Hampton was able to take advantage of special teams miscues and strike at the right time to pick up a 17-7 win over Happy Valley Friday night at J.C. Campbell Stadium to open up conference action.

After a home-opening loss to start the season, the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0) have been able to ride momentum garnered with wins against their regular rivals. Friday also snapped a two-game losing streak to the Warriors (0-2, 0-1) who were able to hand Hampton a 41-0 last season.

“It’s about getting over the hump,” Hampton head coach Michael Lunsford said. “Happy Valley’s had some dang good football teams the past two years and they have a dang good football team this year. (Happy Valley) Coach (Jason) Jarrett and those guys do a great job there so any time you can get a win like that, you know you’ve gotten a win over a quality opponent.”

But when push comes to shove, Lunsford was quick to point out the mental toughness of this year’s team, especially by starting off the conference stretch on a right note with young players stepping up at key moments.

“This was a great team win,” Lunsford said. “I couldn’t be prouder of them. It’s been in the 90s this week and they’ve practiced through it with no complaints. They’ve had so much adversity to overcome and we’ve had so many injuries to overcome. We have so many young kids out there and they just go and play their butts off.

“We had a freshman come in and kick a field goal that makes a difference,” he continued. “Conor Jones usually starts at safety and he’s banged up, but he goes out there tonight and makes two of the biggest special teams tackles down the field. It was just a collective team effort.”

The Bulldogs struck first with quarterback Alex Hardin (7-of-12, 78 yards) hitting wide receiver Isiah Greenwell in the corner of the endzone on a 13-yard strike. Freshman kicker Michael Harrison booted the extra point to give Hampton the 7-0 lead with 2:45 left in the first.

Happy Valley was quick to return fire in the form on Jordan Campbell. The Warrior tailback evaded a potential Hampton defender’s shirt tackle and rumbled for a touchdown from 71 yards out. Michael Harrah knotted up the contest with the point-after with 1:46 left in the first quarter.

While both teams brought the intensity, it was the Bulldogs that were able to capitalize on a pair of botched punt snaps. Hampton was also able to secure a fumble recovery and received a pair of interceptions from Lane Potter and Andrew Carden.

“There’s just too many mistakes,” Jarrett said. “We preach all week about the mentality, focus and execution. We didn’t do a good job of that tonight. Defense played their tails off tonight. They played well enough to win the football game.

“There’s no excuses for tonight,” Jarrett said about the special teams and offensive woes. “I haven’t done a very good job, obviously. I take that on my shoulders. We have to find a way to get better or it’s going to be a long year.”

The ‘Dogs picked up the rest of the scoring in the first half with Caleb Oaks hauling in a 21-yard touchdown reception while Harrison was able to boot a 30-yard field goal.

Happy Valley was able to dink and dunk offensively but couldn’t reach the redzone following their first score.

With time winding down in the fourth, Lunsford turned to Potter (16 carries, 76 yards) to put the game away on the ground. Potter was able to churn out a pair of first downs in the final five minutes to effectively give the ‘Dogs the victory.

“He’s just so tough,” Lunsford said about Potter. “I knew we needed to get about two more first downs to put the game away. I just stuck the ball in Lane’s hands. You can’t say enough about those guys up front either. From his line to the blocking backs … Caleb Oaks is a kid that could be a lead runner for a lot of teams and we have him at powerback and he’s blocking like crazy for Lane. There’s no me in this team, it’s we.”

Potter was also quick to deter any praise to the guys up front.

“If it wasn’t for my line, I would be able to do it,” he said. “The line played a big part in that. If they didn’t do what they do, I wouldn’t be able to do what I did.”

Defensively, Dakota Cochran was a headhunter for the Warriors during the game, coming up with over 10 stops in the game, several unassisted and three sacks. Jarrett commended the effort of the senior.

Next week, the journey continues for both teams with a pair of nonconference tilts. Hampton hosts Gatlinburg-Pittman while Happy Valley welcomes Unicoi County to Warrior Hill.

After a pair of close wins against Johnson County and the Warriors, Potter added he hopes the Bulldogs can continue the momentum moving forward.

“I hope it makes us better,” Potter said about the victories. “I hope this shows how good of a team we can be. We just want to prove everybody wrong.”