Hampton falls to Golden Raiders in tight contest

Published 10:59 pm Friday, September 29, 2017

A 2-point conversion would be the decider during Hampton’s Region 1-2A contest at Sullivan North Friday.

After a 70-yard touchdown pass from Hampton’s Jason Russell to teammate Isiah Greenwell brought the Bulldogs within 2 points of Sulivan North with 2:34 left in the game, the ‘Dogs would come up short on the 2-point try as the Golden Raiders brought down Russell on the run. Sullivan North ran out the clock before claiming a 34-32 victory.

The loss makes Hampton 0-2 in league play while the Golden Raiders improved to 3-0 in the conference. The Bulldogs have four games left in the season, all at home, with two of the contest being region games against Cosby and South Greene. Hampton still has a good chance of locking in a third-place finish in Region 1-2A.

The Bulldogs came out with a spark as senior tailback Hunter Davenport took a 55-yard run to paydirt on the ‘Dogs first drive of the night. The extra-point kick failed, and Hampton held a small 6-0 lead with 9:54 left in the first quarter.

On the following drive, the Golden Raiders drove 55 yards on nine plays that were capped off by a 1-yard touchdown keep by Sullivan North QB Peyton Robinson. The 2-point conversion came up short as Davenport picked off Robinson’s pass, tying the game up a 6-6 midway through the opening act.

Hampton would follow up with a lengthy drive that ended with the Bulldogs punting. The drive saw a big run by Davenport that would have resulted in a touchdown, but a holding call would void the play. Sullivan North capitalized on its defensive stop as Raiders Donavin Taylor took a pitch 37 yards for a touchdown. Again the 2-point conversion failed, and North moved out to a 12-6 lead with 8:23 left in the half.

The Bulldogs answered on their next drive as Davenport rushed in from 3 yards out to tie things up at 12-12 with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter.

Hampton’s Caleb Oaks made a defensive fumble recovery during the Raiders’ following possession, giving Hampton the ball on their own 15. However, the Bulldogs were forced to punt.

With just 5.3 seconds left before intermission, Raiders Robinson hit receiver J.J. Fleenor who made a diving catch in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown catch.

At the half, the Bulldogs trailed North 18-12.

In the third quarter, the Golden Raiders took the kickoff before taking advantage of a facemask call on Hampton to push North deep into Bulldogs territory. The drive would result in a 7-yard touchdown toss from Robinson to Taylor. The Raiders lead moved on out to 26-12 with 9:32 left in the third.

After Hampton turned the ball over on downs to give the Raiders possession on their own 46, North drove inside the red zone. However, the Bulldogs made a defensive stand that ended with the Raiders missing a field goal.

Hampton turned that stop into a touchdown as Davenport sped to the end zone on a 66-yard run before Russell pushed in the 2-point conversion to narrow North’s lead to 26-20 heading into the fourth.

However, the Raiders quickly answered in the open minutes of the final period as Robinson found Fleenor on a 57-yard touchdown pass. North made good on the 2-point conversion and took a 34-20 lead with 11:06 left to play.

The Bulldogs picked up a touchdown on the following drive with Davenport getting in from 1 yard out to narrow things down to 34-26 with 9:12.

Russell’s 70-yard TD pass to Greenwell would be the final score of the game.

Hampton will host Cloudland next week in a nonconference matchup.

Make sure to pick up Tuesday’s Gridiron Weekly in the Elizabethton Star for a more in-depth story, more pictures, and box score.