Hampton was unable to keep pace with a strong Pisgah (N.C.) offensive attack on Friday night.
The Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 42-14 decision on the road to North Carolina 3A Pisgah in Canton, NC.
Hampton moves to 1-2 on the season with the loss.
The Bears had a quick start to jump out early.
After a five-play drive to open the game resulted in a touchdown, Pisgah forced a three-and-out and scored on the next drive to take a 14-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first.
Hampton, however, settled down and used a steady dose of the rushing game to move down the field with key plays from Dominique Burleson and Dylan Trivett.
HHS moved inside the Pisgah 20 but was stopped on fourth down as the first quarter came to a close with the Bears up 14-0.
The Hampton defense came up big to start the quarter as Grayson Young and Burleson recorded sacks to get Pisgah off the field.
J.J. McElyea caught a 34-yard pass from Trivett, and the Bulldogs finished a seven-play drive with a Burleson touchdown from a yard out to trim the lead to 14-6.
The Bears, however, responded with a quick score to push the lead back out.
Hampton battled back once again working quickly in the final minute of the half as Trivett hit Elijah McKinney and McElyea to move the Bulldogs into scoring position, but Hampton saw the quarter expire as they crossed the Pisgah 5.
The home-standing Bears held a 21-6 halftime lead.
After the Bulldogs were unable to get anything going on their first drive of the second half, Pisgah took advantage with a 16-yard pass from Aaron Clark to Sawyer Belue to extend the lead.
Hampton continued to battle but was unable to answer a pair of Pisgah touchdowns until late in the game when Geno Carrico scored on a short run.
The Carrico touchdown was set up by a 38-yard run from Peyton Townsend.
Townsend finished the game with 61 yards on six carries, while Burleson had 45 yards on 15 carries and a score to go with 40 receiving yards.
Trivett was 11-of-13 passing for 163 yards while adding 26 yards on the ground. Elijah McKinney and McElyea had 62 and 61 receiving yards, respectively.
Clark led Pisgah as he went 12-of-15 for 135 yards and two touchdowns, while Brandon Reynolds had eight carries for 57 yards.
The Bulldogs are set to return to JC Campbell Stadium next Friday to open Region 1-2A play against Happy Valley.
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