The undefeated Loyd Star Hornets finished the regular seasonwith a 10-0 record following Friday night’s 48-14 Region 6-2A winover the McLaurin Tigers at William E. “Sambo” Smith Field.

Loyd Star (10-0, 5-0) is the region champ and ranked No. 5 inthe Associated Press Little 10 Prep Poll. The Hornets, coached bySidney Wheatley, will host Region 7-2A No. 4 seed Heidelberg Fridaynight in the first round of the South State playoffs. All playoffgames begin at 7 p.m.

“I thought we played real well,” said Wheatley. “Especially gooddefense. Defensively, we were ready to play with intensity.”

Senior linebacker Matthew Delaughter led the Hornets with 12tackles. Michael Britt and Barry Roberts made 10 tackles apiece.Making 5 stops each were Shawn Broxson, Corey Charpentier, JoshReed, Kyle Wooley and Garry Johnson.

Loyd Star jumped on McLaurin for a 14-0 lead in the firstquarter. Delaughter scored his first touchdown on a 1-yard run andJuron Collins ran 15 yards for the second TD. Justin Whatley kickedboth PATs and finished the night going 7 of 8.

Second-quarter action saw the Hornets add three more touchdownsto take a commanding 34-0 lead at halftime. Backup quarterbackDerek Smith connected to Josh Townsend for a 25-yard TD, Delaughterbroke loose for a 29-yard score and starting quarterback JustinWhatley connected with Townsend on a 62-yard strike. Townsend ranfor a 2-point conversion.

In the third quarter, Townsend exploded for a 34-yard touchdownand Collins scored from 6 yards out to push the Hornets lead to48-0.

McLaurin (2-8, 1-4) scored twice in the fourth quarter to cutthe deficit to 48-14. Kevin Quick scored the first TD on a 16-yardrun and Tyler Warren rushed 17 yards for the other score. Quickkicked both PATs.

Wheatley was pleased with the offense, especially the passinggame. “I was glad to see us throw the ball at times. It’s good tohave two quarterbacks.”

Whatley and Smith combined to complete 4 of 8 passes for 133yards and a touchdown apiece. Whatley was 2-for-4 for 69 yardswhile Smith finished 2-for-4 for 64 yards.

On the ground, Loyd Star was led by Delaughter with 8 rushes for86 yards. Townsend carried 7 times for 104 yards followed byCollins who also carried 7 times for a total of 83 yards. Johnsonrushed 2 times for 27 yards. Whatley finished with one carry for 17yards.

Wheatley thanked his assistant coaches for doing a great job allseason long. The coaches include Josh Thibodeaux, JonathanBreakfield and Randy Delaughter.

“I appreciate my coaching staff,” said Wheatley. “They haveworked hard all year. I appreciate all they have done for me.”