Stone Bridge Wins Thriller Over Broad Run

For one half of football, it looked as if the Battle of the 'Burn was going to be a dud. In front of a packed house – including several current Washington Redskins Santana Moss and Trent Williams – Broad Run raced to a commanding 24-0 halftime lead, and seemed to have complete control over the host Stone Bridge Bulldogs. But, behind some big plays on offense and a determined defensive stand in the second half, the Bulldogs battled back to force overtime and took advantage of a missed extra point by the Spartans to come away with a thrilling 31-30 win.

Broad Run struck early and often to built a seemingly insurmountable first half lead. After a field goal on the first drive of the game, the Spartans added consecutive touchdowns by Derril Thomas and Dorian Jenkins, who grabbed a pass from Connor Jessop, for the early lead. Broad Run scored on two plays of more than 40 yards, and controlled the line of scrimmage as they owned the Bulldogs in the first half, gaining 175 yards on offense to the Bulldogs’ miniscule 64-yard output.

The start of the second half looked as if it would bring more of the same after the Spartan defense recovered a Bulldog fumble at the Stone Bridge 1-yard line. With a first and goal from the 1, it appeared the Spartans would extend their lead, but Jonathan Allen and the Stone Bridge defense had other ideas. The Bulldogs held the Spartans to no gain on the two plays before Allen – soon to be among the most heavily recruited high school players in the country – exploded into the backfield, recording two straight tackles for Stone Bridge losses on third and fourth downs. The defensive stand – along with Broad Run’s failed fourth-down attempt – proved to be the turning point in the game.

On the ensuing drive, Stone Bridge quarterback Ryan Burns took advantage of the momentum change, firing off a pinpoint 43-yard touchdown strike to Stan Johnson followed by a 2-point conversion pass to John Petersen. Burns had a decent night passing the ball, completing 8 of 16 passes for 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The threat of its passing game and a halftime adjustment started to open things up for the Stone Bridge running game. The Bulldogs began pounding the ball behind the right side of the offensive line and Stephen Trivieri burst through on a 60-yard touchdown scamper. Another Trivieri run converted another- 2-point conversion, brought the Bulldogs within striking distance at 24-16. Trivieri finished the night with 18 carries for 146 yards.

After scoring nearly at will in the first half, the Spartan offense could muster little output in the second half, perhaps due to adjustments made by the Stone Bridge defense and the loss of Derril Thomas to an injury.

The Bulldogs took advantage of opportunities provided by the team's reinvigorated defense in the second half, tying the game with a another Trivieri score – a short touchdown run followed by a leaping plunge for yet another 2-point conversion.

The two teams traded turnovers in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and the game eventually headed to overtime. Unlike the NFL, where overtime ends with the first score by either team – this year for the first time, pros must score a touchdown to win on the first drive – high school overtime rules provide each team an opportunity to score.

Broad Run started on offense first. Jessop found Jenkins in the right corner of the end zone for a leaping touchdown grab, but the team missed the extra point, resulting in just 6-point lead at 30-24.

The Bulldogs seized the opportunity. Trivieri squirted through Broad Run’s defense behind his stout offensive line for a plunging 1-yard score. When Ben Lambourne nailed the extra point kick, the Bulldogs captured the victory, sending many students from Stone Bridge’s packed the stands streaming onto the field in wild celebration.

The game seemingly renewed a rivalry between the two Ashburn teams, who had not played against one another since 2004.

The Spartans (4-1) next host Herndon while the Bulldogs (3-1) prepare for the heart of their Liberty district schedule when they host Thomas Jefferson next week.

[Editor's note: Our apologies for not having photos of the game; we had a technical glitch. Please submit your photos if you have any from the game, either directly to this story or via email: dusty@patch.com.]

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