Wade Hampton Loses to Blue Ridge 38-36

Second Half Equals Moral Victory

The cheerleaders’ waterlogged sign touting the Wade Hampton Generals as “Tiger Ringmasters” collapsed as it was unfurled before the Generals football game against the Blue Ridge Tigers.

It was an omen of what was to come in the first half under grey skies and on a damp field.

The Tiger offense amassed nearly 300 yards of offense, and its defense caused four turnovers to build a 38-14 halftime lead.

That big lead was barely enough for the Tigers to hold off against a furious second half Generals rally. The final score of the game was 38-36.

Most of the first half, the Blue Ridge offense ran up and down the field. Their offense mixed up plays, making big plays on screens, options, sweeps, and down field passes. The last big Tiger play was a 35-yard Hail Mary bomb as time expired, making the score 38-14. The Blue Ridge crowd cheered loudly. It looked like the rout was on.

As bad as it was, the first half was not without a few Generals highlights. Hakeem Flowers took back a Tiger kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown early in the game. On the play, heading due north, Flowers picked his way through blockers in the middle of the Tiger kickoff return team. At about the Generals 40-yard line, Flowers accelerated and shifted direction causing the last Tiger defender, the kicker, to stumble and fall down. Nobody on the Tiger team would catch Flowers as he rapidly pulled away and ran for a touchdown into the north end zone.

A couple other plays were worth noting and suggested the Generals offense could be explosive.

One was a 41-yard touchdown pass from Generals quarterback Capers Williamson to Blake Hayes. The play was early in the second quarter. On second and 15, Williamson rolled left on a waggle. He looked toward the south end zone and found Blake Hayes all alone. Capers threw a pretty forty yard spiral that hit Blake running in stride at the five for a touchdown strike. Later that quarter, Blake broke free on what appeared would be be a 72 yard TD run. However, Blake’s potential touchdown dash was called back on a questionable clip, complete with a dramatic tumble by a Tiger defender who was slightly bumped from behind. The acting occurred at the Blue Ridge 26 a good ten yards behind the sprinting Hayes.

As bad as was the first half, the Generals second was good. It was a new page in the book the boys are writing about the Generals 2009 season.

The young Generals defensive linemen and linebackers began to penetrate the Tiger line and kept the Tiger offense out of the end zone in the second half. MacKenzie Battle, the Generals middle linebacker, made several plays to stone Tiger running backs at the line of scrimmage. The defense forced a fumble, and A.J. Henderson intercepted the ball.

Meanwhile, the Generals ground attack was chewing away yardage at the expense of a tired Tiger defense. Garfield Dandridge, Blake Hayes, and Nick Grove ripped up huge chunks of yardage. Flowers ran loose on an end-around for 20 yards. The Generals O-line was blasting holes for their backs, and pulling guards were running interference loose in the Tiger secondary.

When the Generals ground attack wasn't gobbling up chunks of real estate, Williamson was throwing pretty passes to receivers Flowers, Hayes, and Henderson.

With 6:25 left in the game, the Generals scored again to make the score 38-30. The touchdown came following a seven-play, 80-yard drive, mostly on the ground. Speedy fullback, Nick Groves, scored the TD on a 13 yard dive.

After the Tigers got the ball on the kickoff, their center taunted Generals fans showing no respect for his opponent. Number 55 waved his arms at the crowd in a mocking gesture. Perhaps the taunting idea was the wrong tactic in the face of the Generals defense. It was proved wrong because it inspired the defense to stop the Tiger offense from converting a first down. That was important because the Tiger coaches were trying to kill the rest of the clock.

The Tigers then punted the ball to Flowers. Excuse me, but smelling Flowers was not a good odor for the Tigers.

Flowers picked up the punt and ran it twenty yards between two devastating, de-cleater blocks--and a string of Tiger pearls laying behind in the turf.

Two plays later, Blake got loose for 45 yards down the west sideline. He ran by the lagging Tiger defenders into the north end zone. That touchdown made the score 38-36. To their credit, the Tiger defense rose up to stop the Generals two point play atttempt, a Wing-T sweep, which could have tied the game with only 3 minutes remaining.

An onside kick was recovered by the Generals, but the recovery was nullified by an off-sides penalty. The Tigers again tried and failed in their attempt to run out the clock. They had to punt once again.

The Generals offense got the ball at their own 20, but there was just 1:45 left on the game clock. The offense moved the ball up to the Tiger 48, but it faltered as the limited time remaining forced the Generals to abandon the explosive running attack and go exclusively with the pass to save time. The final score of the game was 38-36.

The Blue Ridge game ended in a disappointing loss to the Tigers, but the second half left the team with momentum for possibly a great 2009 season.

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