Potomac, Stone Bridge Seek First State Title
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Northern Virginia will be well represented in this weekend's state championships, as five teams from the area will be competing for state supremacy. However, the AAA Division 5 title game is the lone contest pitting two Northern Virginia teams against one another as the Potomac Panthers (13-0) face the Stone Bridge Bulldogs (13-1) Saturday at noon, with each program seeking its first state crown.
Stone Bridge is coming off an impressive 38-24 defeat of top-ranked and defending state champion Phoebus in last week's semifinals. The Bulldogs scored the final 24 points of the game and absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage in the second half. Potomac, meanwhile, takes an undefeated mark to Charlottesville and is riding high after a 49-19 win over Hanover last week. The Panthers held a 24-12 lead at the half before returning two fumbles for touchdowns in the opening minutes of the third quarter to turn the game into a blowout.
As with nearly all games at this stage of the season, this will be another display of outstanding talent and coaching on both sidelines. Both teams are coming in red hot and confident (Potomac has won 13 straight, while Stone Bridge has won 12 in a row), so expect a knock-em down, drag-em out fight for the title.
HEAD COACHES
Mickey Thompson leads Stone Bridge into its second state title game in the program's eight-year history (the Bulldogs fell to Hampton 15-8 in 2005). The Bulldogs are 78-19, including an impressive 69-9 in the last six years, under Thompson, who also led nearby Park View to a state runner-up finish in 1999 (the Patriots dropped a 21-20 contest to Salem). In 18 years as a head coach, Thompson is 149-61 overall and has led his teams to 14 playoff appearances, six region championships and two state runner-up finishes.
Tony Lilly has revitalized the Potomac program in just his third year as head coach and owns a 29-7 record heading into Saturday. After a 5-5 finish in Lilly's first season in 2005, the Panthers went 11-2 last year, winning the Cardinal District and the Northwest Region before falling in the state semifinals 31-28 in double overtime to eventual state champion Phoebus. Lilly, a former All-American safety at Florida, played four seasons (1984-1987) in the National Football League with the Denver Broncos before having his career cut short by injury. He played in two Super Bowls - Super Bowl XXI versus the New York Giants and Super Bowl XXII against Washington.
OFFENSES
Expect Potomac to give Stone Bridge a heavy dose of running as the Panther offense features the senior running back tandem of Mulku Kalokoh and Darius Brent. Kalokoh, who at 5-feet-11, 198 pounds is a load to bring down, and Brent, who at 5-7, 170 can slip through the smallest of openings, have combined for nearly 3,000 yards and over 30 touchdowns on the ground this year. The two have surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark in the same game several times this season and have helped Potomac control the clock with their punishing styles.
In three playoffs alone, Potomac has gained nearly 800 yards on the ground, with Kalokoh and Brent combining for over 700 of those yards and four scores.
Kalokoh has shown he can hurt teams both on the ground and through the air this postseason. In a 17-7 region semifinal win over Fauquier, he ran 25 times for 100 yards and caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. He added 92 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards against George Washington in the region final, and he ran 16 times for 111 yards and two scores and also snagged a pair of passes for 25 yards last week versus Hanover.
Brent has rushed for over 100 yards in each of Potomac's three playoff games. He torched Fauquier for 160 yards on 27 carries, added 155 yards on 22 attempts against George Washington and had 113 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries last week against Hanover.
Sophomore quarterback DeAirius Thomas has done an outstanding job running the Panther offense in his first year as the starting signal-caller, completing 72-of-147 passes for 1,296 yards and 17 touchdowns against six interceptions. In the playoffs, he is 19-of-37 for 315 yards and four scores.
Seniors Abdul Kanneh and Donald Vaughn are the primary receiving threats. Kanneh has around 600 yards and 13 TDs, while Vaughn had close to 170 yards and four TDs as well. Kalokoh is another dangerous target with nearly 325 yards and four scores.
Stone Bridge features a more balanced attack and has shown it can win big games both on the ground (three rushing TDs against Phoebus last week) and through the air (three passing scores versus Edison in the Northern Region championship two weeks ago).
The Stone Bridge front line simply dominated Phoebus throughout most of last week's state semifinal game, and the second half was a clinic in smash-mouth football as the Bulldogs scored the final 24 points of the game. Stone Bridge ran 35 plays for 200 yards in the second half and chewed up nearly 20 of the final 24 minutes, with Jeron Gouveia gaining chunks of real estate behind a jumbo set in the single wing.
Gouveia ran for 89 of his 103 yards and scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half, and the Bulldogs rolled up 171 rushing yards on 45 carries en route to 302 total yards of offense for the game. Stone Bridge also held a commanding 29:18 to 18:42 advantage in time of possession.
