It's natural to hype the defending state champions at the start of any season.

The danger in doing so, of course, is that the quality of their opponents can be completely overlooked.

Hylton (1-0) managed to brush off the dust from last year's regional semi-final loss to Battlefield by hitting the Bobcats (1-1) early and often Thursday night in Haymarket, winning 35-14.

The win marked the second regular season victory in a row over Battlefield for Hylton and reinforced the idea that the Bulldogs' undefeated regular season was no fluke due to a weak district; the program really is that strong.

In fact, Hylton and Battlefield are now tied all time with four wins each in head-to-head match-ups since 2005, with the Bulldogs holding a 4-3 lead in regular season play.

"I just don't think our guys showed up ready to play," said Battlefield head coach Mark Cox.

Travon McMillian ran roughshod over the Battlefield secondary when he could. The sophomore quarterback tallied three touchdown runs and set up a flea flicker pass that ultimately led to a touchdown in the third quarter.

On the rarely-used trick play, McMillian tossed a screen pass to his left side, toward the Hylton side line. Senior wide receiver Jaleel Dukes then squared up and launched a 41-yard bomb to his classmate Michael Price, left all alone near the BHS goal line as the entire Battlefield defense bit on the first throw.

Price called Dukes a "very, very versatile athlete," and it showed in how convincingly he sold the play and delivered a perfect strike down field with 9:10 left on the clock in the quarter.

Between that play and the interception by sophomore Lawrence Hunt that gave Hylton possession of the ball in the first place, Hylton managed to blunt any momentum Battlefield had coming out of halftime.

By that point, Hylton already had amassed a 21-7 lead. McMillian drew first blood on the Bulldogs' third possession of the first quarter.

After a Battlefield punt, McMillian ran straight up the gut on the first play from scrimmage and received a big block from his brother, running back Charles McMillian. That gave the speedster quarterback plenty of runway as he blistered the BHS secondary 63 yards for the score.

"I saw the right-side linebacker come over and he interrupted my read, so I just took off," said McMillian.

The Hylton defense forced Battlefield punter William Solomon to complete a three-and-out sequence that gave the visiting team a 74-yard field to work with toward the tail-end of the first quarter.

Twelve plays later, on first-and-goal from the three yard line at the start of the second quarter, McMillian followed his right-side blockers to paydirt. He appeared to be stuffed right at the goal line but reached over the white strip in front of him and broke the plane with the ball.

An extra point by Tyler Zong, one of five on the day for the HHS senior, put Hylton up 14-0.

Yet McMillian wasn't done just yet. He found senior wide receiver Michael James wide open with not a single Bobcat within 10 yards of him along the Hylton sideline, deep in Battlefield territory for a 36-yard gain.

The only thing that even prevented a touchdown on the spot at the time turned out to be the sideline chalk as James had a bit of trouble navigating the invisible tightrope and stepped out of bounds.

Junior running back Josh Ronan picked up a quick 18 yards to make up for it though over two plays before Battlefield defensive back Austin Wagner nearly picked off a pass in the end zone, something he successfully did the prior week against Gar-Field just before half time.

What could have been a game changer instead simply went into the scorebooks as an incomplete pass and gave McMillian an opportunity he converted, running six yards for a touchdown on the next play.

"McMillian is definitely one upcoming athlete in the Virginia area," remarked Price.

Battlefield finally put some points on the board of their own when they got the ball back. Junior quarterback Ryan Swingle delivered a dump pass to running back Andrew Smith from out of the back field that led to a 50-yard pick up as the senior stiff-armed his way down the BHS sidelines.

Junior Nick Newman took the Bobcats down the Hylton goal line, giving Smith a chance to complete his earlier work.

Instead, the senior fumbled and, in the midst of confusion, junior tight end Jack Taylor came up with the ball and scored the six points himself.

Solomon's extra point put the game at 21-7 just before halftime.

In the third quarter, Hylton scored twice, including on a 40-yard interception return by EJ Levenberry, but really didn't do much offensively outside of the flea flicker.

However, the only score Battlefield could muster in the second half came way too late after several series of conservative play-calling despite time ticking off the clock.

For instance, trailing 35-7 with 11 minutes remaining, Battlefield called Smith's number four straight times on rushes and then opted to go with freshman running back Corey Parker three more times.

By the time Smith finally scored at the end of a 61-yard drive, the Bobcats' offense chewed up 4:13 from the clock at a time when the home team needed four touchdowns just to tie Hylton.

Swingle attempted one pass during that drive, an incompletion dropped in the end zone with 7:23 to go in the game.

"You will see a whole different team next week," Smith vowed after the game as the Bobcats' cleats clattered along the asphalt during an otherwise quiet march back to the locker room. "We will play harder than any other team in the state of Virginia."

Battlefield next hosts Osbourn Park on Friday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m.