By Kev Moyé
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO – The Hampton Bulldogs overwhelmed Lake Village during a home scrimmage Tuesday evening, earning a 53-7 triumph.
"Offensively, things went pretty good. We executed fairly well and had a lot of big plays," said Hampton Coach Wes Ables. "We didn't get to throw the ball much. We found out what kind of shape we were in. We still have a ways to go with that.
"Guys started getting tired pretty quick on the defensive side of the football. That's something we're going to address over the next week and-a-half. But the kids played hard."
Hampton led 40-7 at the intermission.
The Bulldogs' triple option offense was spearheaded by Monta' Thomas. The senior quarterback finished with 150 yards rushing on three carries with three TDs. He completed one pass for a 43-yard touchdown.
"This was my first time seeing Monta' run our offense against another opponent. We scored every time we had the ball except for once," Ables said. "You have to be pleased with that. In the first half, we had about 400 yards of total offense on about 20 plays. And we only threw the ball twice, completing one of the passes."
From this point, the Bulldogs' attention is directed toward their season opener next week at Drew Central.
"We're going to get ready and get in that game mode. You try to treat a scrimmage as much like a game as possible, but it's not. It's played on a Tuesday and it's not like your normal practice week," Ables said. "We're going to have a good practice (today), have a light practice Friday and get back after it Monday with a game plan for Drew Central."
Hampton's confidence is on the rise after a solid all-around showing during its scrimmage.
"We were efficient on the offensive side," Ables stated. "On defense, we played well at times. Lake Village scored only one touchdown against us.
"But they were able to throw the ball on us a bit. Our conditioning got to us pretty quick, as it does against a spread offense."