Phantoms Haunt Stone Bridge in 38-8 Rout
Phoebus linebacker DaQuan Romero, just a sophomore, sacked Patrick Thompson on the opening play of the game and caused a fumble that was picked up by the Phantom defense and resulted in a touchdown. Phoebus caused 7 turnovers on the day including 5 interceptions, and scored two defensive touchdowns...
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Phantom linebacker Demitrius Ward scooped up a fumble on the first play by Patrick Thompson and raced to the endzone to give Phoebus a 7-0 lead just ten seconds into the game. The Phantoms never trailed again.....
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Phoebus tailback Shawne Alston ran for over 162 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 38-8 win over Stone Bridge on Saturday. Against the Bulldog defense, Alston averaged 6.5 yards per carry and his long touchdown run in the second quarter from 43 yards out helped give the Phantoms a 24-0 lead at the half.
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HAMPTON, VA - Last season, Phoebus got within a half of the Division 5 State Championship game. After roaring to an early 24-14 lead over Stone Bridge in the first half of the state semifinals, the Phantoms stumbled through an error-filled second half and watched the Bulldogs race away to a 38-24 victory. A week later, Stone Bridge routed Potomac 38-0 for the title, and Bill Dee and his Hampton squad had to look in the mirror and wonder if it could have been them.
On Saturday afternoon, Phoebus got another shot at the team that cost them a second-straight state title - and took all of the first play to steal the momentum.
On first down at the Stone Bridge 35, Patrick Thompson faded back to pass. With Thompson's back turned, Daquan Romero roared in from the left side. As he slammed into Thompson's waist, the ball skittered out, and hopped into the open arms of Demetrius Ward, who rumbled all the way to a 7-0 lead.
"Just get it and score," Ward said of his feeling at the time. "Everybody got hyped after that. That started everything."
In this case, "everything" referred to a 164-yard, two touchdown rushing performance by Shawne Alston. It referred to a defense that shut down an offense that finished the regular season averaging over 50 points a game - a defense that stole five of Thompson's passes - returning one for a touchdown - and held the Bulldogs to 140 total yards, including minus-nine on the ground in the first half.
Above all, it referred to a 38-8 revengeful win that ended the Bulldogs' 26-game winning streak - and a chance for the Phantoms to snare their fourth-ever state title next weekend against Dinwiddie at Virginia Tech.
"We waited 365 days for this game," Dee said. "We had all of our articles up on the wall. We had to listen to them all year, but we just kept our mouths shut and played football."
After a Rasheed Clark ended Stone Bridge's second possession, Eric Crocker blasted a 17-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
Paul Morant yanked down another interception for Phoebus, but the Phantom offense couldn't capitalize, punting for the first time of the game. But Daniel Allen fumbled on a fourth-and-one, giving Phoebus the ball at the Stone Bridge 27. That's when Alston went to work, carrying on three straight plays to finish with a three-yard score.
"They shut (Alston) down last year," Dee said, "and he was determined that that wasn't happening this year."
That showed again with five minutes left in the half. On first down at the Stone Bridge 43, Alston charged up the middle, knocked over three tacklers, and bolted down the left side of the field for a 24-0 halftime advantage.
At the break, Dee made sure his players didn't repeat last year's collapse.
"This team knows that we play two halves of football," he said. "We knew (Stone Bridge) wasn't going to give up."
Early in the third, Stone Bridge recovered an Alston fumble at the Phoebus 43. Thompson ran 15 yards in two plays, and hit Andrew Ansell at the 16. Two plays later, Nick Sheehan caught a six-yard score, and a two-point conversion put Stone Bridge on the board, 24-8.
The Stone Bridge defense held, but Colby Goodwin gave his team back possession and momentum with another interception, and Alston rumbled 33 yards in seven plays to the Stone Bridge 10. A holding penalty knocked Phoebus back to the 23, but Boyd hit Romero down the right sideline for a 31-8 lead with 2:18 left in the third quarter.
Exactly one minute later, LoVante Battle hauled in another pick and charged 32 yards for his team's final score.
"My offensive line has worked hard for this all year," said Alston, who raised his personal record season total to 2,044 yards. "We've got to go into practice and do a good job preparing this week, and go to Blacksburg and do it again next week."
Romero ended the day with three sacks.
"We knew that we had the best defense in the league, and in Division 5, and we wanted to come out here and make a bigger statement," he said. "I'm ready for next week. We're not changing anything. All we wanted to do is come out and play Phoebus Phantoms football."
They'll be playing it against a Dinwiddie team going for its first-ever state title, on the heels of a 42-21 win over Liberty Saturday in the Central Region final.
"I'm sure they're a great team," Dee said. "Everybody's tough right now. I've got to get ready, get bells on, and get ready for this game. The state championship, that's what we're here for!"