Patrick Thompson is coming off an uncharacteristic 9-of-19 performance but still threw for 131 yards and a touchdown (an eight-yard acrobatic catch by Ryan Moody to tie the game in the second quarter). Thompson has completed 60 percent (106-of-174) of his passes for 2,052 yards and 26 touchdowns against seven interceptions this year. In three postseason games this year, he has thrown for 712 yards and nine scores with just one interception.
Moody caught three passes for 52 yards and a score last week to give him a school-record 57 receptions on the year, and he extended his own school record with 1,041 receiving yards to go along with 16 touchdowns.
Irwin fought through injury to record four catches for 48 yards last week, giving him 25 receptions for 411 yards and five touchdowns on the season. While Gouveia did most of his damage on the ground last week, he is also another big receiving threat, having caught 18 passes for 488 yards and five scores this year.
DEFENSES
Potomac boasts an impressive defense that has allowed just 12.5 points per game this year. That number has increased slightly (13.3) in the playoffs, but of the 40 points the Panthers have allowed this postseason, 21 have come in the fourth quarter when each of the three games was already decided.
The Panthers held a tough Fauquier squad to just five rushing yards and a single touchdown in the region semifinals. Fauquier started four drives inside the Potomac 35-yard line, but the Panther defense held them off the scoreboard each time.
Kanneh, already mentioned as a top receiving threat, was named the Cardinal District Defensive Player of the Year this season. He is a Division I caliber cornerback who earned all-state honors at safety last year. Despite playing the past several weeks with a high ankle sprain, he has still been a force in the playoffs. He had an interception versus Fauquier, and, against George Washington, he forced two fumbles and intercepted a pass (he returned it 43 yards before being tackled near the 12 yard line).
Stone Bridge will have its hands full with defensive lineman George Bansah (6-2, 270), another all-state pick last season who is being pursued by several Division I programs.
The Bulldog defense has been stout all year long, but last week's performance against a highly touted Phoebus offense was perhaps its best of the season. Stone Bridge held Phantom superstar running back Shawne Alston, who came into the game with almost 1,700 yards and 26 TDs, to just 19 yards on nine attempts and limited Phoebus to 136 yards on the ground, nearly 60 below its season rushing average.
Brian Slay (end), Jimmy Bradford (nose) and Zach Thompson (tackle) did damage on both sides of the ball, practically shutting down the inside run and then flipping over to the offensive side to plow the way for Gouveia in the second-half comeback.
Linebacker Mike Olson played perhaps the game of his life, returning an interception 41 yards for a touchdown to give Stone Bridge a 14-7 lead in the second quarter and adding several other key plays throughout the game.
The Bulldog secondary gave up a few big plays to Phoebus but made up for those with several key interceptions and pass breakups. In the fourth quarter, with his team trailing 24-21, Kevin Elliott picked off a pass at the Stone Bridge 16 to thwart a potential Phoebus scoring drive (the Bulldogs then marched 84 yards for the go-ahead score). Gouveia capped the game by pouncing on a fumble caused by John Bladel in the final minutes.
ANALYSIS
Potomac has outstanding speed and, like Stone Bridge, can score quickly (last week, the Panthers scored on a 69-yard run, a 75-yard pass and 59- and 46-yard fumble returns). Kalokoh and Brent are the best one-two punch the Bulldogs will have faced this year. Stone Bridge took away the middle last week against Phoebus, but the Phantoms didn't adjust. Let's see if Potomac will do so if needed this week.
Stone Bridge has shown it can win through the air, and that may be the difference if both teams neutralize each other's ground attack. The Bulldogs have to be riding an all-time high after dethroning defending state champion Phoebus in a game that was very sloppy at times (the two squads combined for nine turnovers). The Bulldogs showed a lot of poise, a lot of heart and a lot of great coaching (getting Phoebus to jump off-sides with a hard count on fourth-and-one inside the Phantom 10 trailing by three and then going to the power running game much of the second half). Let's see if Stone Bridge can get back up for this contest and play with the same fire and intensity against another 13-0 squad for a second straight week.
Each team is trying to win its first championship, so expect the emotion to be high. The Stone Bridge players want to win this one badly for Mickey Thompson and the coaching staff; Thompson is a master motivator who will find something new to get his team pumped up. Lilly's no stranger to big games, having been to two Super Bowls, and he has played under Mike Shanahan, so expect Lilly to be just as strong in getting his players ready for a big game.
Potomac has thrived off of turnovers during the postseason, so Stone Bridge has to be more careful with the football this week. Both teams feature solid kickers, so it could come down to the final whistle.
