Football: Stone Bridge Mauls McLean, 38-0, in Match-up of 8-0 Teams

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

(Oct. 29, 2010) - The Stone Bridge High School football team played a nearly flawless first half Friday as the Bulldogs mauled McLean for 38 points before the break in a match-up of teams with 8-0 records. With Marcus Harris rushing for three scores and 124 of his 161 yards, Stone Bridge left no doubt as to the top team in the Liberty District as well as Division 5 in the Northern Region if not the state.

The Bulldog defense, led by sophomore Jonathan Allen who had three sacks to add to his school record 13 on the season, held McLean to 38 yards in the first half and one first down -- all of which came on one trick play. The Bulldogs had probably their hardest-hitting game of the season, laying some vicious blocks, especially on a 53-yard punt return by Spenser Rositano that set up a 12-yard Harris TD run.

Harris had started the game with a 44-yard TD sprint as Stone Bridge opened by moving the ball 61 yards in just three plays to take a 7-0 lead only 40 seconds into the contest. After a 3-and-out, Stone Bridge marched 51 yards in nine efficient plays with Harris moving the chains almost every time he touched the ball and he finished off the drive by walking in from the 2 to make it 14-0 with 6:09 left in the first.

After Rositano's punt return -- during which Allen and another Stone Bridge player sent Highlanders flinging with big blocks -- Harris took the next snap and made it 21-0 with 39 seconds left in the first.

After an Allen sack pinned McLean inside their 20, Rositano returned a short punt 23 yards to put the ball on the McLean 24 and Brian Rody (154 yards passing on 11-23-0) hit Harris for a 9-yard pass play that then set up a 15-yard inside reverse to Adrian Thomas to make it 28-0 Stone Bridge with 10:05 still left in the first half.

McLean finally got a first down when they executed a trick play on 3rd-and-17 from their own 18 with Jimmy Ludwick taking a draw handoff from behind his back from quarterback Chase Mills. Ludwick stood frozen, almost a variation on the old Statue of Liberty play, with the ball held behind him as several Bulldogs rushed by and then he went 38 yards for McLean's biggest play of the night.

After the Bulldog defense held at their own 36 on 4th-and-2, the Bulldogs went to the spread offense with Rody completing passes to three different receivers before he did the honors from the 1 for a 35-0 with 4:03 left in the half.

Stone Bridge wasted nothing in the half as the Bulldogs turned a McLean fumble on their own 38 with 16 second left in the first half into a 38-0 lead on the strength of Rositano's school record-tying 48-yard field goal. A booming kick that was probably good from at least 53 yards.

With the clock running in the second half because of the VHSL 35-point blowout rule, Stone Bridge made the game go even faster with a monster drive of 16 plays, that included 19 snaps with three penalties, that drained more than 10 minutes off the clock. Even though the drive stalled at the McLean 1, the field position was enough to keep the Highlanders off the scoreboard, even though the Stone Bridge second defense took to the field in the final quarter.

Stone Bridge improves to 6-0 and 9-0 and has wrapped up at least a share of the Liberty District title for a sixth straight year and the Bulldogs can claim a sixth 10-0 regular season in eight years with a win next week at South Lakes. McLean, off to its best start in 25 years, slips to 5-1 and 8-1.

Check back for a longer version of this story with quotes in the morning.

Stone Bridge 38, Mclean 0
McLean          0   0  0 0 - 0
Stone Bridge 21 17  0 0 - 38

1: SB Harris 44 run (Jamison kick) 11:20 (drive: 3 plays, 61 yards, 0:40)
1: SB Harris 2 run (Jamison kick) 6:09 (9 plays, 51 yards, 3:02)
1: SB Harris 12 run (Jamison kick) 0:39 (1 play, 12 yards, 0:07)
2: SB Thomas 15 run (Jamison kick) 10:05 (2 plays, 24 yards, 0:48)
2: SB Rody 1 run (Jamison  kick) 4:03 (5 plays, 64 yards, 1:48)
2: SB Rositano 48 FG (3 plays, 7 yards, 0:16)

Rushing
McLean: Ludwick 11-75, McColgan 9-20, Mills 17-(-30). Totals 37-65.
Stone Bridge: Harris 16-161, Thomas 4-33, Rody 6-17, Manning 4-17, Michael 1-4. Totals 31-221.

Passing
McLean: Mills 2-4-0 29 yards.
Stone Bridge: Rody 11-23-0 154 yards.

Receiving
Mclean: Lafoon 1-25, Beatty 1-4.
Stone Bridge: Harris 3-37, Johnson 3-33, Rositano 2-40, White 1-22, Lowdermilk 1-15, Gouveia 1-6.