by Larry N. Souders

It’s the middle of August, and there are many things going on in Northeast Tennessee. NASCAR makes its return to Bristol this coming weekend, the Appalachian Fair does the same in Gray, but most importantly high school football returns to the gridiron on Friday.
This past Friday night the Bulldogs of Hampton High School hosted, Unaka, Cloudland, and the Rebels of Sullivan South for the 2018 Football Jamboree at JC Campbell stadium.
Hampton opened the evening’s game playing Sullivan South, while Unaka and Cloudland headlined the nightcap.
Sullivan South got the ball first and wasted no time whatsoever scoring. On the first play from scrimmage the Rebels junior running back Julian Reed took the handoff, hit the opening, broke left and dashed 75 yards untouched for a touchdown. South kicked the extra point, and with just seven seconds gone in the first quarter, the Bulldogs trailed 7-0.
South scored again in the first quarter when Andrew Nash (23) plowed through the Bulldog defense from two yards out.
Hampton finally got on the scoreboard late in the first on a fade route from junior QB Alex Hardin to the end zone where it was caught by Jonah Jones, who made a beautiful flying catch, landing flat on his back while holding onto the ball for the touchdown.
Hampton trailed by only seven at the half 14-7 getting the ball first to start the second quarter.
The Bulldogs looked like they would score on the opening drive only to have tailback Lane Potter (33) stripped of the ball at the 2-yard line on what appeared to be a touchdown run.
South squandered the opportunity to add to lead on the next play. While quarterback Luke Pollack (7) was checking to another play, the ball was snapped, flying through the back of end zone for a safety. Making the score 9-14 and Hampton, got possession of the ball at the Rebels 45. The Bulldogs promptly gave the Rebels the ball back on an interception by Matthew Littleton (24), and Hampton never threatened to score again.
The Rebels tacked on two more scores bring the final tally to 28-9 for their victory.
Cloudland and the Rangers from Unaka squared off next. The Highlanders scored on their first possession with a 20-yard touchdown run from Josh Blair (40) and a two-point conversion by Triston Lacey (25) for a quick 8-o lead.
The ‘Landers scored later in the first quarter on a 35-yard touchdown run by Conner Birchfield, and the two-point conversion was again scored by Lacey giving Cloudland a 16-0 lead going into the half.
The Highlanders scored twice more in the second quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Benfield to Blair and their final score came on the final play of the game when Damian Black (17) scampered 50 yards for the score.
The Rangers sole scoring highlight came when Nick Bowers (25) scooped up Black’s fumble on the 30 and scampered seventy yards down the near sideline to pay dirt.