Dougherty wins thriller over rival Westover in Hamp Smith Classic

ALBANY — The Eastside has the football bragging rights again this year after Dougherty pulled off a 28-21 win over crosstown rival Westover in the season-opening game now billed as the Hamp Smith Classic, in honor of longtime Albany State football coach Hampton Smith.

But what a game.

Westover shocked Dougherty and the large Hugh Mills Stadium crowd on the first play of the game. Freshman quarterback Keyon Thomas threw a perfect pass down the sideline to senior playmaker Kavon Johnson and Johnson took the ball into the end zone to put the Patriots ahead 7-0 after the kick. It wasn’t the only time in the game Johnson would electrify the Westover crowd and it might have been the Kavon Johnson show if Westover could have won the game.

After Dougherty had scored twice and led 14-7, Johnson reached up and snagged a pass from between two defenders and was hit hard. He laid on the ground for several minutes with medical personnel checking on him, but he got up and went to the sidelines. One play later, Johnson was back in the game and took the handoff on a reverse and went around the left side of the field and raced 23 yards in for his second touchdown and tied the game at 14-14. He raced off the field, ran down the track and celebrated with his teammates and Westover fans. He excited the Westover fans also on a punt return and on a kickoff return that ended up across midfield.

Johnson enjoyed helping his team, but was disappointed with the outcome.

“We just have to continue to do the little things right and work harder,” he said. “We will be back next week and we will be ready for the next opponent.”

While the Westover defense was stout, especially early on, eventually the Dougherty offense led by five-star quarterback Kameron Davis and senior running back Jacob Stallworth got enough down to win the game.

“Stallworth was the difference maker for us tonight,” said Dougherty head coach Johnny Gilbert. “He was on fire tonight. He played offense, defense and some special teams for us and his leadership tonight was vital to us winning.”

In fact, Stallworth showed up as much for the Trojans as Johnson did for the Patriots. Stallworth scored three of Dougherty’s touchdowns, including the game winner with 4:08 remaining in the game. The Trojans had moved down the field in about a minute on one run and a penalty against the Patriots. Dougherty was at the 36 yard line, Stallworth took the handoff, went to the right side of the line and broke at least three tackles as he made his way all the way to the end zone.

Just moments before Stallworth scored the winning touchdown, Davis and the Trojans had moved down the field looking to put the game away. Dougherty was up 20-14 and on the 17 yard line looking to score again. Davis threw a pass toward the right corner of the end zone, but Westover’s Isaiah Rayner picked off the pass at the two yard line and raced 98 yards to the other end zone to put six more points up for the Patriots. Patriots kicker Eddison Vicente, playing his first football game, kicked the extra point to put Westover up 21-20.

“Frankly, I think Westover wanted it more than we did,” said Gilbert. “They played with a fire we didn’t have. They looked good and looked like they wanted to win.”

Stallworth and Davis each had similar comments.

“We started off slow, but we got the win,” said Stallworth.

Davis added “I feel like we went into the game slow, but we came back and regrouped, It was definitely a hard fought game.”

“This is a tough one,” said Miller. “I really wanted this for our guys, but the growth we have made since last season has been awesome to see. We still have a long way to go but I was satisfied with the effort and fight, not the outcome, but our effort and fight were there tonight.”

Joe Whitfield