Bulldogs second half surge knocks off South Greene
Published 9:36 am Monday, October 30, 2023
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs JJ McElyea (3) takes the handoff from Dylan Trivett (18) on the jet sweep and goes 18 yards to give Hampton a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Will Thornton (67) and Geno Carrico (5) buy quarterback Dylan Trivett (18) some time to scan down the field with their block on South Greene’s Noah Robinson (5) late in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Seniors Dylan Trivett (18), JJ McElyea (3) and Geno Carrico (5) along with Jaylen Burleson (33) take down South Greens’s Tripp Neas (29) on a kick-off return mid-way through the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Hampton Bulldogs take the field at JC Campbell Stadium, with their seniors leading the way, on Senior Night.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton Senior Captains Dylan Trivett (18), Geno Carrico (5), Chance Point (11) and Shayden Oliver (64) meet the captains from South Greene at the center of the field for the coin toss, which the Bulldogs won, prior to the start of their Friday night’s Senior Night match-up.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Dominique Burleson (12) skips out of a tried shoestring tackle by South Greene’s Jacob Susong (14) on his way to a first down yardage early in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Dominique Burleson (12) tries to drive his way through the tackle of South Greene’s Dion Blair (21) and Tripp Neas (29) for extra yardage off left tackle early in the first quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Noah Nichols (47), Elijah McKinney (16) on the hold, attempts the extra point after a Bulldog touchdown midway through the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders With three Rebel defenders collapsing in on him Hampton quarterback Dylan Trivett (18) delivers a pass downfield early in the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Late in the first half, on a fourth-and-one play at their own 20, the Bulldogs bowed their backs and held South Greene’s quarterback Jacob Susong (14) to just a half-yard, forcing a turnover on downs.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs JJ McElyea (3) scampers 19 yards with a jet sweep to the house to give Hampton a 6-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
Despite holding South Greene to zero rushing yards in the first half, Hampton found themselves trailing 7-6 at the half. The Bulldogs (8-2 overall, 5-0 MEC) rallied in the second half behind 210 rush yards from junior Dominique Burleson to take the Mountain East Conference title with a 32-14 victory.
Second quarter sees Rebels take halftime lead
JJ McElyea got the ‘Dogs on the scoreboard in the second quarter on a 19-yard end-around run. The point after kick sailed wide and the Bulldogs settled for a 6-0 advantage. The Rebels (8-2 overall, 3-2 MEC) took advantage of a Hampton miscue on a punt attempt as the ball sailed over Noah Nichols’s head and the Rebels took possession at the Hampton eight-yard line.
On fourth down, South Greene quarterback Jacob Susong found WR Dion Blair in the back of the endzone and Brant Wilhoit kicked the point after for a 7-6 South Greene lead at the half.
“We battled and we kind of went back and forth in the first half,” Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford said. “We didn’t know what kind of team they wanted to be – a passing team or running team and what we thought they would do to us – but we decided to stop the run game and that worked in our favor.”
Third quarter Burleson opens up ‘Dogs run attack
Burleson took over in the third quarter with 37 yards on seven carries leading to senior quarterback Dylan Trivett’s eight-yard scoring run to stake the ‘Dogs to a 12-7 lead. Minutes later, Burleson scored on a 45-yard fumble return after scooping up an errant lateral from Susong to give Hampton an 18-7 advantage.
“We told the line at the half that we are better than them and if you give me a little extra push, I’ll get the yards,” Burleson said. “It may be 100 yards or it may be three, but I promise you we’ll get it done.”
Fourth quarter closes out the contest
After a sack of Susong by Jaylen Burleson stopped the next Rebels drive, Dom took over and capped a 58-yard drive with a one-yard scoring plunge that gave the ‘Dogs a 24-7 lead to open the fourth quarter.
South Greene then had its best drive of the game as the Rebels opened up the pass game and Susong completed four consecutive passes culminating in his miracle touchdown toss. South Greene had the ball at the Hampton 10-yard line when Susong went back to pass and was pressured by Geno Carrico.
As he was being sacked Susong tossed up a prayer of a pass that junior WR Trey Gentry caught and after getting a block from Blair, raced the final five yards for the touchdown. Wilhoit’s PAT kick made it a 24-14 contest with 7:26 showing on the game clock.
The Bulldogs then went on a time-consuming 11-play, 60-yard drive that McElyea capped off with a second end-around score from 11 yards out. Trivett scored the deuce on a run play for the final margin of victory.
“It’s great to get this win over a talented South Greene team,” Trivett said. “We just got to get back to the lab and get back to the chalkboard and study up on our next foe. McElyea is a great athlete and that’s a play we have run successfully. It’s not anything we drew up on the fly; we have that play and have used it before.”
Hampton 32-14
South Greene 0 7 0 7 – 14
Hampton 0 6 12 14 – 32
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
H – McElyea 19 run (kick failed) 9:33
S – Blair 4 pass from Susong (Wilhoit kick) 1:15
Third Quarter
H – Trivett 8 run (run failed) 4:11
H – Burleson 45 fumble return (run failed) 3:19
Fourth Quarter
H – Burleson 1 run (pass failed) 9:43
S – Gentry 10 pass from Susong (Wilhoit kick) 7:24
H – McElyea 11 run (Trivett run) :27
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
S – Neas 9-13, Susong 4-11. H – Burleson 38-210, Trivett 12-73, McElyea 2-20, Carrico 2-3.
PASSING
S – Susong 8-15, 105 yards, 2 TD, 1 int. H – Trivett 0-3, 0 yards.
RECEIVING
S – Gentry 3-43, Neas 2-32, Blair 1-4, Lane 1-10, Robinson 1-16.
