HAMPTON - If there was a nightmare scenario worse than what happened to Hampton in the first half of Friday night's game, head coach Mike Lunsford is probably thankful he didn't have to see it.
Not only was Marion County's offense basically unstoppable, Hampton's chance to counter and make it an offensive shootout ended with three telling blows: an early first-quarter injury to star quarterback Coby Jones and two fumbles inside the Warriors' 10-yard line that would have been first-and-goal situations.
By halftime it was a 25-point lead for Marion, and the Warriors rolled to a 55-17 win in a Class 2A state semifinal game at J.C. Campbell Stadium.
It was the first loss of the year for the Bulldogs (13-1), and it was a season-ender. Marion (13-1) advanced to the BlueCross Bowl for the second straight season, and will take on Memphis Trezevant (11-3) in next week's championship game.
Marion quarterback Logan Walters was clearly the difference in this game. He carried the ball 15 times for 153 yards and scored five touchdowns.
Whenever the Warriors needed a play, it seemed like Walters was the player who delivered.
"I was just coming in hoping to win the game," Walters said. "That's all that matters. It was just our linemen, and the running backs carrying out the fakes, that gave me more room to run."
Marion head coach Ricky Ross said he thought Walters could have some success against Hampton.
"We know in space he's tough," Ross said. "So obviously we wanted to create some settings, but really it's about taking what they give you. Our offensive coordinator did a great job. We studied film and looked at some things, and we figured out some things we felt like could get him in situations to be successful."
For the game, Marion rushed 63 times for 468 yards. Hampton had 376 yards of offense, but Marion's defense limited 1,000-yard rushers Jerry Lunsford and Adam McClain to 75 yards on 21 attempts. And by game's end, a team averaging 50.8 points per game scored only 17.
"I think the big thing is we only gave up one big play, and they've been a big-play team," Ross said. "You've got to make them earn what they get. And we had to match their physicality. We try to pride ourselves on playing a physical brand of football, and I think that had a huge effect tonight."
Meanwhile, mistakes and a crushing injury bit the Bulldogs. Jones was injured on the first defensive series of the game.
"Someone landed on the ground, and my knee landed on top of them and it bent backwards," Jones said. "I couldn't put any pressure on it. I couldn't step to make my throws fully. It was just the way it went."
Jones hobbled around and showed a lot of toughness by remaining on offense for parts of the game and still passing for 177 yards. But running was pretty much out of the question, and the Bulldogs lost arguably their most important defensive player as well.
"We needed his speed and experience out there," said Lunsford of his leading tackler. "We had guys go in there and play hard, and they did all they could do. But when you've got a guy who has started (in the secondary) for three years, it's pretty hard to replace him just all of a sudden."
Making matters worse, Hampton trailed 14-2 in the second quarter instead of leading by a couple of points because of a fumble right at the goal line, and another one at the Warriors' 9-yard line.
"If you score those two, you're ahead," Lunsford said. "And it's a little easier to play when you're ahead than when you're chasing a touchdown or two."
Hampton would eventually fall behind 21-2 - on a 46-yard scoring run from Walters - before Jones hit Nathan Norris on a 65-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs life. Hampton then tried an onside kick and appeared to have recovered it successfully. But after the officials huddled, they ruled Marion didn't touch the ball and it didn't go the necessary 10 yards.
John Henderson added a 10-yard scoring run to make it 28-9, and Marion's Jacob Salyers picked off a pass to set up his own 18-yard scoring run for a 34-9 Warriors' lead going into the locker room.
Hampton had another special teams play that didn't go its way in the first half. Marion County blocked a kick after Hampton's first drive of the game and tried to pick up the loose ball beyond the line of scrimmage, but Hampton eventually recovered after a Marion player appeared to touch it. The officials huddled and ruled it was Marion's ball.
Hampton got a nice backup performance from sophomore quarterback Jason Russell. He played close to a majority of the game behind center and finished with 106 yards on 11 carries.
Lunsford said he hopes his team remembers the first 13 games, not the last one.
"There were a lot of accomplishments," he said.
Jones summed things up after the game, taking the loss in stride.
"I've been raised right," he said. "The Lord has been with me through these four years. I'm thankful for every win he's allowed me to have, and I'm also thankful for the losses. They teach you something. This team right here: Best team ever."