Hampshire falls to Richmond-Burton

Hampshire was unable to come away with a victory in its Big Northern East opener Friday night, losing to Richmond-Burton 37-14.

Richmond-Burton scored early and never looked back. After a blocked punt, the Rockets began their drive on the Whip-Purs' 33-yard line. Justin Russell then scored on a 24-yard breakout run to give the Rockets a 7-0 lead after the extra point.

The Whip-Purs (1-4, 0-1) showed promise and after two strong drives finally got on the board. Ron Laramie punched in a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left in the first quarter to give Hampshire some life.

The Whip-Purs gave up a late score with less than a minute to go in the first quarter and could not recover as Richmond-Burton went on to score 30 unanswered points.

Hampshire was finally able to break through the Rockets' defense as senior quarterback Ryan Burke aired out a 55-yard touchdown pass to Laramie. The Whip-Purs then converted on their 2-point conversion attempt as Burke hit fellow senior Alex Niccum in the end zone to make the score 37-14.