Ashburn, Va. — In Loudoun County, any team can win any night during high school football season. This was true on October 31 for the Stone Bridge High School football team. Entering the game with just one win on the season, the Bulldogs shut down the Briar Woods offense and capitalized on mistakes in a 14-12 victory in Ashburn.
“They’ve worked their tails off, and we’ve fallen short,” Stone Bridge head coach Kedric Golston said. “We’ve been on the other end of the stick a lot. I’m just excited for them, for these seniors, for how I’ve seen them grow over these past four months.”
The three-headed backfield of junior Dominic Manicioto, sophomore Shia Campbell, and senior Koran Rucker rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown. Junior quarterback Samar Kaul went 9-of-13 through the air for 100 yards and a touchdown.
“We just got fresh guys you can put out there,” Golston said. “[The running backs] have gotten healthy and they each do something really well. So it’s a luxury that all three of them are healthy now.”
The Stone Bridge defense buckled down after allowing Briar Woods senior quarterback Brady Carmical to throw for 110 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. Carmical finished the game 13-of-33 for 235 yards with an interception and one touchdown. Briar Woods had to turn to senior athlete Lucas Roser to run the ball, but he only achieved 7 yards on his 6 rushing attempts.
The game started with Briar Woods receiving the ball on the opening kickoff. They could not muster up any offense forcing a three-and-out punt. On the resulting drive, Stone Bridge moved the ball down the field using their ground attack before stalling out. A 4th-and-3 on the Falcons 21 yard line saw the Bulldogs give the ball to Campbell before he was tackled just short of the first down marker by junior linebacker Javon Wade.
Briar Woods got the ball back with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Carmical dropped back before finding senior receiver Dylan Duffy across the middle. Duffy sped down the sideline for 76 yards before getting tackled inside the 10. A couple plays later, Carmical found senior receiver Colin Capistrant in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown. A bad snap on the PAT resulted in a 6-0 lead.
Again, the Falcons defense shut down the Stone Bridge offense before getting the ball back to start the second quarter. Facing a 4th-and-12 in Bulldogs territory, Carmical found Duffy for a 23-yard gain and a first down. Two plays later, Carmical carried the ball into the endzone for a 4-yard touchdown. Briar Woods tried a two-point conversion to no avail. Still, the Falcons were up 12-0 early in the second frame.
Time and time again, the Briar Woods defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs, but Stone Bridge launched a different game plan with two minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs turned to an aerial attack to move down the field as Kaul found sophomore receiver Justin Oh for 19 yards then again for 7. Those plays set Stone Bridge up inside the Falcons 10 yard line, where Kaul found sophomore receiver Joey Magliocca across the middle for a 7-yard touchdown. A good PAT by senior kicker Hakim Hardy put the Bulldogs back into the game, trailing 12-7 heading into the locker room.
Stone Bridge made a great defensive play in the third quarter blocking Carmical’s punt attempt, setting the Bulldogs up around midfield. They used that momentum for a 11-play, 58-yard drive that Campbell capped off the drive with a 9-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bulldogs the lead, 14-12.
“[The touchdown] felt great,” Campbell said. “All credit to my teammates. We came into this week knowing we had a job to do, and this week, the seniors all pushed us hard enough to fight until the very end.”
On the ensuing drive—hoping to regain leverage—Carmical dropped back looking for a first down on 3rd-and-13, but Stone Bridge junior defensive back Xavier Wimbush had other plans as he came down with an interception.
“I was playing my covers [on the interception],” Wimbush said. “We’ve been shutting down everybody we’ve played. The coaching staff is doing a good job.”
Once again, however, the Briar Woods defense stepped up, forcing the Bulldogs offense to punt after just three plays, and giving the Falcons’ offense the ball back midway through the fourth quarter.
Facing 4th-and-7, the Falcons looked to convert, but Carmical missed his receiver as the Bulldogs took over on downs.
Another three-and-out on the ensuing Stone Bridge drive gave Briar Woods one last chance with 2:30 left.
Briar Woods continued to rely on Carmical’s arm to get down the field, as the senior gunslinger converted with Duffy for 18 yards on 4th-and-10. After that, he found Capistrant for 9 yards and a first down.
Following the conversion to Capistrant, three straight incomplete passes meant the Falcons were staring at a 4th-and-10 with 30 seconds to play.
After three incomplete passes, this left them with a 4th-and-10 and about 30 seconds left the clock. Carmical took the snap and looked up, trying to find one of his receivers, but before it had the ability to go past the line of scrimmage, Stone Bridge junior defensive lineman Colton Pollard threw his hands up and batted the ball down to force the turnover and secure the win for the Bulldogs.
“The great thing about this year is we’ve been in these situations every week,” Golston said. “We were comfortable in that space, because we have been there.”
Stone Bridge (2-2, 2-7) returns home and turns their attention to Riverside on November 8 to close out their season. Briar Woods (3-1, 6-3) travels to Independence on the same night in a game to determine the Potomac District champion.
“We’re going to enjoy this game, and we’ll get back and watch the tape to figure out what we need to figure out,” Golston said. “Riverside is a good team, but hopefully our best football is ahead of us.”
Jackson Reid captured 200+ photos at the game!
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 1Q | 0:22 | Briar Woods | Brady Carmical to Colin Capistrant 17-yard TD pass (PAT blocked) | 0-6 |
| 2Q | 7:32 | Briar Woods | Brady Carmical 4-yard TD run (2pt failed) | 0-12 |
| 2Q | 0:05 | Stone Bridge | Samar Kaul to Joey Magliocca 7-yard TD pass (Hakim Hardy PAT) | 7-12 |
| 4Q | 8:40 | Stone Bridge | Shia Campbell 9-yard TD run (Hakim Hardy PAT) | 14-12 |