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VHSL Region 5D Championship - (1) Stone Bridge 42 (2) Mountain View 0 - Final



Stone Bridge drive took just 4 plays, went 65 yards and was highlighted by a pretty 45-yard passing strike from Charlotte commit Zeke Wimbush (a wide receiver turned quarterback this year) to junior Myles Turpin.

Turpin has 7 INT's and 17 pass breakups this season on defense.
 
Stone Bridge forces the Mountain View offense to go 3 & out on its first possession. A trio of seniors made their presence felt with Micah Smith (Navy commit) making a tackle for loss that dropped Mountain View back three yards, a pass breakup by Kedell Price on second down, then Liyu Sang sacking Wildcats QB Jackson Sigler for a loss of 13.

Facing 4th & 2 from the Mountain View 26 are the Bulldogs with 5:50 to go in the opening period following an 8-yard run from Jordan Kaiser. Zeke Wimbush had another nice completion of 14 yards in the flat to Jakob Lawyer, a standout on defense from his linebacker position.
 
Stone Bridge converts the 4th & 2 with Zeke Wimbush hitting junior Jordan Kaiser in the flat for a pass completion worth 8 yards.

A few plays later, it's Wimbush with a 3-yard TD run. It's Stone Bridge up double-digits with 3:53 to go in the opening period.




The Charlotte commit Zeke Wimbush already has 67 yards passing on 3/3 to go with 21 yards rushing and a TD in the opening quarter for the reigning two-time State Champion Bulldogs. It is worth noting that Wimbush is getting recruiting attention from some other schools, including Pitt, as recent 49ers HC Will Healy got canned. So it remains to be seen where he ultimately lands come Signing Day.
 
Another 3 & out for the Mountain View offense. Outside 'backer Jonathan Newton, a sophomore, made a terrific stop during that series for the Stone Bridge defense. This Mountain View offense that puts up 38 points per game is having a hard time functioning without star RB Ike Daniels, a Syracuse commit sidelined because of a shoulder injury.

A bad punt gives the Bulldogs excellent field position at the 29 with 2:35 left in the opening frame. Just three plays later, it's Stone Bridge finding the end zone again.



Stone Bridge leads it 20-0 with 2:07 left in the first period.
 


Region 5D Defensive Player of the Year Myles Turpin halts the Mountain View running game to a gain of maybe a yard on 1st & 10 from their own 15 with under two minutes to go in the opening quarter. Jaden Fair then moves the sticks for the Wildcats for the first time on the day with a pick up of about 12 yards.

Nate Moorehead - who was thought to be lost for the season with a leg injury - combines with Micah Smith for a stop for loss to bring up 2nd & 12.

Fair pulls in a 36-yard pass from QB Jackson Sigler as the opening period concludes.
 


One of the questions for Mickey Thompson going into the season was how he'd replace a top-notch cover corner like Zach Laing from their 2021 title winning teams. So far, Duncan and Myles Turpin have 7 INT's apiece, and so far on the season, the Bulldogs are up to 20 picks with a pair on the day.

Mario Suarez has come in at QB and completed his first pass to Duncan for 5 yards. Then after a run by Troy Marquez, one of the starting linemen for Stone Bridge - sophomore center David Rodelo - is helped off the field. That's definitely not what the Bulldogs want to see.

On a positive for Mountain View today - - highly recruited 2024 LB Kris Jones has been in on several stops and is showing why he's one of the most coveted prospects in the state.
 
Stone Bridge is NOT the same team I saw earlier in the season on NFHS.

It's like watching a finely tuned machine.
Completely agree - they look MUCH better than when I saw them back in September at Freedom-Woodbridge. They've ironed out a lot of things, and up front the Bulldogs appear a bit sturdier. Of course, very few teams out there can match the speed and athleticism this 2022 Freedom outfit has displayed as it closes in on the state's single-season scoring record.
 
Trailing Stone Bridge 33-0 with under two minutes to go, Mountain View WR Jaden Fair makes a superb one-handed snag as the Wildcats move into Stone Bridge territory at the 49. On 3rd & 3, it's Jackson Sigler getting it to Fair along the sideline to move the sticks down to the 39 of the Bulldogs.

Senior corner Kyle Galloway sticks with Fair down the sideline on the next pass that falls incomplete. With three receivers to his right and Fair to the left, Sigler goes back to his primary target for a gain of 12 and he gets out to stop the clock with 34 seconds left in the second period.

But the Stone Bridge defense sees Micah Smith flying up-field to sack Sigler for a loss of a chunk back to about the 38. Mountain View dials up the hook and ladder play On 3rd & 4 from the 20, the Wildcats move the chains with 15.4 seconds left in the half. Lou Sorrentino will burn a time-out,
 


Not only do we have VaPreps correspondent Robert Edmonds on hand, but also photographer extraordinaire Bob Lanum.

Quick correction on the regional title count - - think we earlier wrote and posted that this would be Stone Bridge's 16th regional crown under Mickey Thompson. It would actually be his 15th. One he got back in 1999 was at Park View-Sterling, so for him personally, 16. This also would indeed be the 62nd playoff win, barring a comeback for the ages by the Wildcats.
 


Jakob Lawyer with the tackle in the end zone for a safety.

Mountain View - which has nine underclassmen starting on defense including the ballyhooed 2024 prospect Kris Jones - will have better days in the future than this one.

Stone Bridge will either travel to Highland Springs in the State Semis or host L.C. Bird, depending on the results between the Springers and Skyhawks in the Region 5C title game.
 
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