Perfection: Bulldogs Finish 10-0 with 42-8 Win
(Reston, Virginia) - The Stone Bridge Bulldogs captured their second consecutive Liberty District crown with a crushing 42-8 victory over the South Lakes Seahawks. Devon "Y'Lou" Brown tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns, while the Bulldog defense held the Seahawks to 45 yards of total offense.
South Lakes opened on offense, but quickly went three-and-out, punting the ball and turning it over to Stone Bridge at the Bulldog 25. It took the Bulldogs a mere four plays to cover the distance, with Brown gliding in from 16 yards out for the score. A rare Ronnie Shaban missed extra point left the score at 6-0.
On the next possession, South Lakes managed one first down, but was unable to advance past its own 27. Stone Bridge took over near midfield and advanced to the thirty, but failed to convert on fourth down. On the next play, a Seahawk fumble was covered by the Bulldogs' Sean Early, and two plays later Brown crashed in from four yards out for his second TD. The two-point conversion by Terence Glenn was good and Stone Bridge led 14-0.
On their third possession, South Lakes once again was ineffective against the Stone Bridge defense, and was forced to punt. The kick, however, was muffed by the Bulldogs and South Lakes recovered the loose ball on the Stone Bridge 37. The Seahawks could not take advantage and the threat ended when the Bulldogs' Rocco Billetz gathered in another Seahawk fumble.
Stone Bridge then put together an impressive 16-play, seven minute drive that finished with Brown scoring from the two. Chad Grendell's kick put Stone Bridge in command 21-0.The Seahawks went three-and-out once more, but an attempted run from the punt formation by Gabe Itoka on fourth down fell short, and Stone Bridge took over on the South Lakes 37. A 35-yard pass from Glenn to Jeron Gouveia took the ball to the two, and Brown's fourth TD made the score 28-0.
South Lakes kicked off to start the second half, and Kareem Alexander's return up the right sideline was good for 67 yards to the Seahawk 19. Mike Barta took a Glenn pass to the one, and two plays later Brown tallied his fifth touchdown. Another Grendell extra point put the Bulldogs in front 35-0 with less than three minutes gone in the second half.
After another three-and-out by South Lakes, the Stone Bridge reserves put together their own drive. Daniel Allen rushed six times for twenty yards before a scrambling Mike Stancik found Ryan Moody in the back of the end-zone. Ronnie Shaban finished the Stone Bridge scoring at 42-0.
The remainder of the contest was uneventful save for a Gabe Itoka 58-yard touchdown run, putting him over 1000 yards rushing for the season.
The Bulldogs completed the regular season undefeated for the third time in the past four years, and have yet to lose a Liberty District game since moving to Division 5. They are 39-1 over the past four regular seasons, their only loss to eventually Division 6 State Champions Oakton in 2005.
Stone Bridge moves on to the playoffs and attempts to repeat as Northern Region champions, with their eyes on a return trip to the state finals.
Prepared by Dave and Suzy Barta
spbarta@aol.com
