Tigers escape ‘Dogs snare
Published 12:52 am Saturday, November 14, 2020
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Morgan Lyons (24) splits to Tiger defenders on his way to a first down early in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Bulldog quarterback Conor Jones (4) goes off tackle left for an 11-yard touchdown dragging Meigs County’s Ayden Skinner (17) into the end zone as he scored.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton quarterback Conor Jones (4) is flushed out of the pocket as he fires a pass downfield in the second.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Aidan Vines (23) is brought down shy of a first down by Meigs County’s Malaichi Hayden (57) and Ayden Skinner (17) in the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Bulldog head coach Michael Lunsford dug into his bag of tricks again this week opening the second quarter with a double pass. Conor Jones (4) hit Aidan Vines (23) in the backfield who then hit a streaking Jonathan Greenwell (1), in stride over the middle, for a 53-yard touchdown to give Hampton a 14-7 lead nine second into the quarter
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Morgan Lyons (24), Conor Jones (4), and Caleb Mckinney (59) wrap up the Tigers Will Meadows (34) after a short gain in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Adam Vines (23) pounds the ball up the middle for a first down on Hampton’s opening drive.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Tigers Cameron Huckabey (15) and Hampton’s Morgan Lyons (24) battle for a pass near the goal line in the first quarter. Huckabey swatted the ball away at the last second.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Hampton knew the road trip was going to be a tough one but felt like they had the right tools to lay the perfect trap for the Meigs County Tigers who have been ranked in the top two of the state all year in Class 2A.
Meigs County briefly found the snare of the ‘Dogs tightening in the first half before making a bolt in the second half that allowed Meigs County to move to next week’s quarterfinal round and bring an end to a very solid Hampton season, 49-34.
Hampton broke onto the scoreboard first in the first quarter mixing in a balance of run and throw with Conor Jones pounding into the end zone for a 7-0 lead after Michael Harrison’s kick was good with six minutes to go in the quarter.
Meigs answered back before the quarter ended when Tiger standout quarterback Logan Carroll showed pass but ran the ball to the Hampton 10 yard line.
The Tigers pushed the ball into the end zone and the extra point evened the game at 7-7 with 1:46 left to play in the opening stanza.
Once again Hampton responded when senior Aiden Vines hit Jonathan Greenwell on a scoring pass and a Harrison PAT made the score 14-7 ‘Dogs.
Like two prizefighters exchanging big overhand punches, the Tigers responded when Carroll found pay dirt with 8:55 left before the half to knot the game at 14-all.
The Tigers turned the momentum just before the half when senior Tiger running back Will Meadows scored to give the home team a 21-14 lead at the intermission.
Meigs County started to pull away in the third quarter when sophomore Drew Goforth extended the Tigers lead to 28-14 with five minutes left to play in the quarter.
With the ‘Dogs still in striking distance at 28-14 to start the fourth quarter of play, Morgan Lyons helped to slice the lead to 28-21 in Meigs favor.
Back-to-back scores by the Tigers took some wind out of the Bulldogs as Hampton trailed 42-21 with seven minutes remaining in the season for one of the teams.
The ‘Dogs once again found the end zone as Lyons carried the ball over the goal line to make it 42-27 with time quickly winding down.
Needing a stop and a couple of scores, Meigs County put seven more on the board to put the final nail in the coffin before Hampton scored one last time in the 2020 season to bring the game to an end with Meigs taking the victory.
The Bulldogs had nothing to hang their head about as they gave the Tigers all they wanted and more in the conclusion to the 2020 football season.
