On Friday night, the Stone Bridge Bulldogs (2-0) met the Heritage Pride (0-2) for the second game of the season for both teams. The Bulldogs had just come off an exciting win over Westfield, and the Pride had lost a tough game to Broad Run the week before.
The game was close and without much offense in the first half. Heritage started with the ball, and made it all the way to the Bulldog 35, thanks to quarterback Austin Nelson’s 30-yard pass to Dan Dykema. However, on a fourth down play, Nelson was taken down by Connor Calderwood to force the Pride to turn the ball over on downs.
Neither of the teams could get the offense to click, and five possessions later, the score remained 0-0.
Stone Bridge coaching staff.
Photo by Dan Rosenstein (file photo)
Finally, nearing the end of the second quarter, the Pride put points on the board. Heritage running back David McCarthy found room to run and gained 15 yards. After a Pride timeout, Nelson found Scott Pratz for a 58-yard touchdown pass. Heritage elected to go for two, and Pratz found the end zone once again to put Heritage up 8-0 with 3:24 to go in the half. The score remained the same going into the locker room.
At half time Stone Bridge discussed keeping their heads in the game, and not making mistakes.
“We had a lot of mental mistakes and so we were just trying to correct those,” Stone Bridge Head Coach Mickey Thompson said “We still made some mistakes in the second half too, but by the end of the third quarter we were starting to minimize some of those mistakes.”
Stone Bridge had the ball to start the second half, but only managed to move the chains once before they were forced to punt. The Bulldogs’ next drive looked promising after a Heritage punt and a fair catch on the Pride’s 44-yard line. On the first play, Spenser Rositano found a hole and ran for 15 yards. The Bulldogs got a break as another 15 yards were added on because of a facemask penalty on Heritage. After Rositano brought Stone Bridge further down the field to the Heritage one-yard line, running back Marcus Harris ran the ball in to make the score 8-6 in Heritage’s favor. The Bulldogs went for two, in an effort to tie the game, but Harris failed to get into the end zone, leaving the Pride up by two with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter.
The Pride only managed four plays after the Bulldog kickoff and after a 4th and 12, punted to put Stone Bridge on their own 44-yard line. On this series, the Bulldogs’ running game led the way, thanks to Rositano and Harris. With 11:38 left in the game, Harris had a one-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs up by the score of 12-8. The score remained the same after Rositano could not score on another failed two-point conversion.
Rather than give the Heritage offense a chance, Coach Thompson called for an onside kick, which Abdul Shaban recovered at the Heritage 40. It was a risky play because had Stone Bridge not recovered it, the Pride would have great field position.
“Momentum was with us and we’re kind of known for [onside kicks],” Coach Thompson said. “As soon as we got the lead it was time to go for the jugular and try to make something happen instead of just waiting for something to happen.”
After a few runs by Harris to get Stone Bridge to the one-yard line, he ran the ball in for this third touchdown for the night. This time the Bulldogs kicked the extra point, and led 19-8.
As quickly as Stone Bridge got the momentum, the Pride answered back. Brandon McMichael hauled in a 23-yard pass from Nelson to bring his team within five. They went for a two-point play, but McCarthy’s run was not successful, leaving the score 19-14 Bulldogs.
Again, Stone Bridge moved down the field, on a series highlighted by a 48-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brian Rody to Rositano. The two-point attempt failed once again, and the score was 25-14 in the Bulldogs’ favor.
Heritage needed points on their next drive, with only 6:05 remaining in the game. The team eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Stone Bridge 45. The Bulldogs ran out the clock to hold on and beat the Pride by a final score of 25-14.
The game’s big offensive leader was Harris, who finished with 132 yards on 26 carries, including his three rushing touchdowns.
Rositano also had a good night offensively with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown. In the second half of the game, Stone Bridge relied heavily on their running attack.
“We’re running right now because we’re struggling with some pass blocking and we’re struggling finding receivers,” Coach Thompson said. “Hopefully we can throw some more as the season goes on.”
Both teams face a short week as they prepare to play on Thursday. Stone Bridge will meet a tough West Springfield team, and Heritage will play Colonial Forge.
