PARKERS CHAPEL – Two second-half possessions deep into Hampton territory that yielded no points came back to haunt Parkers Chapel, as the Trojans fell to the Bulldogs 14-6 in the 8-2A finale for both schools Thursday night at Victor Nipper Stadium.
The Trojans (1-7, 1-3) will be the 8-2A’s No. 4 seed and hit the road to face the 6-2A’s No. 2 seed in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Bulldogs (3-6, 2-2) will be at home to start the playoffs next week against the 6-2A’s No. 3 seed.
The game was tied at 6-all at intermission, but Hampton scored the lone points of the second half on its first drive of the third quarter with Jonah Phillips throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Myron Bradford to break the tie. The Bulldogs padded their lead with a successful two-point conversion with Phillips connecting with Zy Johnson.
The Trojans drove to Hampton’s red zone late in the third quarter, but turned the ball over on downs at the 7.
On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs nearly delivered a knockout blow, but a 31-yard touchdown run by Johnson was negated by a penalty, and Hampton was later forced to punt.
Starting at their 18 with 5:29 left in the game, the Trojans drove to Hampton’s 23, but a sack pushed the Trojans back to the 31, and Parkers Chapel was unable to convert on a fourth-and-18 to keep the drive going.
Hampton got on the scoreboard on its first possession.
After the Bulldogs recovered a fumble, Johnson got loose for a 40-yard run before later scoring on a 3-yard run at the 9:26 mark to make it 6-0.
The score remained unchanged until the 3:02 mark of the second quarter when Payton Willeford scored on a 53-yard run to tie the game.
The Trojans had a golden opportunity earlier in the first half to tie the game after a bad snap on a punt gave Parkers Chapel the ball at Hampton’s 18, but a fumble on first-and-goal from the 5 gave the ball back to the visitors.
The Trojans also turned the ball over on downs at Hampton’s 30 in the first half.