Stone Bridge Defeats Rival Loudoun Valley, 49-7

By Paul Tenorio

Friday, September 21, 2007

After a 41-14 loss to Robinson two weeks ago, Stone Bridge head coach Mickey Thompson said he was confused as to why so many people were dropping his team down in polls and seemingly counting them out.

"I'm going, 'We just played a really good team in Robinson and people won't play Robinson and we will and we happened to lose to them, big deal," Thompson said. "Dropping us down bothered us and we're playing with a little bit more emotion."

The result of that increased emotion: Two dominating wins, including a 49-7 defeat of rival Loudoun Valley on Thursday in Ashburn.

On offense, Stone Bridge was led by senior quarterback Patrick Thompson, who rushed nine times for 71 yards and a touchdown while also completing 9 of 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown.

But for the second straight week it was the Bulldogs defense that looked the most impressive.

After shutting out Marshall 35-0 on Sept. 14, the Stone Bridge defense was impeccable once again, limiting Loudoun Valley to just 13 total yards on offense in the first half. Thompson rested the starters for the entire second half, but even then the Bulldogs allowed just 126 total yards in the game.

"They're really flying to the ball and playing well," coach Thompson said. "I thought the guys who rotated in played really well too. The intensity level's picked up and I think that's the biggest thing."

As efficient as the defense was, the Stone Bridge offense look impressive as well, scoring touchdowns on seven of its eight first-half possessions.

The Bulldogs needed just two plays to score their first touchdown. After Patrick Thompson hit senior Jeron Gouveia on a 15-yard pass to move Stone Bridge to the Loudoun Valley 25-yard line, Gouveia took a handoff up the middle, spun away from the last defender and sprinted into the right corner of the end zone.

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Stone Bridge 49, Loudoun Valley 7

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The Stone Bridge football team takes the field in its game against Loudoun Valley. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Stone Bridge #3 Jeron Gouveia falls back as he is tackled by Loudoun Valley's #8 Nick Sheehan during the first quarter. Gouveia still made the touchdown. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Loudoun Valley's #21 Brien Oden fumbles during the first quarter. The ball is recovered by Stone Bridge's #59 Michael Ghanem. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Stone Bridge fans cheer during Thursday's game against Loudoun Valley. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Stone Bridge #6 Patrick Thompson breaks through for yardage during the first quarter of Thursday night's game. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Stone Bridge #6 Patrick Thompson breaks through in the first quarter with 7:17 on the clock. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Stone Bridge #2 Kareem Alexander scores a touchdown during the second quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Members of the Stone Bridge team congradulate #25 Andrew Ansell after he intercepted a Loudoun Valley pass to made a touchdown in the third quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Patrick Thompson made it 14-0 on the next possession with a 33-yard scamper down the right side. Then after a fumble gave Stone Bridge possession inside the Vikings 20-yard line, Gouveia again ran untouched into the end zone on a 15-yard draw to make it 21-0 with 3:58 left in the first quarter.

"(Gouveia) sees the field really well, he makes some moves out there, makes people miss," Mickey Thompson said. "He's pretty special."

Stone Bridge expanded the lead once again in the second quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Thompson to wide receiver Ryan Moody. Moody caught seven passes for 102 yards in the first half and was on pace to break the school record for most passes caught in a game, 10, if he had played in the second half.

"We wanted to actually come out and throw more and it just got away from us before we could throw a lot," coach Thompson said.

Senior running back Kareem Alexander made it 35-0 with 4:07 left in the half when he took a draw up the middle for a 13-yard score. Alexander scored again seconds before the half ended on a 26-yard run, this time breaking a tackle in the backfield before darting up the left sideline for the touchdown.

In the second half, junior Andrew Ansell made it 49-0 on a 42-yard interception return. Loudoun Valley's Cooper Barth closed the scoring on a 2-yard quarterback sneak with 2:33 left in the game.

For the Stone Bridge players, the fact that Loudoun Valley is considered the team's biggest rival made the win that much more special.

"Well first of all it feels real good to beat them three times in a row for me," Gouveia said. "Big rivals in the area, probably the best two teams in the area — it feels good to beat them by a lot."

But most importantly, the team felt they sent a message to those who judged them after the loss to Robinson.

"We just had a bad half (against Robinson) and you've got to put it aside and move on," Mickey Thompson said. "I think all our kids are playing with a chip on their shoulder, they're playing with more emotion and I think you'll see us start to build from here and hopefully do something special."

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks