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BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

After their huge win in Roan Mountain against the Cloudland Highlanders two weeks ago, the Bulldogs of Hampton had a week off last week to help rest and prepare for one of their toughest tests of the season.

Hampton is taking on a team they know very well this week in the form of the South Greene Rebels, a team that gave the Bulldogs their first loss of the campaign last season.

It was a wild game from start to finish, with the final strike coming from South Greene with less than a minute in the contest to give the Rebels the slim victory by a score of 35-31.

The Bulldogs have not forgotten about last season, and head coach Michael Lunsford expanded on this week’s game saying, “It’s sure to be another great game, and one thing we really need to do is just look out for their quarterback and see what he is going to do. This is a big game not only for us, but also the community as a whole and we are just looking forward to an opportunity to compete.”

As previously mentioned, Hampton comes into this game having a week off in the seven days prior. Lunsford explained that this can be both a good and a bad thing.

“I think we needed some time to heal up a little bit and get some kids back, and it also gave us extra time to prepare for South Greene. However, it’s always give and take because there’s always a chance you get out of rhythm on a bye week, so we need to maintain focus and not become complacent.”

And while last year’s game against the Rebels was at South Greene, this year the game will be played on Hampton’s home field, providing for more outside factors to play a part in the contest.

“We expect a good crowd to show up for a game like this one because the community knows just as well as us that this one is huge. We’re expecting the home crowd to be as loud and rowdy as they can and give the other guys as much trouble as they can.”

A matchup of this magnitude is one that fans will not want to miss, as the Hampton Bulldogs have a chance to even the odds this Friday night against the Rebels.

Friday’s contest between the Bulldogs and Rebels will take place at 7:30 pm at JC Campbell Stadium in Hampton.