A 21-yard field goal from sophomore Michael Harrah with 11.8 seconds left gave Happy Valley a 17-16 win over Hampton on Friday night at J.C. Campbell Stadium.
Trailing 16-8 the Warriors got a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Sage Haun to Dylan Street for 55 yards but the two-point attempt failed, and HV trailed by two points 16-14.
HV’s defense then held Hampton on downs and took over at the 33-yard line. Eight plays later the Warriors had a fourth and goal at the four-yard line, and head coach Jason Jarrett put it on the young kicker, and he came through.
“Coach just told me to go put it in,” Harrah said. “We haven’t beat Hampton in a long time, so I just wanted to make it. I still can’t comprehend what happened.”
Big plays on both sides led to quick scores in the first quarter but both defenses kicked in, and Happy Valley suffered three first-half turnovers to kill promising drives. Senior quarterback Sage Haun was picked off twice and Dustun Sams fumbled inside the ‘Dogs five yard line just before the half.
Hampton scored on its first play from scrimmage as Hunter Davenport raced around the left side of the HV defense and raced 65 yards for a touchdown. Adam McClain added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Bulldogs lead.
Haun was intercepted on his second pass attempt by Davenport who returned the pilfered pigskin 12 yards to the 35-yard line. The ‘Dogs used up clock and traveled to the Warriors 18 yard line on 15 plays before the HV defense stiffened and held on downs.
Haun then connected on two passes – the first to Brayden Sams for 32 yards – and then Sams took a pitch from Haun and found Dylan Street wide open for a 45-yard scoring strike. Haun then passed to Austin Hicks for the deuce to knot the score at 8-8.
The total offense for each team in the first half was 189 for HV and 188 for Hampton with all of the Bulldogs yards coming on the ground. Haun passed for 117 yards on four-for-10 passing in the first half. He finished with 169 passing yards on eight for 19 completions.
“We couldn’t have done it without the defense,” Haun said. “I told you earlier this week that we expected a defensive game. When we got the ball back late, I told these guys give me everything you got and I’ll give you everything I got and we will win this game.”
After Hampton turned the ball over on downs the Warriors drove to the Hampton four yard line but Sams fumble was recovered by McClain with four ticks left in the half.
“It was two good football teams just playing as hard as they could,” said Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford. “They have 18 seniors and it makes a difference in experience, but the season isn’t over. They have to understand they just have to get back to work.”
Davenport finished with a game-high 133 yards on 20 carries while McClain added 111 yards on 25 tries. For HV, Hicks led the way with 51 yards on seven carries and Dustun Sams had 41 yards on nine attempts.