Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

STAR CORRESPONDENT

The Hampton Bulldogs football team has seen a good share of great running backs through the years but on Friday night against Eagleton, junior Dom Burleson broke the school’s single-game rushing record.

Burleson rushed for 354 yards and four touchdowns in Hampton’s 51-13 win over Eagleton Academy. The record has been held by several backs through the years such as Phillip Waters and lately by Adam McClain.

“There have been a lot of good running backs come through here over the years,” Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford said. “I had no idea during the game that Dom was near a record. I just knew he was having a good game and we just kept feeding him the rock.”

Burleson is a humble, unassuming person, so to him, the record was less important than winning the game and he said, “I didn’t even think about a record; we were just trying to win a conference game. It means a lot to me but I couldn’t have done it without everyone contributing. My offensive line blocked great and made it easy for me.”

Lunsford lauded Burleson’s toughness as well, saying, “He doesn’t avoid contact at all and his favorite plays are Wham 2 and Wham 3, which are runs up the middle. Dom has a great attitude and he isn’t a vocal type of leader; he leads more by example and the guys follow that. You never go into a game thinking about breaking a record, you just concentrate on playing your best and getting a win, but I could see he was having a good night. He was turning two-yard gains into eight-yard gains keeping his legs moving and breaking tackles.”

Describing Burleson’s contributions to the team, Lunsford added, “Dom is just as important to us on the defensive side of the ball. He is a good tackler and he plays with a lot of effort. With Chance Point out, we probably ran him more than usual.”

Burleson echoed Lunsford about taking and delivering big hits saying, “That’s the best part of the game is giving a big hit either when I’m running the ball or playing defense. But, I have to give it up to my line, they played really well. I couldn’t ask for better linemen. Since my freshman year I have played behind good backs like Morgan Lyons and Levi Lunsford. I learned a lot from them.”