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Stone Bridge Leaves No Doubt in Win

Prince and P. Thompson Spark 42-28 Victory

By Paul Tenorio

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Stone Bridge offense had not yet been on the field one minute last night against No. 10 West Springfield, had snapped the ball only three times, but already the Bulldogs had jumped out to a commanding 21-0 lead.

Showing they are still the offensive juggernaut that rolled to the 2007 Virginia AAA Division 5 state title, the No. 5 Bulldogs scored three times on their first three offensive plays and overpowered the Spartans on both sides of the ball to coast to a 42-28 win last night in Ashburn.

"We're trying to put a statement out there," said Stone Bridge senior Michael Prince, who led the Bulldogs with four touchdowns. "No one really thinks we're as good as we are, and we're pretty good."

Bolstered by the return of quarterback Patrick Thompson, who started despite a ruptured tendon in the ring finger of his throwing hand (an injury that occurred two weeks ago and was supposed to keep him out six weeks), Stone Bridge couldn't have opened any stronger.

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Stone Bridge Beats W. Springfield

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Stone Bridge quarterback Patrick Thompson scores on a six-yard run, the first play after the Bulldogs had intercepted a pass in the first quarter. (Joel Richardson)

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Patrick Thompson, wearing a glove on his throwing hand to protect his injured finger, gets set to hit brother Zach Thompson with his second touchdown pass of the first quarter, this one a 51-yard pass play that gave the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead. (Joel Richardson)

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Stone Bridge's Michael Prince breaks free from West Springfield's Matt Hutton and completes a 22-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. (Joel Richardson)

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Michael Prince is off and running toward his third touchdown of the game in the second quarter, this one a 45-yard run that put the Bulldogs up, 35-7. (Joel Richardson)

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Michael Prince hauls in a 30-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to go in the first half to give Stone Bridge a commanding 42-7 lead. (Joel Richardson)

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Marcus Harris carried the load for Stone Bridge in the third quarter, running valuable time off the clock. (Joel Richardson)

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West Springfield tries to get something going in the second quarter as the sun sets over Stone Bridge. (Joel Richardson)

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"The first game is what we were preparing for the whole offseason," he said. "I was real excited when I heard I could play and they got a splint ready and they got my glove. I was real excited. There's nothing like playing in the first game."

Andrew Ansell's interception of a Bryn Renner pass set up Thompson's six-yard touchdown run on Stone Bridge's first snap. Just more than two minutes later, a short screen in the middle of the field was taken 91 yards for a touchdown by Prince. And barely a minute after that, tight end Zach Thompson caught a pass on a crossing route and took it 51 yards for a touchdown to give Stone Bridge its third score on its third offensive play.

"The coaches were like, 'let's run these plays, they're sure touchdown plays,' " Patrick Thompson said. "And I wasn't sure if that was going to happen or not, but it worked out."

West Springfield answered back on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Bryn Renner to Fabrice Kambinga, but the Bulldogs then took over again.

Prince scored on the Bulldogs' next three drives, breaking off 22- and 45-yard touchdown runs and hauling in 30-yard pass from Thompson with under a minute remaining in the half that gave the Bulldogs a 42-7 lead. He finished with three carries for 64 yards and three catches for 133 yards.

The senior's performance was a major plus for Stone Bridge, which lost several game-changers to graduation but seem to have reloaded.

"I've been working hard every day this summer, lifting, going out on the field with Patrick for hours," Prince said. "I've been waiting for this day forever, and finally it pays off."

Said Bulldogs Coach Mickey Thompson: "He's a very good player, and the great thing is I really believe that playmaking-wise we're in the same boat as last year. Michael might be the guy next week, or it might be [Nick] Sheehan, or it might be Daniel Allen. I think we've got some guys that can really make plays."

Although Stone Bridge's offense provided the highlights, Coach Mickey Thompson praised a defense that shut down one of the area's top offenses. Encouraging was the play of an untested secondary against North Carolina-bound quarterback Bryn Renner.

The Bulldogs twice picked off Renner and looked solid in coverage for the most part. And the defensive line created a strong push and put pressure on the quarterback throughout the game.

"I thought we did really well," Thompson said. "Especially this early in the year against a passing attack that is refined as that. I thought we did a great job."

Note: The Bulldogs next face Robinson, the team that handed them their only loss last season, 41-14.

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