Barking Louder: Bulldogs Punish Vikings 49-7
ASHBURN, VA - Both the Stone Bridge Bulldogs and the Loudoun Valley Vikings came into Thursday night's game looking for something to prove. The Bulldogs were looking to prove that they were still the team to beat, not only in the Liberty District, but also the Northern Region. The Vikings were looking to show that they did, in fact, have the talent to make similar noise of their own. Stone Bridge head coach Mickey Thompson was not a happy camper this week when he saw where his team was ranked in the Gameday Power Poll, falling behind Group AA teams Sherando and Park View. Thompson is notorious for using anything he can find to motivate his talented squad, and this week's ranking proved to be the message behind the 49-7 throttling of Loudoun Valley.
"We are tired of being disrespected and being dropped down in the polls because we played one bad half against a good Robinson team," Thompson said. "We've lost two football games in the last 6 years in the regular season. We are a good football team and we are going to play with a chip on our shoulder from here on out."
The Bulldogs played with a huge chip on their shoulder in Thursday's game against Valley, and you can bet that the rest of the Liberty District is now paying attention.
The Bulldogs got things started quickly, stuffing the Vikings after a quick 3-and-out on the first possession. It then took less than a minute for the Bulldogs to score the game's 1st touchdown, as Jeron Gouveia ran the ball behind the right side of the line and into the end zone. On their next possession, QB Patrick Thompson broke a huge run and raced into the end zone, giving the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead. The Bulldogs would score one more time before the quarter ended, on another Gouveia run, giving the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead and deflating their only true rival in Loudoun County.
The second quarter didn't change much, as Stone Bridge put up another 21 points. The 3 touchdowns came from a Ryan Moody reception from Thompson, and 2 Kareem Alexander runs, and the half ended with 42 Bulldog points on the scoreboard.
With a continuously running clock to start the 2nd half, the pace of the game actually slowed as Bulldog head coach Mickey Thompson inserted a number of reserve players throughout the remainder of the contest. The Bulldogs would score only once more in the 2nd half. Andrew Ansell's interception return put the finishing touches on what was a tremendous exhibition of football by the Stone Bridge Bulldogs. The Vikings finally got on the board on their last possession of the game. QB Cooper Barth ran it in on a two yard sneak play, making the score, and the final, 49-7.
Thompson is a master motivator, and now has a rally cry for his club. The Bulldogs feel disrespected, and that wasn't a good thing for the Vikings on Thursday, nor is it a good thing for the rest of the teams on their schedule.
The Vikings (1-2) will get ready to face Osbourn Park, in Prince William County, next Friday night at 7:30 pm. The Bulldogs (2-1) will travel to McLean next Friday, to face the Highlanders, with that kick-off also set for 7:30 pm. That game can be heard live, world wide, on the Gameday Radio Network, at Gamedaymagazine.com. The broadcast will begin with the Bulldog Blitz at 6:45 pm.
