Hampton and Johnson County have played many close football games in recent years but Friday’s wasn’t one of them. The Bulldogs scored early and often in their 50-14 rout on Friday night at J.C. Campbell Stadium.
Head coach Mike Lunsford was pleased with his team’s effort especially in the first quarter.
“You always want to get off to a good start and tonight we did that,” said Lunsford. “We thought we could throw because they were keying on the run. Coby (Jones) made some huge plays at quarterback and our receivers caught the football. I thought both sides of the line played well. Our back came out and ran the ball hard too.”
The Dogs appeared a bit “ticked” at not cracking the AP’s top 10 in 2A last week.
Jones tossed a 52-yard touchdown pass to Jared Wiltshire on the third play from scrimmage and then hit Jacob Chambers with another 52-yard score on their next possession.
Wiltshire helped set up Hampton’s next touchdown after picking off Nathan Arnold’s pass on Johnson County’s next possession.
Adam McClain’s 10-yard TD run came after a 47-yard completion from Jones to Chambers. The Dogs missed the PAT but still led 19-0.
McClain closed out Hampton’s first quarter scoring on a 44-yard touchdown run with Jones passing to Wiltshire on the 2-point conversion.
Johnson County got its first score on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to Cody Bailie with 1:25 remaining in the first.
Jones would answer with a 20-yard dart to Wiltshire to make the score 35-7 on their first possession in the second quarter. But the Longhorns continued to play well too.
Samuel Icenhour’s 64-yard kickoff return would lead to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to Dakota Wright.
Yet they couldn’t keep the Dogs out of the end zone.
Everything kept going Hampton’s way. McClain recovered his own fumble in the end zone after an 8-yard run that extended the score to at 43-14.
Hampton’s final score came on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Dakota Crumley.
Neither team scored in the second half. Johnson County kept the football the entire third quarter only to see a potential long scoring drive stall at the 10.
Jones ended the night throwing for 289 yards on 10-13 passing and four touchdowns. Chambers amassed six catches for 155 yards and a score. Wiltshire’s two touchdown catches totaled 122 yards.
The Bulldogs rushed for 256 yards. Adam McClain had 105 on 11 carries. Lunsford added 90 on 10 attempts.
Arnold completed 9-18 passes for 125 yards and two scores to lead Johnson County. Wright caught four balls for 66 yards and a score.
Payton Fenner provided 10 tackles for the Longhorns’ defense. John Cole, McClain and Lunsford provided five apiece for the Bulldogs.
“We focused on stopping the run but Jones did a great job of finding his receivers and hitting them,” said Johnson County’s head coach Don Kerley. “Give credit to Hampton and Coach Lunsford. They have a very good and well-coached football team.”
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”102″ gal_title=”082815_HamptonJoCo”]
