Bulldogs tear up Thunder Valley in impressive showing
Published 1:10 am Saturday, October 5, 2019
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Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Bulldog quarterback Conor Jones (4) fires a first down pass early in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders A pack of Bulldogs, including Gage Chambers (16) and Matt Hughes (21), converge on Sullivan North running back Dale Porter (3) and causes a fumble that goes out of bounds before Hampton could recover it.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Isiah Greenwell (1) looks to get every yard he can before being shoved out of bounds by Sullivan North’s Dale Porter (3) on this first down run.
BY NICHOLAS MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
KINGSPORT– After two dominating performances in back to back weeks, the Hampton Bulldogs traveled to Thunder Valley at Sullivan North High School to take on the Golden Raiders.
The Bulldogs looked to continue their hot streak and increase the number in the win column to four on the year.
This game would start out as a stalemate until the end of the first when an 18-yard run by Isiah Greenwell would spark a 43-yard passing touchdown from Connor Jones to a wide-open Gage Chambers to give Hampton a 6-0 edge.
With the Golden Raiders starting to march down the field hoping to respond the buzzer sounded marking the end of the first quarter.
The end of the quarter also seemed to bring an end to the Raiders momentum as Caleb Oaks would sack Austin Hartsock for a loss of nine yards resulting in a punt.
Oaks would do his part on the offensive end as well by carrying the ball over 20 yards to put his team in enemy territory. This would eventually set up Jones calling his own number from 25 yards to make the score 14-0 as a result of a successful reception by Aiden Vines to tack on two more.
Just before the halftime break, North would respond with a touchdown of their own when Aiden Wills would catch the pass from Hartsock for a six-yard touchdown followed by a successful conversion to make it a 14-8 affair in favor of the Bulldogs to end the half.
After a quick defensive stop by the Bulldogs to start the second half Hampton began their drive in excellent position at the Raider 34-yard line.
Taking advantage of the great field position Matt Hughes would carry the ball eight yards for a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion rush by Oaks to widen the gap to 22-8.
But like before the Raiders wouldn’t give up as Yancy Dolen would pound his way in from two yards out to make it a 22-14 game.
In a game that was going back and forth, it didn’t take long for Hampton to score again as Jones would find Chambers yet again from 45 yards to give the Bulldogs a 28-14 lead in the third.
Things changed drastically when a flag called on Hampton’s Hughes would be cause for ejection from the game that would soon lead to a three-yard TD run from Dale Potter to trim it to a 28-21 lead.
Jonah Jones would also contribute for his team taking a pass from Jones to the two for a gain of 55 yards followed by a two-yard touchdown run by Macon Barden and a conversion to make it 36-21 to end the third.
After a crucial fourth-down stop by Hampton, Barden would carry for 18 yards to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Jones to seal the game making it 43-21.
Before the clock would hit zero Hampton would score once more with another Jones to Jones connection from 21 yards.
In a game that was a show of dominance for the Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford said, “We had a phenomenal game through the air. When they put so many people in the box to stop the run game, it opens up our air attack and makes it hard for the opposing defense.
“And building on that, there are still some things we can do better. For example, we missed way too many tackles tonight, and we’ll keep working on our tackling to resolve that issue.”
After a big 49-21 win for Hampton, the Bulldogs will travel to Cloudland next week to take on the Highlanders for the second meeting between the two teams this season.
