Hampton blanks Unaka in non-conference tilt

Published 4:27 pm Friday, October 21, 2022

By Allen LaMountain

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Dominating yardage and time of possession the Hampton Bulldogs rolled to a 36-0 victory on Thursday night at Goddard Field. The Bulldogs (8-1 overall) rushed for 192 first-half yards with senior tailback Levi Lunsford good for 69 yards with a touchdown run of 12 yards and a two-point conversion run.
The Bulldogs held the high-powered Unaka offense to 15 yards rushing and 57 passing yards for 72 yards of total offense.
“Unaka has a high-powered offense that puts up a lot of points,” Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford said. “But my defense did an unbelievable job tonight. I don’t know how many yards they got, but I was awful proud of the job the defense did.”
Hampton’s first drive ended over on downs as a holding penalty hurt the ‘Dogs and they failed on fourth and 12. Unaka’s first drive was short and not too sweet as senior RB Jamol Blamo gained four yards on first down but fumbled and it was recovered by Dylan Trivett for Hampton.
Hampton went 34 yards for the score by Lunsford on four plays but Lunsford’s two-point run was stuffed and the ‘Dogs settled for a 6-0 advantage. The Rangers (6-3 overall) second drive took them to the Hampton 15-yard line but was stopped on downs.
The ‘Dogs next drive took 18 plays and covered 85 yards and was capped by a 15-yard pass from Trivett to Johnathan Greenwell and Lunsford then ran in the deuce for a 14-0 ‘Dogs lead.
Sophomore Dominique Burleson had some big plays for the ‘Dogs and is showing his worth as he was the games leading rusher with 169 yards rushing on just 12 carries. Lunsford finished with 143 yards rushing as Hampton overall had 444 ground yards.
“Dom is a heck of a player,” Lunsford said. “He can fly and he is explosive. I think Chance Point showed up for us defensively and Devin Ward really snuffed out their screens and made a bunch of good plays from defensive tackle.”
In the second half Hampton quickly made it a running clock contest with Burleson scoring on a 55-yard scamper down the sideline to give the ‘Dogs a 22-0 game and shortly thereafter Lunsford tallied on a one-yard run to make it 30-0.
Unaka still proved incapable of solving the Hampton defense with three second-half possessions ending on downs or with a punt after playing behind the sticks. Blamo finished his night with 15 rush yards on as many tries and Landon Ramsey completed seven of 12 passes for 57 yards.
For Hampton, Trivett completed four of seven passes for 29 yards and rushed for 54 yards.
Brody Hicks capped the scoring on a 21-yard run with 5:26 remaining and after a Rangers fumble, Hampton ran out the clock with Burleson ending the game at the Rangers three-yard line.
Hampton 36-0
Hampton 6 8 16 6 – 36
Unaka 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
H – Lunsford 12 run (run failed) 5:27
Second Quarter
H – Greenwell 15 pass from Trivett (Lunsford run) 4:21
Third Quarter
H – Burleson 55 run (Lunsford run) 8:23
H – Lunsford 1 run (Burleson run) 2:08
Fourth Quarter
H – Hicks 21 run (run failed) 5:26

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