Overwhelmed by Bulldogs

McLean Football Overwhelmed by Bulldogs
Stone Bridge gains second shutout in three weeks.
Rich Sanders
October 5, 2007




The Stone Bridge High football team continued its three-week streak of dominance last Friday night when it overpowered host McLean, 38-0, in a Liberty District game.

The win was the third in row for the Bulldogs (4-1 overall, 2-0 in the district), who in their prior two games had soundly beaten both Marshall, 35-0, and Loudoun Valley, 42-14.

Stone Bridge coach Mickey Thompson has been pleased with the play of quarterback and son Patrick Thompson, who completed 10-of-15 passes for 182 yards. Receiver Ryan Moody (90 yards, 1 TD) caught six of those passes. Jeron Gouveia caught two touchdown passes and ran for another score.

"The main thing now is he doesn’t see the rush," said coach Thompson, of his signal callers’ poise in the pocket. "He doesn’t seem to panic with all of that stuff in front of him and he sees the receivers."

With the recent lopsided games, coach Thompson said he has tested some other offensive formations. Known as a single wing offense, the Bulldogs ran out of the spread offense and also threw more than usual against the Highlanders. Thompson said his team might need such diversity later in the season.

"We wanted to work on the passing game a little, so we came out throwing," he said.
Thompson is pleased with the way his team has played throughout the season. Even in the Bulldogs’ 41-14 loss to Robinson several weeks ago, the coach said his squad did not play poorly with the exception of a bad third quarter.

"I was impressed with the way we played against Robinson too," said Thompson. "The third quarter got away from us. We had a bad quarter and you’re going to have that now and then, especially with a young team."

Defensively, Stone Bridge used a five-man front against Robinson, getting away from its usual 3-5 set.

"We went back to the 3-5 after [the Robinson game]," said Thompson, whose defense has recorded two shutouts over the past three weeks. "We’ve kind of gotten into a comfortable zone on defense. Guys are getting comfortable in their positions."

Next up for the Bulldogs is a district home game against South Lakes (1-4), which lost big to Woodson last week, 60-32.

Many will be expecting Stone Bridge to win easily. Thompson, with the success the Bulldogs have had in recent seasons, said his players are used to high expectations.

"For five years, everyone has expected us to win [on a weekly basis]," said Thompson. "That’s not something that’s real different. Our goal is [always] to win the championship, so we have to get focused on that. If they start looking [beyond South Lakes] and not concentrating on that game, I’m not a very good coach. I think South Lakes is dangerous. They have athletes and are going to score points."

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Loudoun Connection, VA