The Stone Bridge Bulldogs earned their way back into the state championship game for the first time since 2012 as they avenged a regular season loss to the Tuscarora Huskies with a 54-41 victory on Friday night.
The trip to the title game will be the sixth in the program's sixteen-year history as they got on top of the undefeated Huskies in the first half then maintained their edge through the third and fourth quarters to secure their tenth, and most important, win of the season to date.
SCORING SUMMARY
TEAM TIME SCORING PLAY GAME SCORE
SB 4:52 (1) Thompson to Smedley 7 yards, PAT Alcorn 7-0
TUSC 2:23 (1) Smith 1 yard, PAT Elmellouki 7-7
SB 1:31 (1) Thompson 11 yards, PAT Alcorn 14-7
SB 9:35 (2) Ridley 8 yards, PAT Alcorn 21-7
TUSC 3:58 (2) Smith to Biebighauser 28 yards, PAT Elmellouki 21-14
SB 2:37 (2) Thompson 1 yards, PAT Alcorn 28-14
SB 0:50 (2) Ridley 5 yards, PAT Alcorn 35-14
TUSC 0:00 (2) Smith to Speroni, PAT Elmellouki 35-21
SB 0:15 (3) Thompson 17 yards, PAT Alcorn 42-21
TUSC 11:21 (4) Smith 34 yards, PAT Elmellouki 42-28
SB 8:45 (4) Thompson to Winston, PAT failed 48-28
TUSC 8:11 (4) Smith to Speroni, PAT Elmellouki 48-35
SB 3:30 (4) Thompson to Smedley 11 yards, 2-pt failed 54-35
TUSC 1:06 (4) Smith 1 yards, 2-pt failed 54-41
KEYS TO VICTORY
EARLY OFFENSE
After their opening possession ended on downs with an incomplete pass into the end zone broken up by Tuscarora's Eli Moore, the Stone Bridge Bulldogs offense put on a clinic scoring on each of their next seven possessions as the Huskies' defense only got two more stops in the entire game, once on a fumble and the other when the clock ticked away the game.
Using their aerial attack early, Stone Bridge quarterback Joe Thompson connected on three passes on his team's second drive leading to their first score in the contest after the defense had forced a Tuscarora punt. The 66-yard drive was capped when Thompson found tight end Brett Smedley for an eleven-yard touchdown breaking the scoring ice.
The Huskies answered back with a score of their own when quarterback Daniel Smith plunged in from one-yard out just over two minutes later, but the Stone Bridge offense countered quickly with a five-play, 57-yard drive including two receptions by Lawton Riggs for 46 yards and an eleven-yard scoring run by Thompson less than a minute after the Tuscarora score. The Bulldogs would not lose the lead for the rest of the contest.
TAKEAWAYS TO TOUCHDOWNS
The started to go south for Tuscarora when Stone Bridge's Joshua Breece picked off a Huskies' pass near midfield setting up the offense with a short field as the first quarter ended.
Facing a fourth-and-three at the Tuscarora 28-yard line, wide out Chase Ridley found room around the corner racing to the Huskies' eight for a 20-yard gain which helped set up his eight-yard scoring run four plays later as Stone Bridge took a 21-7 advantage early in the second quarter.
Tuscarora narrowed the gap on their ensuing possession when Smith found tight end Gunnar Biebighauser for a 28-yard scoring strike, but Stone Bridge came right back with a quick five-play, 85-yard drive highlighted by hookups of 37 and 25 yards between Thompson and Dewayne Winston. A one-yard run by Thompson with just over two-and-a-half minutes left in the half gave Stone Bridge a 28-14 advantage.
That lead was quickly stretched to 35-14 when Tuscarora fumbled away their next possession on the first play giving Stone Bridge the ball back on the Huskies' 18-yard line. Thompson ran twice, hooked up with Winston again, and Ridley finished off the drive with a five-yard run.
With less than 50 seconds left in the half, Tuscarora managed to navigate their way to the Stone Bridge 42-yard line with time for one last play. Smith rolled to his left but threw back across the field to his right finding Nic Speroni outleaping defenders for a score as time expired sending the teams into the break.
Having converted two Huskies turnovers into scores, Stone Bridge was up 35-21.
HOLD OFF, PULL AWAY
With Tuscarora getting the ball to open the second half, Stone Bridge had to know that a team of the Huskies' quality was not going to go away quietly. However, if the Bulldogs could make it difficult, it would play to their advantage as time was on their side.
The Huskies came out strong driving the field against Stone Bridge in the third quarter but, after using up over nine minutes of game clock and advancing to the Bulldogs' two-yard line, Stone Bridge kept them out of the end zone following a holding penalty and back-to-back incomplete passes.
When Stone Bridge responded by driving 87 yards in six plays for a score of their own, a 17-yard touchdown run by Thompson, to take a 42-21 lead, the game effectively seemed over.
However, the Huskies scored back twice on a 34-yard speed option run by Smith and a 19-yard Smith to Speroni connection to sandwich yet another Stone Bridge touchdown, a Thompson to Winston 21-yarder and the Huskies were within two scores at 48-35.
