The Hampton Bulldogs opened up conference play in style, blowing by the Cosby Eagles 62-8 Friday night at J.C. Campbell Stadium.
The Bulldogs used a well-mixed attack, totaling 558 yards of total offense, with 341 yards coming from passing and 217 yards from rushing on 15 carries.
Coby Jones threw for 200 yards, going 4 of 6, with all four of his connected passes resulting in TDs. Hampton’s Jared Wiltshire was Jones most effective target, pulling in two passes for 93 yards receiving. Both of Wiltshire’s catches resulted in TDs.
“Coby is a great quarterback,” Wiltshire said. “We just run our routes right, and he puts the ball were we can get it.”
In the second half, Wyatt Lyons caught for 83 yards on six catches. J.J. Chambers finished the night with 42 yards in receiving on a TD catch, while Colton Walker caught for 65 yards on one TD catch.
On the ground, Jones led with 81 yards on two carries. He was followed up by Jerry Lunsford, who had 80 yards on five carries. Adam McClain finished with 51 yards on six carries.
The Bulldogs were able score on eight of nine possessions Friday night. The first TD came quick with Jerry Lunsford rushing for a 52-yard touchdown on three plays.
Cosby would go four and out, setting the Bulldogs up to do it again with Wiltshire, keeping with the number 52, catching a 52-yard TD toss from Jones. With Trevor Waycaster booting in his second extra-point of the night, the Bulldogs advanced their score to 14-0. Waycaster would hit 6 of 8 extra-point attempts.
On their next drive, the Bulldogs would get it done in one play, with Jones rushing in an 89-yard quarterback keeper, advancing the score to 21-0.
The Cosby Eagles found their footing on their next possession. On a 13-play drive, the Eagles were able to score, with Matt Lane tossing a four-yard TD pass to Bryce Poe.
“On the drive that they scored on, our defense made some miss cues,” Hampton head coach Mike Lunsford said. “We were playing over aggressively. The quarterback would fake it and we would bite on the running back. We had our linebackers and defensive ends slow down a little bit, and we played a lot better.”
With the Hampton offense turning drives into touchdowns quickly, the Bulldogs defense is finding themselves on the field often.
“It is good for them,” Lunsford said. “We are going to be playing games down the road that they will have to be ready to go.”
McClain led the defense in tackles, recording seven, while defensive lineman Dakota Sanchez had six. Hampton’s first touchdown in the second quarter came from a 41-yard pass from Jones to Wiltshire. The Bulldogs posted three more touchdowns in the second quarter, with the last one coming from Jones, who had an 86-yard TD interception.
At the half, the ’Dogs were up 48-8.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs fumbled on their possession, allowing the Eagles to recover, but the Hampton defense forced the Eagles to punt.
On their next possession, Hampton’s Jason Russell connected with David Fleenor for a 58-yard TD pass. Russell ended the night with 141 yards in passing, going 5 of 8.
The last score of night came from Wyatt Lyons, who caught a 46-yard TD pass from Russell.
The ’Dogs (3-0, 1-0) will take a break next week, before heading to Gatlinburg-Pittman on Sept. 18 for a conference showdown.