Point After: Remember The Bulldogs?
The best thing going for Stone Bridge's chances to repeat as state champions is most definitely their coaching staff. Led by Mickey Thompson, the Bulldogs are 14-5 in the playoffs, and have won 27 straight Liberty District games in the regular season. That streak is on the line as is the Liberty District title with W.T Woodson coming to town at 7-2.
Photo By: Marc Gold / Gameday Magazine
Compared to the 2007 Stone Bridge defense, the 2008 Bulldogs are much nastier. They've given up just 8.2 points per game in 9 lopsided wins this season. Bulldog defensive end Brian Slay is a major reason why too, he's been dominant all year long.
Photo By: Egey Levy / Gameday Magazine
The Bulldogs will be without senior Patrick Thompson on Friday night against Woodson, and that means Stone Bridge will put several guys back there to run the offense. One youngster who will see action is Kyle Gouveia. Senior Johnny Bladel will take the majority of the snaps in the game.
Photo By: Marc Gold / Gameday Magazine
ASHBURN, VA - It's been 7 weeks since the Stone Bridge Bulldogs took center stage on the Gameday Radio Network's game of the week. They opened the season with two impressive wins over Division 6 West Springfield and Robinson, but since then, they have blown out the competition by a scoring margin of 372 to 39.
There is no question that the 2008 Bulldogs are one of the best teams in the state of Virginia, but to find out just how good they are, I took a look at the 2007 team through 9 games.
The 2007 Stone Bridge Bulldogs had outscored their last 7 opponents before the Woodson game 294 to 40. Just like in 2008, the 2007 Bulldogs had shutout three teams before their season finale against W.T Woodson. However, Stone Bridge has given up just 5.7 points per game in the last 7 games, and 8.2 points per game through 9 games. The 2007 Stone Bridge defense gave up an average of 13 points per game through 9 contests.
The Bulldog offense in 2008 is averaging 51.4 points per game, which is a big improvement to the 40.4 points per game scored in 2007 after 9 games.
One big difference between the 2007 state championship team and the 2008 (9-0) Stone Bridge team is health. It wasn't a question heading into the final week of the regular season like it is now.
The Bulldogs have had the injury bug this season, and it continues to bite them at the most key positions. Prior to the 1st game of the season, senior All Gameday quarterback Patrick Thompson suffered a torn tendon in his throwing hand. Luckily for Stone Bridge, Thompson was still able to throw the football, and played a huge role in the first two wins of the season over West Springfield and Robinson.
During the middle of the season, Patrick's brother Zach went down with a knee sprain, and has yet to play in the last two games. His return is expected Friday when Stone Bridge welcomes W.T Woodson (7-2) to the Dawg Pound. However, as Zach returns, Patrick will now take his place on the bench with a serious high ankle sprain that could sideline him for a minimum of 2 games.
Head Coach Mickey Thompson has watched the injury bug hit his team and his two twin sons this season, and it is safe to say he is really concerned about the timing of the latest injury to Patrick.
"People don't believe me anymore, but this one is for real," said Thompson. "It's a pretty significant high ankle sprain, so we'll have to see how the next two weeks go."
In Patrick Thompson's absence, the Bulldogs will turn to senior Johnny Bladel, who normally plays receiver and safety for Stone Bridge.
While his time behind center in the Stone Bridge program has been scarce, Bladel is very familiar with the Single Wing offense, having played quarterback for his youth league head coach Mickey Thompson through the years.
"We started moving toward putting Johnny back there a few weeks ago, and he's played the position and in the single wing since the 7th grade," said Thompson. "It definitely unsettles you a bit without Patrick back there, but I look at our kids and they aren't unsettled at all.
The byproduct of beating people in a lopsided fashion over the past 7 weeks is the fact that every player has seen valuable time. The Bulldogs are 3-deep in many positions, and when a star player like Thompson goes out with an injury, another guy steps up and performs up to task.
While the Bulldogs may be able to continue to roll past Liberty District teams without their full stable of horses, I'm not one who believes that this team can win another state championship without being 100% healthy.
Coach Thompson won't like what I'm about to say, but as realist, he would probably agree with me that if the Bulldogs don't beat the Bulldogs, they should play for another regional title in a few weeks against Edison, whether that be at Stone Bridge, or on the road at Edison High School.
One thing the 2007 Bulldogs didn't face is what I like to call "the ticked off factor." Both Edison and Phoebus are really angry, and hungry to give Stone Bridge a little payback after last year's losses at Bulldog stadium.
The biggest challenge that Coach Thompson will face in the stretch run will be to make sure his guys have the same hunger to win it all as they did last year. How hungry are the Bulldogs? That is the question that starts to get answered on Friday against W.T Woodson, and over the next 5 weeks.
The path to the title game is far from clear as Stone Bridge will have to travel most likely to both Edison and Phoebus to make a reservation in Blacksburg on December 6th.
If they roll down that road and win in the final game again this year, then I would venture to say the 2008 Bulldogs are definitely better than the 2007 Stone Bridge team that won it all.
Andy Hayes is the owner of Gameday Magazine and also the host of Gameday All Access every day on AM 1200 WAGE from 12pm-1pm. He can be reached by e-mail at GamedayMagazine@aol.com
