Stone Bridge Routs West Springfield

The Stone Bridge offense had not yet been on the field one minute last night against No. 10 West Springfield, had snapped the ball only three times, but already the Bulldogs had jumped out to a commanding 21-0 lead.

Showing they are still the offensive juggernaut that rolled to the 2007 Virginia AAA Division 5 state title, the No. 5 Bulldogs scored three times on their first three offensive plays and overpowered the Spartans on both sides of the ball to coast to a 42-28 win last night in Ashburn.

"We're trying to put a statement out there," said Stone Bridge senior Michael Prince, who led the Bulldogs with four touchdowns. "No one really thinks we're as good as we are, and we're pretty good."

Bolstered by the return of quarterback Patrick Thompson, who started despite a ruptured tendon in the ring finger of his throwing hand (an injury that occurred two weeks ago and was supposed to keep him out six weeks), Stone Bridge couldn't have opened any stronger.

Andrew Ansell's interception of a Bryn Renner pass set up Thompson's six-yard touchdown run on Stone Bridge's first snap. Just more than two minutes later, a short screen in the middle of the field was taken 91 yards for a touchdown by Prince. And barely a minute after that, tight end Zach Thompson caught a pass on a crossing route and took it 51 yards for a touchdown to give Stone Bridge its third score on it's third offensive play.

"The coaches were like, 'let's run these plays, they're sure touchdown plays,' " Patrick Thompson said. "And I wasn't sure if that was going to happen or not, but it worked out."

West Springfield answered back on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Bryn Renner to Fabrice Kambinga, but the Bulldogs then took over again.

Prince scored on the Bulldogs' next three drives, breaking off 22- and 45-yard touchdown runs and hauling in 30-yard pass from Thompson with under a minute remaining in the half that gave the Bulldogs a 42-7 lead.

The senior's performance was a major plus for Stone Bridge, which lost several game-changers to graduation but seem to have reloaded.

"He's a very good player, and the great thing is I really believe that playmaking-wise we're in the same boat as last year," Bulldogs Coach Mickey Thompson said. "Michael might be the guy next week, or it might be [Nick] Sheehan, or it might be Daniel Allen. I think we've got some guys that can really make plays."

No. 5 Stone Bridge 42, No. 10 West Springfield 28 Up Next: The Bulldogs next face Robinson, the team that handed them their only loss last season, 41-14. Renner Rallies: UNC-bound QB Bryn Renner was a bright spot for the Spartans despite two interceptions. He passed for more than 240 yards and two touchdowns while leading a late comeback attempt.