It was the type of homecoming game you dream about. The Bogue Chitto Bobcats (1-3) dominated from the opening quarter in a 44-26 win over the Mount Olive Pirates (0-4) on Troy Smith Field Friday night to cap a week of homecoming festivities.

The game started with a 66-yard touchdown run by Quandarius Hubbard of Mount Olive on the first play from scrimmage.

The Bogue Chitto defenders had not even gotten set before Hubbard sprinted around the left side of the line for a scored.

That would be the lone highlight for the visitors from Smith County as the Bobcats would go on to ring up 44 unanswered points.

On the kickoff following the opening touchdown Owen Anderson made a strong return that took the ball down to the Mount Olive 36-yard line. The short field would set up a smooth Bobcat touchdown drive that was capped when quarterback Shaw King found Brandon Lewis on a 12-yard touchdown pass. King would add a short touchdown run later in the quarter.

The next Pirate drive would end when Bogue Chitto defensive back J.T. McCaffrey picked off Mount Olive quarterback Brandon Butler on a roll-out. McCaffrey would add another interception in the second half and also pick a ball off during a Mount Olive two-point conversion try.

The Bobcat touchdown that followed the first McCaffrey interception happened when Damarcus Godbolt scored from 6-yards out.

Godbolt added a 16-yard scoring run in the second quarter. That score was set up by consecutive long passes from King to Malik Richarson and Tristan Buffington.

Richarson, the biggest player on the Bobcat team and a tight end, would add a 12-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

Bryce Langley would also score two rushing touchdowns for the Bobcats and senior fullback Jermaine “Trooper” Black added an additional rushing score.

Warrick Cook led the Bobcat defense with eight tackles and Godbolt added six. Junior Zach Upkins also grabbed an interception for Bogue Chitto.

Upkins says the young Bobcats have stayed cohesive so far in a season full of learning experiences.

“We’ve stayed tight as a team and just focused on improving every week,” said Upkins. “We have to listen to our coaches and work in practice to improve, I feel like we’re doing that and it showed tonight.”

“We got a little sloppy late in the game and gave up some scores that we shouldn’t have, but I’m very proud of how hard the kids played,” said Bogue Chitto head coach Gareth Sartin.

Bogue Chitto has traditionally been a balanced team offensively and one of the growing pains so far this season has been getting their passing game going.

King — a junior in his first year as starting quarterback — had his best game of the season under-center.

“Shaw made some good throws and we spread it around to several different receivers,” said Sartin. “Defensively we did a good job of making open-field tackles which is something we’ve worked to improve on.”

Story by Cliff Furr