Boone thwarts Bulldog’s effort in rain
Published 11:42 pm Friday, October 29, 2021
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Hampton's Andon Winters and Ryan Crumley lead block on a running play for the Bulldogs Thursday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Hampton's running back Morgan Lyons gets a nice gain on the outside for the Bulldogs.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Levi Lunsford takes a pitch from quarterback Conor Jones as the Bulldog's faced Daniel Boone on a rainy Friday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Hampton's defense had their moments against the Daniel Boone offense Friday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Bulldogs Conor Jones intercepts Daniel Boone on an ill-advised third down pass and almost takes it in for a pick six.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Broady Hicks takes it to the end zone for the Bulldogs on a spectacular kickoff return just before the half, but was called back on a questionable call.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Bulldog McKinley Kuhn almost gets a fumble by Daniel Boone Friday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Geno Carrico nearly gets to the Daniel Boone QB Friday night at a rainy away game for the Bulldogs.
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BY AUSTIN ALEXANDER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
GRAY – It was a rainy Friday night in Gray as the Hampton Bulldogs traveled down the road to Washington County for a showdown with the Daniel Boone Trailblazers. The two teams battled in the trenches and the rainy surface helped dominate the night. Despite their best efforts, the Bulldogs would come up short, 27-14.
A sloppy start to the game from both sides, the rain was clearly a factor. The Bulldogs would take over and start their drive behind a slew of runs split between Ryan Crumley and Morgan Lyons. A complete pass from Conor Jones to Lyons wasn’t enough for a first and the Bulldogs were forced to punt.
The Trailblazers started trying to keep things on the ground as well with the wet conditions, but Crumley was everywhere on the defensive side and the Hampton defense stood strong.
Levi Lunceford would take some carries on the next Bulldog drive, but a tough Boone defense refused to relent.
Daniel Boone’s next drive was a penalty-filled mess with numerous big plays being called back, a fake punt, a second fourth-down conversion, and a touchdown called back. The drive was finally capped off with a massive Ben Shrewsbury 41-yard field goal.
The Bulldogs were quick to answer with a ground attack the Blazers had trouble handling. A 10-play assault was finally ended when Morgan Lyons was chopped down one yard short on a fourth and two effort.
Hampton wasted no time getting back on the field as Conor Jones would pick off the ball and head the other way 50 yards to the Daniel Boone five. Three plays later Jones would finish with a Bulldogs touchdown. Michael Harrison added the extra point and Hampton led 7-3.
Daniel Boone trailed for about 10 seconds of game time as the Bulldogs allowed a 59-yard rush from Braiden Blankenship and a score. Shrewsbury tacked on the PAT and Hampton trailed 10-7.
After a 100-yard kickoff return from Broady Hicks was negated the Bulldogs couldn’t get anything going offensively.
The next Trailblazer possession was capped off with a Luke Jenkins pass to Rylan Trout from 33 yards out and the hole grew deeper for the Bulldogs.
Coming out of halftime, Hampton was hopeful to recover some of the deficit, but the Bulldogs had no answer for the running game of the Blazers and Blankenship. He would add another touchdown to make things 24-7.
An exchange of possessions was what the second half was filled with as both teams mostly kept it on the ground as the clock continued to run.
Shrewsbury added another 40-yard field goal for the Blazers and the score stood at 27-7.
Lunceford would add a late-game 19-yard touchdown run to make the game’s final 27-14.
The Bulldogs played a hard game against a jump start opponent that was three classes above Hampton. Despite the loss, Hampton will host a home playoff game next week looking for a run towards the state championship.
