Loyd Star came from behind to steal a 35-28 Friday night victoryagainst the Bogue Chitto Bobcats in the Possum Bowl at Loyd Star.Bogue Chitto built a 14-0, first-quarter lead but big returns bythe Hornets kept them in the game.

Loyd Star took the lead at 35-28 with 8:35 left in the fourthquarter when a quarterback sneak from 15 yards out by Korey Allenscored a touchdown.

Bogue Chitto’s offense turned the ball over on downs with 5:42 lefton the clock. The Hornets controlled the ball until they had topunt it away with 2:43 remaining. Allen placed a great punt insidethe 10-yard line.

Bogue Chitto worked its way out past midfield into Hornet territorywith less than a minute to play. With 21 seconds left, RictaviusButler came up with a big interception for the Hornet defense asCoach Randall Huffman and the Hornets (1-3) got their first winthis year.

“The boys played well,” said Huffman. “We finally got that badtaste of losing out of our mouth. It was a team effort and theystepped up and played hard. Our special teams were a key part inthis game and helped us get going.”

Loyd Star travels to North Pike next week.

The Bobcats (2-2) scored in less than four minutes from the startof the game by a 9-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Wells. With 1:34left on the clock, quarterback Brock Roberts found Germie Martinfor a 96-yard touchdown pass, putting the score at 14-0 as GarrettWallace kicked both extra points.

The Hornets answered. Instead of trailing 14-0 at the end of thefirst quarter, Marquis Sims returned a kickoff 70 yards to make ita 14-7 game. The Hornet defense held strong and forced Bogue Chittoto a 3 and out.

Bogue Chitto punted the ball away as the clock expired in the firstquarter. Hornet senior Marquis Hayes used his speed to break awayand return the punt 55 yards for a touchdown. The extra point wasbobbled and the Bobcats led 14-13 at the end of the firstquarter.

The second quarter ended 21-13 as Colton McClendon had a 1-yardrushing touchdown for BC.

Three minutes into the third quarter, Korey Allen kept the ball fora 3- yard touchdown run, bringing the score to 21-19. The Hornetselected to go for the 2-point conversion. Sims ran an option playaround the left side and scores to tie the game at 21-all.

The Bobcats answered with a 16-yard run by James Blackwell, givingthe Bobcats a 28-21 lead on Garrett Wallace’s PAT kick. Less than 5minutes remained in the 3rd quarter when Josh Butler powered hisway through the line for a one yard touchdown run to tie it upagain on a PAT kick by Corrie Crow.

The leading rushers for the Hornets were Sims with 13 carries for118 yards and Hayes with 12 carries for 70 yards. Allen had 11carries for 46 yards with 2 TDs. Allen was 0-6 when throwing theball.

The Hornet defense was led by Josh Butler who had 11 tackles. CoreyFunk was close behind with 9 tackles and a forced fumble. With 6tackles apiece were Cody Teekel, Kyle Johnson, and Travis Sorrels.Sims had 5 tackles. Cody Lanham and Hayes had 4 tacklesapiece.

Bogue Chitto coach Gareth Sartin said he was unhappy with histeam’s coverage on kickoffs and punts. “Our special teams lost itfor us. We practically handed it to them (Hornets). We should havewon the ballgame. We had over 400 yards

“It was a tough game, hard-fought both ways,” Sartin added.”Special teams really cost us. Loyd Star had two big returns thatlet them back in the ballgame. We have to cut down on ourmistakes.”

Bogue Chitto had 216 rushing yards. McClendon led the Bobcats with12 carries for 84 yards. Blackwell had 9 carries for 57 yards.Chris Hall had 9 carries for 52 yards. Reid Bales carried the ball4 times for 18 yards

Roberts was 12 of 22 for 217 yards passing and 2 touchdowns withone interception. Germie Martin led the receiving end with 6catches for 159 yards. Michael Martin had 3 catches for 25 yards.Hall has 1 catch for 22 yards.

The Bobcat defense was led by Shane Lewis and Tevin Tobias with 7and 6 tackles respectively. James Blackwell had a fumblerecovery.