When Stone Bridge fumbled on their next possession, the Huskies had hope. However, junior cornerback Joe Lemaster picked off an errant Tuscarora pass two plays later and Thompson engineered another scoring drive finding Smedley again from 11 yards out to make it 54-35 with less than four minutes to play.
A final Huskies' scoring drive capped by a one-yard run by Smith with barely over a minute left in the contest wrapped up the night's scoring.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
JOE THOMPSON
The Stone Bridge senior quarterback did not play in the first meeting between the two schools, a 42-19 win for Tuscarora, but he made up for that time off in this one as the Charlotte commit connected on 12 of 19 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns adding another 95 yards rushing and three scores on the ground en route to totaling 312 yards of offense and accounting for six of his team's touchdowns.
JOSHUA BREECE
The Bulldogs' running back only totaled 42 yards on six carries on the ground and 28 yards receiving on two touchdowns, but he made a huge impact from the defensive side of the ball on his first start of the season there. He applied a lot of pressure on Tuscarora quarterback Daniel Smith but kept the senior playmaker contained in the pocket all night where he couldn't hurt Stone Bridge with his legs as he did so often during their first meeting. The junior also picked off a pass in the game leading to a Stone Bridge touchdown that put his team in front by two scores for the first time in the contest.
CHASE RIDLEY
The Stone Bridge wideout did a little bit of everything for his offense on Friday night as he carried the ball eight times for 109 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, threw a 26-yards pass to Lawton Riggs in the first quarter setting up a Thompson touchdown run, and hauled in one pass for eleven yards in the passing game totaling 146 yards of offense and two scores in the win.
SPECIAL NOTES
Of the 41 rushing attempts made by Tuscarora, only two of them went for double-digit yardage as Smith hit a 34-yard scoring run then later added a 15-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
Smith has been perhaps the top quarterback in the state this season and played this game with a minor foot injury, but he definitely went out on his shield, as the old Spartans would say. On the night, the senior completed 22 of 43 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns adding 21 rushing attempts for 74 yards and three scores.
Tuscarora pass-catchers Gunnar Biebighauser and Nic Speroni turned in big nights as the former caught eight passes for 129 yards and one touchdown while the latter hauled in six catches for 122 yards and two scores.
The loss was only the second time in two years that Tuscarora has gone down as they've notched a 27-2 mark over the last two seasons.
In their previous five trips to the state championship game, the Bulldogs have collected one trophy and fallen four times, each to a Tidewater area program, three of those by a touchdown or less.
This will mark the first time that Stone Bridge has advanced to the state title game with more than one loss on their resume.
Football Editor Rod Johnson is entering his second decade with www.VirginiaPreps.com having started with the site in 2003. To keep up with all the high school football news in Virginia, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook. He can also be contacted via e-mail at vaprepsrod@cox.net.
The trip to the title game will be the sixth in the program's sixteen-year history as they got on top of the undefeated Huskies in the first half then maintained their edge through the third and fourth quarters to secure their tenth, and most important, win of the season to date.
SCORING SUMMARY
TEAM TIME SCORING PLAY GAME SCORE
SB 4:52 (1) Thompson to Smedley 7 yards, PAT Alcorn 7-0
TUSC 2:23 (1) Smith 1 yard, PAT Elmellouki 7-7
SB 1:31 (1) Thompson 11 yards, PAT Alcorn 14-7
SB 9:35 (2) Ridley 8 yards, PAT Alcorn 21-7
TUSC 3:58 (2) Smith to Biebighauser 28 yards, PAT Elmellouki 21-14
SB 2:37 (2) Thompson 1 yards, PAT Alcorn 28-14
SB 0:50 (2) Ridley 5 yards, PAT Alcorn 35-14
TUSC 0:00 (2) Smith to Speroni, PAT Elmellouki 35-21
SB 0:15 (3) Thompson 17 yards, PAT Alcorn 42-21
TUSC 11:21 (4) Smith 34 yards, PAT Elmellouki 42-28
SB 8:45 (4) Thompson to Winston, PAT failed 48-28
TUSC 8:11 (4) Smith to Speroni, PAT Elmellouki 48-35
SB 3:30 (4) Thompson to Smedley 11 yards, 2-pt failed 54-35
TUSC 1:06 (4) Smith 1 yards, 2-pt failed 54-41
KEYS TO VICTORY
EARLY OFFENSE
Using their aerial attack early, Stone Bridge quarterback Joe Thompson connected on three passes on his team's second drive leading to their first score in the contest after the defense had forced a Tuscarora punt. The 66-yard drive was capped when Thompson found tight end Brett Smedley for an eleven-yard touchdown breaking the scoring ice.
The Huskies answered back with a score of their own when quarterback Daniel Smith plunged in from one-yard out just over two minutes later, but the Stone Bridge offense countered quickly with a five-play, 57-yard drive including two receptions by Lawton Riggs for 46 yards and an eleven-yard scoring run by Thompson less than a minute after the Tuscarora score. The Bulldogs would not lose the lead for the rest of the contest.
