On a cold Friday in Ashburn, the Stone Bridge Bulldogs beat the South Lakes Seahawks 45-22 to clinch their fifth straight Liberty District title. They also wrapped up the number one seed in the Division 5 Northern Region playoffs that will begin next Friday.
The Bulldogs began the game with great field possession after a kick that went out of bounds and gave the Bulldogs the ball at the Seahawks' 49-yard line. The Bulldogs’ offense got to work right away, as senior running back Andre Best ran for 11 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Seahawks, the Bulldogs had a first down on the Seahawks' 24-yard line. After a run by junior Spenser Rositano, junior Marcus Harris scored the first touchdown of the night with a three-yard run. Senior kicker Abdul Shaban made the PAT to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
After a three-and-out by the Seahawks, the Bulldogs’ running attack continued to excel. Harris broke free twice, the second of which brought the Bulldogs to the Seahawks’ 21-yard line. The Bulldogs weren’t able to make it much father down the field, and settled for a 21-yard field goal by Shaban, which made the score 10-0 Bulldogs.
The Seahawks’ offense answered back on their next possession. They had help from the Bulldogs with field possession. They started with the ball on their own 48-yard line thanks to an attempted squib kick that the Bulldog special teams failed to jump on. Quarterback Shawn Rana went to work right away, and completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide out Sean Price. After kicker Erich Belt made the extra point, the score was 10-7 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
Stone Bridge responded with a long play of their own on their next possession. Their drive started on their own 40-yard line and after running for a first down, Harris found room to run along the sideline and ran 49 yards for the touchdown. After Shaban’s kick, the Bulldogs were up by the score of 17-7.
The defense of both teams stepped up after a strong offensive beginning to the game. For the rest of the half both offenses struggled to move the ball down the field.
The Seahawks had the ball to start the second half, but were forced to punt after a three-and-out. The punt was bad one and Rositano was able to return it 15 yards, to the Seahawks 35. On the second play of the drive, quarterback Kyle Gouveia threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Rositano. He caught the ball after it bounced off a Seahawks defender, and found his way into the end zone. Shaban’s extra point was good once again, and the Bulldogs increased their lead to 24-7.
The Seahawks once again failed to get a first down on their next series, and attempted a fake punt. For the second possession in a row, the Bulldogs had the ball at the Seahawks 35-yard line. The Bulldogs were able to continue to move the ball, and eventually scored their second touchdown of the third quarter. Harris’ three-yard run made the score 31-7 with a little over five minutes left in the quarter.
After the Bulldogs’ kicked the ball back to the Seahawks, Rana fumbled the ball and the Bulldogs got the ball back on the Seahawks' 10-yard line. The turnover led to another three-yard run into the end zone for Harris. After Shaban made the extra point, the Bulldogs were up 38-7.
The Seahawks’ were able to get on the board again at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a three-yard run by running back Ja'Juan Jones. This came after the Seahawks successfully converted on a 4th down at the Bulldogs’ 10-yard line. Belt made the PAT to make the score 38-14.
In the fourth quarter, Head Coach Mickey Thompson substituted his back up players into the game. Even so, the Bulldogs managed to score on a drive that started on their own 41-yard line. Freshman Sean Rankin-Bell broke free for a 34-yard run, and later running back Adrian Thomas ran the ball three yards for the Bulldogs’ final touchdown of the night. With the score, the Bulldogs increased their lead to 45-14.
With a minute and 40 seconds left on the clock, the Seahawks were able to find the end zone once more. Their drive started on their own 38-yard line. They marched all the way down the field, and eventually scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by Shahnawaz Khan. The Seahawks went for two, and succeeded when Bobby Lewis found Felipe Zarco for the conversion.
After the win, the Bulldogs ended the regular season with a 9-1 record, and were 6-1 in the Liberty District.
The Seahawks finished their regular season with a 5-5 record, and were 4-3 in the District.
The teams will meet again on Friday, November 13, 2009 as the Seahawks are the number eight seed in the first round of playoffs. The game will be at Stone Bridge.
