The sky was clear over Cougar Stadium but lightning still struck down the field as Manassas Park thrashed Luray, 35-0.

The two teams were scoreless until late in the second quarter and it looked as if the first team to score would win the game. But the Cougars suddenly exploded for three touchdowns in span of three minutes to essentially win the game.

``We were struggling," said Manassas Park coach Jeff Lloyd, whose team was held to a standstill by the tough and physical Bulldogs for most of the first half. ``We were thinking this is not how it's supposed to be. But the fumble recovery picked us up."

Lloyd was referring to what turned out to be the key play of the game. Manassas Park's Michael Stewart shot through a gap and sacked Luray quarterback Marcus Davis. Davis fumbled on the play and Stewart's teammate, Adam Van Kuren, made the recovery on the Bulldogs 12-yard line.

``It was a play where I `go,' " said Stewart of his blitz. ``I grabbed him and he went down and then he lost the ball."

The play was particularly devastating for Luray, which lost not only the ball but perhaps its best player, fullbacklinebacker John Ketcham, to a game-ending ankle sprain.

On the play after Van Kuren's fumble recovery, Jonathan Abrams slipped down but then recovered to take the ball for a 12-yard touchdown run.

When Stewart forced the Davis fumble, Abrams was one of the Cougar players who was inspired to take control of the game. Abrams said he realized, ``we were starting to play our game. When we do that, the other team better watch out."

Abrams finished with 99 yards to lead the Cougars, who outgained the Bulldogs on the ground, 265-98.

The Cougars had a 7-0 lead with 4 minutes, 47 seconds left in the half but they were far from finished. Price Ward picked off a Davis pass near midfield. On the next play, Abrams took a handoff from quarterback Danny Kettler on a draw play and ran 60 yards untouched for his second score.

Back-up receiver Ben Prewitt finished the first half scoring for Manassas Park by hauling in a 51-yard scoring toss from Kettler to make the score 22-0 at halftime.

The Cougars were outgained in the first quarter, 73-21 yards. But the second quarter was a complete reversal, as Manassas Park had the upper hand in yardage, 156-21.

``We didn't have any film on them to prepare," Lloyd said, "and they came out in a different formation than were were expecting.

``They saw us play last week a 26-0 win over Amelia] and they were slanting down to stop our [inside] trap play. We had to run outside to be able to run inside."

Manassas Park, in pitching its second straight shutout to open the season, dominated the second half and held Luray to 32 yards of offense.

The Cougars got the only two scores of the second half on an 8-yard run by Kettler and a 66-yard burst by freshman back-up A.C. Fitchett.