You could not have asked for a better start on Friday for Loyd Star. Hosting Raleigh High in the MHSAA 2A quarterfinals, the Hornets forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the game.

Junior Anthony Humphrey picked the ball up and sprinted 15-yards for the return score via the fumble.

When Raleigh lined up in the neutral zone for the PAT kick, LS sent out sophomore Jordyn Kees for the 2-point conversion. Kees crashed in behind his offensive line and the Hornets led the Lions from Smith County 8-0 with only 10 seconds run off the game clock.

Things didn’t immediately fall apart for the Hornets, as they only trailed 14-8 at halftime, but the second half was all Raleigh in an eventual 36-8 win for the Lions.

Raleigh (12-1) and Heidelberg High (12-1) will meet on Friday for a second straight year in the MHSAA 2A South State Championship. Loyd Star and second year head coach Adam Smith end the season with a 10-3 record.

Raleigh came out in their double-wing formation offensively and found a group of Hornet defenders that were swarming to the football.

Facing a 4^th-and-14 from the Loyd Star 38-yard line in the first quarter, Raleigh coach Ryan Higdon called a timeout to set up what would be the first scoring play of the night for the Lions.

Raleigh junior quarterback Jamarcus McCullum found a wide open Brenden Harper on a backside post. The conversion attempt was no good and Loyd Star still led 8-6.

Most of the first half was a war of attrition, as Raleigh was switching up ball carriers and formations to find what would work against an aggressive group of Hornets on defense.

Other than that one score, the Loyd Star secondary successfully defended the pass as McCullum can throw a beauty of a ball.

Offensively, Loyd Star had some success running the ball between the tackles.

Raleigh had lots of speed on the edges, and the game plan was to make it a rock fight, with Kees carrying the ball for short gains to set up 3rd-and-3 or 4th-and-1.

And that was a good gameplan, but all it took was one penalty on a drive to put Loyd Star at 2nd or 3rd and long, which was a distance too great to cover against a stout Raleigh defense and that was something that happened too often for the Hornets in the first half.

Junior defensive lineman Jamarion Owens was an especially disruptive force up front for the Lions, clocking in at 6-foot-2, 252-pounds.

Owens was the lead blocker on a jet-sweet that put Raleigh up for good with just over two minutes until halftime. Harper scored from the 11-yard line to put the Lions up 14-8 at the break.

Loyd Star had won the opening coin toss and deferred, but quickly gave the ball back to Raleigh following an interception on the opening drive of the third quarter.

Raleigh capitalized on the short field with a rushing score from senior running back CJ Moncrief, the teams leading rusher with over 1,000 yards on the season.

McCullum made it 29-8 for Raleigh later in the third quarter when he found Deuce Carter on another passing score. Eli Eason also scored on the ground for Raleigh in the fourth quarter.

The quarterfinal appearance was the second all time for Loyd Star and the first since the 2001 team made the 2A semifinals.

Loyd Star head coach Adam Smith and his staff will see four seniors graduate in Zack Cotten, Luke Cotton, Brandon Jenkins, and Braxton Williams.

The winner between Raleigh and Heidleberg will face either  Charleston (11-2) or Northside (10-3) in Hattiesburg for the 2A state championship.