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Star Correspondent

For the past four seasons, Happy Valley has suffered shutout losses to Hampton, including a 36-0 defeat last season. In 2024, the Warriors are hoping to take advantage of what appears to be a slight decline for Hampton. The Bulldogs enter this contest in a state they haven’t experienced in quite some time.

Since 2020, the Bulldogs have beaten Happy Valley 36-0, 49-0 in 2022, 48-0 in 2021, and 28-0 in 2020. Happy Valley last bested the Bulldogs 14-9 in 2019.

“We got our tails busted twice in the last week,” Bulldogs head coach Michael Lunsford said. “I think the key to getting better for us is experience. We have a very inexperienced team as a whole, and I think the key is playing in games, getting repetition, and figuring out what we’re doing wrong and learning from our mistakes. There isn’t any one thing that we can say, ‘If we fix this, we’re there.’”

Hampton (0-3) has scored just 22 points in its three contests and will need a full dose of Dominique Burleson to come out on top. Happy Valley (1-0) comes off a game washed out by lightning and heavy rain in Erwin last week. When asked how that affected the team’s preparation, Warriors head coach Jason Jarrett said, “The good thing is we came away healthy. It’s a backyard slobber-knocker. We have to bring mental and physical toughness to this one. Hampton is a battle-tested bunch, and you can throw out their record. We better bring laser focus to this one.”

Junior quarterback Aiden Paul leads the Warriors’ offense, with fullback Tyler Berry, Jamie Esterline, and Gabe McDougald in the backfield.