The first quarter was winding down in last Friday’s Northern Region Division 5 playoff game between Stone Bridge and Mount Vernon when Bulldogs coach Mickey Thompson took a peek down his sideline and saw a worried bench.
The funny thing is it put a smile on the coach’s face. At least that’s what he claimed once his Stone Bridge team had bulldozed another opponent, this time defeating the Majors, 42-0, thanks to a three-quarter offensive explosion that ensued.
"I liked the first quarter," Thompson said afterwards. "People were getting a little [mad] and there were a lot of guys, you could just see the concern on their faces. That’s good for us."
<b>ABOUT THE</b> only thing people can nitpick about these Bulldogs is the fact that they’ve been so good this year, a close game might trip them up. That’s the joy of being an undefeated team that hasn’t lost a game since last September and has steamrolled over its competition this season with an average margin of victory of more than 40 points.
But it didn’t look like this contest would be so easy when it first began. Stone Bridge’s first two possessions of the game resulted in turnovers, one thanks to a fumble and another after the Bulldogs failed to convert on fourth down from Mount Vernon’s 25-yard line.
Stone Bridge finally broke through with just under 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter thanks to a 16-yard touchdown run by tailback Marcus Harris. The rout was on from there, as the score proved to have a cascading effect when the Bulldogs got touchdowns on their ensuing two possessions.
"It took us a little while to talk and adjust," Thompson said. "We overcame a little bit of adversity on offense."
The slow start had no effect on the outcome of the game thanks to another dominant defensive effort from the Stone Bridge defense. For the game, Mount Vernon could only muster 71 total yards and one first down, which came during their two-minute drill as the first half came to a close.
Meanwhile, the Stone Bridge offense was busy piling up yardage. Running back Daniel Allen finished with 141 yards — 140 in the first half — and two touchdowns on the ground, while quarterback Patrick Thompson, seeing his first game action in more than three weeks due to of a high ankle sprain, looked more and more comfortable as the game went along. Thompson finished with 171 yards passing, including a perfect six for six and 120 yards through the air in the second half.
Usually a threat to run the ball, Thompson was limited to just passing plays by his coach and father. The elder Thompson said his star signal caller is at about 90 percent right now and "should be full tilt next week."
"Everything started clicking in the second half and we got on a roll," Patrick Thompson said.
<b>WITH THE WIN</b> over Mount Vernon complete, Stone Bridge moves on to the Division 5 Northern Region final for the seventh time in the school’s eight-year history. It will face rival Edison for the fourth-consecutive season.
Last year, Stone Bridge defeated the Eagles, 27-14, but that game was played in Ashburn. This season, the Bulldogs go on the road, where players are expecting their first of a string of close games as they pursue a second-straight state title.
"That’s what you play football for, the big games, the close games," Allen said. "All these blowouts, they are good and all, but you want to play that close game, just to have that feeling that this is what football is all about."