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Bowie (18-0) recorded its eighth state title and first since its back-to-back championships in 1990 and 1991. It's the third state championship in Richard Kirkland's head coaching tenure, and he was an assistant coach at Bowie when the Bulldogs won titles in 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1987. Bowie also won a title in 1978 before Kirkland joined the program.
Thompson's goal broke a 1-1 tie with 27 minutes, 45 seconds remaining, and the Bulldogs just missed adding an insurance goal while thwarting the Gators on numerous corner kicks in the second half.
"This is just an unbelievable feeling," Kirkland said. "These guys have been working so hard all season and they work extremely well together. There was a lot of pressure on them tonight. They were able to accomplish something that so few teams can accomplish. They won every game and all four possible championships, the league, the county, the region and the state. Seventeen years is a long time between state titles, but what an incredible feeling."
Bowie broke a scoreless tie in the opening minutes of the second half. Brian Graham took a free kick from 25 yards out after being tackled by a Perry Hall defender, and he drilled a high shot that eluded Gators' goalie Zach Kane, skimmed off the inside of the cross bar and bounced straight down on the goal line. Kane could not reach the bouncing ball and none of his defenders got to it either, allowing Patterson to race in uncontested and head the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
But while the Bulldogs were looking to get settled and their faithful were still applauding the early lead, Perry Hall launched a quick attack. Collin Rome dribbled down the sideline and sent a sharp centering pass into the box that John Shipley headed past Bowie goalkeeper Curtis Fisher and into the net. Less than a minute after the Bulldogs had drawn first blood, Perry Hall had gained the equalizer.
"The first five minutes after any goal are the most dangerous," Kirkland said. "We let up momentarily and they scored in 45 seconds. Our guys did a good job of getting regrouped and staying poised. We made a quick adjustment and went right back on the attack."
Thompson was injured late in the Bulldogs' 2-1 overtime victory against Bladensburg in the 4A South Region quarterfinals and sat out the semifinal game against Eleanor Roosevelt, when the Bulldogs rallied from an early 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory. He gained a clean bill of health for the region final against High Point and the state semifinal against Severna Park, both of which were 1-0 Bowie victories.
With just under 28 minutes remaining in a 1-1 game on Saturday, Thompson chased down a free ball in the box and sent a hard shot that Kane stopped but failed to cradle. Thompson collected his own rebound and fired another hard shot that Kane deflected, and again the Bowie junior chased down the bouncing ball and this time headed it into the left corner of the net for a 2-1 lead.
"They have a great goalie," Thompson said. "I shot the ball hard twice and somehow he stopped both of them. When the ball came back to me I just jumped and headed it into the net. It was a total team effort. Everybody played well. I wasn't even born the last time that Bowie won the state title. It's a great feeling to be part of the championship."
Patterson and sweeper Daniel Walker controlled the middle of the field in the first half and Bowie junior forwards Graham, Charlie Garner and Patrick Thornton applied serious pressure to the Perry Hall defenders and Kane. Twice in the middle stages of the first half, Graham beat two defenders and crossed the ball to an open Garner, who missed scoring chances at point blank range.
"We knew we had to contain their fast forward [Graham] up front," said Perry Hall coach Danny Skelton. "He's quick and he is an exceptional ballhandler. Their size was a big problem for us. They have a lot of tall players. Every time they sent the ball into the box we tried to mark their two big players. They have an excellent team. Our goal all season was to get here and win a title. We thought we had everything in place, but Bowie just had a better team tonight. Things bounced their way and no much bounced our way."
