Hampton Middle legs out 28-6 win over Cloudland
Published 1:49 pm Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Hampton Middle's Logan Lunsford is wrapped up after a nice gain by Cloudland Middle's Nate Trubiani.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Bulldog quarterback Connor McKinney tosses a pass early in Tuesday's game against visiting Cloudland Middle.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cloudland running back Bryce Birchfield reels off a big run for the Jr. Highlanders.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cloudland running back Tristan Lowry is tackled by a Hampton defender as more defensive help arrives.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Hampton receiver Jaylen Burleson is wrapped up by Jr. Highlander Landon Barnett after a reception.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Bulldog quarterback Connor McKinney heads to the end zone around the defense of Cloudland's Landon Barnett.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cloudland running back Uriah Jarrett cuts through a running lane while being pursued by the Jr. Bulldog defense.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Weston Hicks turns the corner on a big gain for Hampton.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Ezra Tolley of Hampton looks for a running lane during the Jr. Bulldogs contest with Cloudland Middle.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Hampton's Gage Reid tries to break free of Cloudland's Braden Mabe during action at JC Campbell Stadium on Tuesday.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
HAMPTON – With the remnants of Hurricane Ida passing over the area on Tuesday bringing some light rain to the field at JC Campbell Stadium in Hampton, the Jr. Bulldogs were brewing up a storm of their own against the visiting Cloudland Middle Jr. Highlanders.
Building a 22-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Jr. Bulldogs made the best of the early turnovers provided by Cloudland to take a 28-6 middle school affair.
Hampton quickly got on the board behind the run game that moved the Jr. Bulldogs down the field with quarterback Connor McKinney punching the first score in from 16 yards out to make it a 6-0 game with 5:16 showing on the first-quarter clock.
McKinney connected with Jaylen Burleson for the two-point conversion and Hampton led 8-0.
Cloudland received the kickoff and showed some signs of life as running back Bryce Birchfield had some nifty runs. The drive stalled when the Jr. Highlanders fumbled away the ball and Hampton recovered.
It wouldn’t take long for the Jr. ‘Dogs to get on the board again as McKinney rolled out to his left and found a seam that 53 yards later resulted in a 14-0 lead for Hampton after the two-point conversion failed with 1:02 left in the quarter.
Hampton found itself back in possession once again after Cloudland quickly coughed the football back up on another fumble and Hampton didn’t miss a beat.
Ezra Tolley tucked the ball away and scampered 32 yards for the third score of the first quarter with 48 ticks left in the quarter. Weston Hicks converted on the two-point conversion and the Jr. Dogs held the upper hand at the first horn, 22-0.
The Jr. ‘Dogs weren’t finished in the half as with a little over 1:06 off the clock to begin the second quarter, Hampton found pay dirt once again as Hicks rumbled into the end zone from 24 yards out to make it 28-0 as the two-point conversion failed.
With the 28-0 score holding to the half, neither team found offensive success in the third period as both sides began to send in multiple substitutions to get fresh faces in the contest.
Cloudland wasn’t going to leave without a score and that came with 7:27 showing on the fourth-quarter clock when Birchfield bulled in from the four-yard line to give the game its final score of 28-6 after the conversion failed.
