By Dave and Suzy Barta
Special to LoudounPrepSports.com

Falls Church (Sept. 13, 2008) - The No. 1-ranked Stone Bridge Bulldogs began their quest for a fourth straight AAA Liberty District title with a 63-0 shellacking of Marshall Friday night. While the score might indicate an offensive explosion, the Bulldog defense was equally as impressive and contributed their own fuel to the fire.

After an unsuccessful onside kick, the Statesmen opened the game on offense. The tone was set on the initial play as North Carolina State-bound defensive lineman Brian Slay calmly reached up and spiked Marshall quarterback Justin Stalcup’s first pass out of the air. The Statesmen were unable to record a first down, and punted to the Stone Bridge 14.

The Bulldogs came out running and easily pushed the ball into Marshall territory. Michael Prince’s apparent 60-yard touchdown run was called back for holding, but two plays later Patrick Thompson hit brother Zach Thompson over the middle and the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder outran the Statesmen safety for the nights’ first score. Abdul Shaban’s first of many PATs was good and Stone Bridge led 7-0.

Marshall went three and out and the Bulldogs took over on their own 48.  Patrick Thompson found Nick Sheehan for two quick strikes of 10 and 24 yards, and a pass interference call left the ball on the Marshall 12. Thompson rolled in from there and Stone Bridge was up 14-0 with 1:42 left in the first quarter.

The Statesmen were unable to dent the Bulldog defense and were forced to punt again from their own 2. The punt was short, and the Bulldogs had excellent field position on the Statesmen 30. From there it wasn’t long before Thompson hit Prince with a 4-yard toss for the touchdown, and Shaban’s kick made it 21-0 Stone Bridge.

At that point the Bulldog defense went full throttle. On second and 12, Stalcup felt a heavy rush and his pass was picked off by Kyle Gouveia at the 28, and the sophomore safety raced in for the TD, putting Stone Bridge in command 28-0

A 20-yard kick return gave Marshall decent field position on the 24, and a 21-yard completion from Stalcup to Aaron Gooding brought the Statesmen to midfield. But the Stone Bridge defenders struck again when John Bladel snagged Stalcup’s pass at the Stone Bridge 40 and carried it all the way to pay dirt. Once again, extreme pressure from the Bulldog front line led to the pick. Shaban added another extra point and the rout was in full swing 35-0.

Marshall was held without a first down once more, and the Bulldogs began at the Stone Bridge 30. Thompson found Nate Ingersoll over the middle to move the ball to midfield. On second down, Thompson fell back and dropped a screen pass to Marcus Harris who turned around and found himself in the middle of an armada of Bulldog linemen. The crew escorted the running back into the end zone and the PAT increased the scoring gap to an impressive 42-0.

During the ensuing kick off, kicker Spenser Rositano ricocheted the ball off a Marshall up-back, and Dare Ewetusa pounced on it for Stone Bridge. Thompson stayed with the passing game, and with 26 seconds left hit Bladel with a one-yard strike for the touchdown. Shaban’s seventh kick made the score 49-0 at the half.

The Bulldog starters remained in for one more series after the break and made the most of it. It took only six plays after the kick off for Thompson to deliver a fine 32-yard throw to Sheehan who beat the Marshall defender for his first TD as a Bulldog after transferring from Loudoun Valley. At 56-0 Stone Bridge was flirting with its highest point total in school history.

Marshall went nowhere during its possession, and the Stone Bridge reserves took over on the Bulldog 39. Gouveia led the offense and a pair of completions to Dan Chrost helped move the chains to the Statesmen 19. On the next play Harris raced through the right side and scored his second TD of the night to put Stone Bridge out of sight 63-0.

Marshall managed to put together a twelve play drive, aided by a roughing the kicker call, but the effort ended with another interception, this time by Rositano. Stone Bridge ran out the remainder of the clock to finish the game.

Patrick Thompson had a huge night, throwing for 249 yards and five TDs while rushing for another. He spread the joy around, hitting five different receivers for the scores. The Bulldog defense was scary, allowing only 93 yards of offense, while returning two picks for touchdowns and absolutely dominating the Statesmen.

The 63-0 score represents the largest margin of victory in Stone Bridge history. The Bulldogs stayed perfect in Liberty District play all-time at 22-0, and have a mind-numbing 51-2 regular season record dating back to 2003. Stone Bridge travels to Loudoun Valley for a non-district game next week.