The Hampton football team is climbing up the competitive ranks. The Hornets are 8-2 and last week secured its playoff spot in Region 2. It is the second time in three season that coach Chad Ashley’s team has qualified for the postseason.
It didn’t come easily. Hampton had to win its regular-season finale against Eagle’s Landing Christian and spotted its opponent a 16-point lead before bouncing back to win 26-16.
Three days later the Hornets learned it didn’t matter when Stockbridge had to forfeit nine wins.
“I didn’t really fuss on them at halftime,” Ashley said. “I just told them it was about execution, that we just had to go and execute better. There were some things that we thought were available that we didn’t take advantage of.
“Then we settled down and just started running the offense. That was the biggest thing.And the kids just fought back.”
Hampton lost its first two region games to Stockbridge (since overturned) and Jones County before reeling off five straight wins. Then came a surprising lopsided 42-10 loss to Ola before the clincher against ELCA.
“You want a team that’s been tested,” Ashley said. “You want to have some close games so you can see how they’re going to fight through the adversity. You want too come out on top, but you’ve got to play some close games to see what you’ve got. I tell our kids, it’s OK to be stressed out. That’s a natural emotion, but that’s why we do all those reps in practice, so you’ll always be able to go back to your fundamentals.”
After having a senior-driven team two years ago that went to the playoffs, the Hornets rebuilt with a lot of young players last year. Even this season there are only 12 seniors on the roster and the quarterback, Tristan Parks, is a sophomore.
Parks started the final four games of his freshman year and has continued to get better. He has thrown for 1,759 yards and 20 touchdowns with a 62.9% completion rate. His brother, senior Joshua Parks Jr., leads the team with 485 rushing yards. Sophomore Kamarui Dorsey has a team-high 36 receptions for 618 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Dorsey is also the team’s best defensive player. The sophomore safety already has an offer from Georgia Tech and is expected to be the first Power Five signee in program history.
The heart of the team is Tomaj Harris, a high-motor senior who leads the team with 56 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
Stockbridge out of playoffs; Ola wins Region 2
Stockbridge is out of the playoffs after forfeiting nine wins for using an ineligible player. The Tigers also had to relinquish the Region 2 championship.
The surprising development gave Ola the region championship, and an undefeated 10-0 record. Jones County (now 9-1) moves to No. 2 and earns a first-round home game. Hampton (8-2) is No. 3 and Eagle’s Landing (5-5) moves into the playoffs at No. 4. Eagle’s Landing has not qualified for the postseason since 2017.
First-round matchups
Now that all the playoff teams have been set, here are the first-round matchups:
Top left bracket: Hampton at Eastside, St, at Perry, Hiram at Kell, Harris County at Creekside.
Bottom left bracket: East Forsyth at Jones County, Warner Robins at Marist, Cambridge at Cedartown, King at Central Carroll.
Top right bracket: Maynard Jackson at Jonesboro, Cass at Blessed Trinity, Benedictine at Southwest DeKalb, Madison County at Ola.
Bottom right bracket: Starr’s Mill at Mays, Westminster at Cartersville, Tucker at Ware County, Eagle’s Landing at North Oconee.
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