TAKEAWAYS TO TOUCHDOWNS
Facing a fourth-and-three at the Tuscarora 28-yard line, wide out Chase Ridley found room around the corner racing to the Huskies' eight for a 20-yard gain which helped set up his eight-yard scoring run four plays later as Stone Bridge took a 21-7 advantage early in the second quarter.
Tuscarora narrowed the gap on their ensuing possession when Smith found tight end Gunnar Biebighauser for a 28-yard scoring strike, but Stone Bridge came right back with a quick five-play, 85-yard drive highlighted by hookups of 37 and 25 yards between Thompson and Dewayne Winston. A one-yard run by Thompson with just over two-and-a-half minutes left in the half gave Stone Bridge a 28-14 advantage.
That lead was quickly stretched to 35-14 when Tuscarora fumbled away their next possession on the first play giving Stone Bridge the ball back on the Huskies' 18-yard line. Thompson ran twice, hooked up with Winston again, and Ridley finished off the drive with a five-yard run.
With less than 50 seconds left in the half, Tuscarora managed to navigate their way to the Stone Bridge 42-yard line with time for one last play. Smith rolled to his left but threw back across the field to his right finding Nic Speroni outleaping defenders for a score as time expired sending the teams into the break.
Having converted two Huskies turnovers into scores, Stone Bridge was up 35-21.
HOLD OFF, PULL AWAY
With Tuscarora getting the ball to open the second half, Stone Bridge had to know that a team of the Huskies' quality was not going to go away quietly. However, if the Bulldogs could make it difficult, it would play to their advantage as time was on their side.
The Huskies came out strong driving the field against Stone Bridge in the third quarter but, after using up over nine minutes of game clock and advancing to the Bulldogs' two-yard line, Stone Bridge kept them out of the end zone following a holding penalty and back-to-back incomplete passes.
When Stone Bridge responded by driving 87 yards in six plays for a score of their own, a 17-yard touchdown run by Thompson, to take a 42-21 lead, the game effectively seemed over.
However, the Huskies scored back twice on a 34-yard speed option run by Smith and a 19-yard Smith to Speroni connection to sandwich yet another Stone Bridge touchdown, a Thompson to Winston 21-yarder and the Huskies were within two scores at 48-35.
When Stone Bridge fumbled on their next possession, the Huskies had hope. However, junior cornerback Joe Lemaster picked off an errant Tuscarora pass two plays later and Thompson engineered another scoring drive finding Smedley again from 11 yards out to make it 54-35 with less than four minutes to play.
A final Huskies' scoring drive capped by a one-yard run by Smith with barely over a minute left in the contest wrapped up the night's scoring.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
JOE THOMPSON
The Stone Bridge senior quarterback did not play in the first meeting between the two schools, a 42-19 win for Tuscarora, but he made up for that time off in this one as the Charlotte commit connected on 12 of 19 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns adding another 95 yards rushing and three scores on the ground en route to totaling 312 yards of offense and accounting for six of his team's touchdowns.
JOSHUA BREECE
The Bulldogs' running back only totaled 42 yards on six carries on the ground and 28 yards receiving on two touchdowns, but he made a huge impact from the defensive side of the ball on his first start of the season there. He applied a lot of pressure on Tuscarora quarterback Daniel Smith but kept the senior playmaker contained in the pocket all night where he couldn't hurt Stone Bridge with his legs as he did so often during their first meeting. The junior also picked off a pass in the game leading to a Stone Bridge touchdown that put his team in front by two scores for the first time in the contest.
CHASE RIDLEY
The Stone Bridge wideout did a little bit of everything for his offense on Friday night as he carried the ball eight times for 109 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, threw a 26-yards pass to Lawton Riggs in the first quarter setting up a Thompson touchdown run, and hauled in one pass for eleven yards in the passing game totaling 146 yards of offense and two scores in the win.
SPECIAL NOTES
Of the 41 rushing attempts made by Tuscarora, only two of them went for double-digit yardage as Smith hit a 34-yard scoring run then later added a 15-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
Smith has been perhaps the top quarterback in the state this season and played this game with a minor foot injury, but he definitely went out on his shield, as the old Spartans would say. On the night, the senior completed 22 of 43 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns adding 21 rushing attempts for 74 yards and three scores.
Tuscarora pass-catchers Gunnar Biebighauser and Nic Speroni turned in big nights as the former caught eight passes for 129 yards and one touchdown while the latter hauled in six catches for 122 yards and two scores.
The loss was only the second time in two years that Tuscarora has gone down as they've notched a 27-2 mark over the last two seasons.
In their previous five trips to the state championship game, the Bulldogs have collected one trophy and fallen four times, each to a Tidewater area program, three of those by a touchdown or less.
This will mark the first time that Stone Bridge has advanced to the state title game with more than one loss on their resume.
Football Editor Rod Johnson is entering his second decade with www.VirginiaPreps.com having started with the site in 2003. To keep up with all the high school football news in Virginia, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook. He can also be contacted via e-mail at vaprepsrod@cox.net.
