BOGUE CHITTO – Senior quarterback Brock Roberts and his Bogue Chitto Bobcats managed to proudly keep the Possum Trophy resting on the shelf in Coach Gareth Sartin’s field house office for another year.

Roberts passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another four touchdowns to direct the Bobcats to a 50-21triumph over the Loyd Star Hornets Friday night in the Possum Bowl at Troy Smith Field.

“It is great to start the season off with a win, especially against a county rival,” said Sartin. “We managed to established our running game early which allow us to open up our passing attack.”

“Loyd Star played a great game,” continued Sartin. “Coach Huffman had his guys ready to play. Overall, I was pleased with our effort, but we still have a lot of work to do to get better.”

Bogue Chitto (1-0) came out and quickly set the tone of the game. The Bobcats scored three touchdowns in the opening quarter. On defense, BC held the Hornets to total of 280 yards for the game.

Roberts cashed in the Bobcats’ first touchdown, when he hooked up with senior wide receiver Dennis Rogers on a 15-yard strike with 4:16 remaining.

In BC’s second and third scoring drive of the first quarter, Roberts ran in both touchdowns on sprints of 12 yards and 11 yards. Junior kicker Cameron Price was five-of-six on extra points for the night.

In the second quarter, the Hornets (0-1) managed to get on the scoreboard, when junior fullback Peyton Flowers broke loose for a 10-yard touchdown run with 8:40 remaining. Senior quarterback Seth Farmer ran in the two-point conversion.

Bogue Chitto answered with two more scoring drives as Roberts ran in two quarterback sneaks to pay dirt. The first came with 1:35 mark and the second was with :25 seconds left before going into halftime. The Bobcats commanded a 34-8 lead at the break.

In the second half, both teams continued to play hard in the tough, physical battle.

In the third quarter, BC continued their aggressive scoring drives. Roberts threw his final touchdown for the night, when he connected with Rogers for a 48-yard strike with 9:24 remaining.

At the end of the third quarter, Price was successful on an 33-yard field goal to help increase BC’s lead to 44-8 with 0:38 second left.

In the fourth quarter, sophomore running back Dakota McGary scored the Bobcats’ final points of the game on a 10-yard scramble with 6:33 remaining.

Loyd Star refusing to give up chalked up two successful scoring drives in the final quarter. Flowers scored on a 28-yard sprint with 6:14 left. Brent Calcote punch in the Hornet’s final touchdown on 40-yard gallop to pay dirt with 2:45 remaining. Farmer was one-of-two on extra points.

“We spotted Bogue Chitto to many points early and could not recover,” said Loyd Star coach Randall Huffman. “Overall, I am proud of the guys for not quitting. We are a young team, and this was a great learning experience to build on.”

Defensively, Jeremy Blackwell led BC with 12 tackles. Roberts contributed 8 stops. Eli Holmes had 7 tackles. Devin McEwen and Blackwell recovered a fumble apiece

Flowers directed the Hornets’ defense with 8 solo tackles and 9 assists. Calcote provided 5 tackles and 4 assists.

Offensively, Roberts was the offensive star to lead the Bobcats, completing 8-of 10 passes for 136 yards. He also rushed for 83 yard on 14 carries.

Jermaine Blackwell led the BC’s ground attack with 10 rushes for 105 yards. Rogers was the top receiver with 5 catches for 100 yards.

Calcote was the top offensive leader for the Hornets with 140 yards rushing on 8 carries. Flowers contributed 11 rushes for 29 yards.

Farmer completed one-of-two passes for 42 yards. Shay Hodges caught the one pass for 42 yards.

Bogue Chitto visits another Lincoln County rivalry and battles the Enterprise Yellow Jackets in a Thursday night special. Loyd Star returns home to host the Prentiss Bulldogs, a Region 3A opponent, Friday night. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.