It may not have been a thing of beauty, but the end result went as desired for the Bulldogs.
Hampton shook off early turnovers to roll to a 47-10 victory over South Greene on Friday night at J.C. Campbell Stadium. The win moves Hampton to 8-1 on the season, and sets the stage for a conference title battle against Cloudland next Thursday night.
Hampton jumped out early as Adam McClain scored on a six-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive, and Coby Jones hit Caleb West for a 23-yard touchdown pass to give Hampton an early 16-0 lead.
South Greene, however, battled back with a 40-yard field goal from Alex Burda and a six-yard touchdown run from Dalton Dunkley. The Rebels were poised to cut the gap to three points, but the Bulldogs blocked a field goal attempt and Dylan Ford grabbed the ball and ran 45 yards for the defensive score. After the Hampton defense forced a punt, McClain scored his second touchdown of the night from two yards out to give the Bulldogs a 32-10 lead at the half.
In the second half, Hampton benefited from a safety on the opening drive of the half, and then McClain added another touchdown to push the lead to 40-10 heading into the final quarter. Jacob Smith capped off the scoring as he dived into the endzone from a yard out in the fourth quarter.
McClain finished with a game high 115 yards, while Jerry Lunsford had 85 carries. Jones was injured in the first half and did not return.
Hampton limited South Greene to just 109 yards in the game.
Quotable
“We kept playing hard and doing the things it takes to win. We blocked well and did some stuff defensively. We still have some things to work on.”
“It is for the conference championship. It is going to be a tough game. If Coby isn’t able to play, it makes it that much tougher for us. We just have to do what we need to do and get ready.”
-Hampton Head Coach Mike Lunsford
“We got some stuff to build on tonight. I think a lot of people in East Tennessee thought we would come here and just lay down and we didn’t. If it wasn’t for the turnover in the first series and the blocked field goal, it is 16-10 at the half. You take those two plays away and its 16-10 at the half with our kids playing great. “
-South Greene Head Coach Shawn Jones
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