On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa: Never Know Who You Will Meet at Meet the Teacher Day

So I'm walking into my son's classroom this morning at Sanders Corner Elementary School in Ashburn for "Meet the Teacher" day and the first kid I see sitting at a tiny desk is this 6-foot-plus big kid wearing a brightly colored "Wake Forest" t-shirt ...

Wait a minute, that is either one big fourth grader or that is Stone Bridge High School football coach Mickey Thompson ... and sure enough, it was Thompson along with wife Kathy as their daughter Amy who is in my son Ryder's class this year.

Those of you that read my Ramblin Man blogs before know that Amy has been on some of my basketball teams and she is an incredible athlete ... like her three brothers!

Speaking of her brothers, Mickey said that Zach will redshirt this season at Wake Forest (twin brother Patrick will join Zach at Wake Forest in January). It was a late redshirt decision by the coaching staff as Thompson was doing very well in the preseason but in the end he will have a year to work and learn the system and then be a freshman next season. Wake Forest usually likes to redshirt all of its freshmen.

In the first preseason scrimmage last month, another Bulldog freshman, linebacker Mike Olson, was signaled out by the coach for a good play  and former SB, redshirt sophomore Devon Brown scored a touchdown.

I asked Mickey about tonight's game against Westfield and he gave me a tongue-in-cheek answer about how his team didn't have much of a chance ... Dave Scarangella of DullesDistrict.com said that when he hears Coach Thompson say that ... it means a 40-point Stone Bridge win!

But the truth is ... tonight's game is a big unknown for both teams. Stone Bridge is replacing its most talented senior class ever and is unveiling a senior class that has struggled more than any other football class in Stone Bridge's decade since opening. Westfield also puts out a team of unknowns as they graduated a lot of seniors.

Westfield had a lot of close games so the back-ups are unproven while Stone Bridge was up big almost every game at halftime last year which gives SB the edge as the juniors and seniors, who didn't start, saw a lot of playing time.

Stone Bridge bonus: I hear Stone Bridge is unveiling a new student in the Bulldog mascot costume tonight ... I will keep his or her identity secret ... for the right price. Check them out tonight and tell them that VivaLoudoun is onto them!

Eagles Online Tonight Live!
How about this note from new Freedom AD Matt Oblas:

The Freedom Athletic Department is excited to announce that the varsity football game vs. Warren County this Friday will be broadcast live on the radio.  The broadcast is made possible by the generosity of the Loudoun County High School Athletic Booster Club, Jeremy Huber, and the Loudoun County Athletic Department.  Freedom would like to thank Jeremy Huber for broadcasting the game free of charge.  This is a tremendous display of sponsorship and kindness.  Please tune in Friday night at 7:25pm at http://lchsabc.org and click on "Live Audio Feed" at the top.  We're thankful for the great relationship that Freedom has with Loudoun County High School.  Go Eagles!  and Go Raiders (but not on October 30:)  !)

Of course, those that have followed my coverage know that Jeremy Huber and I go back and once upon a time hosted a cable access show on Comcast. Let me know if you listen to this game and give me the scoop on how it sounded. It is great to hear that Jeremy is back on the local "airwaves" ... especially with WAGE-AM now dark.