself and got moved up to the travel team. From there, he felt like each week he was starting to move up and progress. Individual goals aren’t what he has in mind as opposed to what he wants to accomplish as a team.

“The goal is playoffs and then a ring, but we all have to be on the same page,” he said. “Whatever personal accolades come my way in the process of the team goals, I will accept. I realized worrying about individual accomplishments does nothing for the team. I want to have fun and help the team win.”

Goodman is at Bridgewater with high school teammates Dy’Quan McGhee and John Carter Jr., which has helped with the transition.