CREEKSVILLE – For the kind of smash-mouth, in-your-face, but disciplined, no-penalty football Diego Hasty loved to play and coach this was a kind of mixed tribute.

The veteran coach, who passed away unexpectedly in July, coached at both Weldon as well as the two Northampton County – back when there was both an East and a West – High Schools, and Saturday’s home opener for the Jaguars against the Chargers was dedicated in his memory as the Diego Hasty Memorial Bowl.

Northampton won, 20-8, under drizzly skies with a physical game Coach Hasty would have admired.  What he wouldn’t have been proud of was all the penalties and sloppy play.

The Jags were also playing their first game of the 2014 season at their own ball yard.

“It’s just good to get home,” said smiling Northampton coach George Privott, as he and his team basked in the victory. “We’ve had to be road warriors this year.”

Things didn’t start well for the home team.  Weldon’s opening kickoff was fielded by the Jags on their own two-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Ja’Quan Buffaloe was tackled in the end zone for a safety and the Chargers drew first blood with a 2-0 score.

After Northampton kicked off Weldon returned the favor by coughing up the ball on their second play of the game and Northampton’s Peyton Galloway pounced on the loose football for a fumble recovery.

Neither team was able to generate a drive on their first two possessions so the first quarter ended with Weldon holding that slim lead.

After Weldon punted early in the second quarter, Northampton finally mounted a successful drive.  Thanks to the strong running of Waquel Ponton, Desmond Hicks, and William Cumbo the Jags worked the ball 92 yards for their first score.  The drive was also aided by four Weldon penalties. With 3:18 left, Buffaloe broke up the middle on a quarterback keeper for 28 yards and a 6-2 Northampton lead as the point-after kick was no good.

On the ensuing kick-off Weldon fumbled as Northampton recovered at the Chargers 36.  However, a penalty and a loss of seven had them back near mid-field at Weldon’s 48.   But on the next play, Ponton broke between the tackles, moved to the outside and sprinted down the left sideline to the end zone. Unfortunately, he turned his ankle celebrating with his teammates in a dog pile after the score.  Buffaloe ran in the point after for a 14-2 Northampton lead, as the Jags had scored 50 seconds apart.  That score held up thru halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter Weldon finally found the end zone and put a scare in the Northampton crowd.  Quarterback Kelvin Arrington engineered an eight-play 58 yard drive that ended with his two-yard sneak to make it 14-8 after the two-point conversion failed.

With less than six-and-a-half minutes left, Northampton played ball-control football and kept the ball on the ground. After an exchange of punts Northampton’s Montrell Squire capped a 48-yard drive in which he ran all but eight yards of the possession by sprinting to the end-zone on a sweep for the game’s final score and a 20-8 Jags lead with only 39 seconds left.  The Northampton defense helped burn up the clock to the final whistle.

“We struggled,” said Weldon coach Grady Williams. “Penalties and not doing the little things are what killed us.”

Northampton finished with 311 yards of offense, all but ten of it on the ground as Squire had 80 yards and Ponton finished with 79.

Northampton (2-2) is back on the road next Friday night when they begin another three-game road swing, starting at Crowell’s Crossroads against Southeast Halifax.