The Loyd Star Hornets fought hard in a defensive battle Friday night before falling 36-6 to the East Marion Eagles in Region 7-2A football action at William E. “Sambo” Smith Field.

“We played with a lot of intensity against a very good team,” said Loyd Star coach Adam Cook. “Our guys fought hard from start to finish and did not give up. East Marion has great team speed and they are well coached. Our effort was great overall. We held strong in the first half but ran out of gas in the second half.

“I would like thank the guys for their effort and the fans for their great support,” continued Adams. “We have the rest of the week off to rest and to prepare for a tough battle against Bassfield in two week.”

In the first half of action, the Loyd Star Hornets and the East Marion Eagles came out and provided an exciting defensive bout for their football fans. Both teams struggled to gain the upper hand offensively.

But late in the first quarter of action, East Marion managed to break up the scoreless ball game on a one-yard run by Johnathan Abram with 2:16 remaining. The Eagles elected to go for the two-point conversion and was successful as Abram collected with Anthony Ingram.

Throughout the rest of the first and second quarters, both teams continued their heated defensive battle. The first half ended with East Marion leading 8-0 at halftime.

To start the second half, the Eagles came out and quickly turned up the heat on the Hornets. Abrams cashed in his second touchdown of the evening with a 7-yard run and scored the two-point conversion with 9:41 remaining in the third quarter to give East Marion a 16-0 advantage.

The Eagles continued to increase the pressure as they added another rushing touchdown on a 18-yard run by Jarveon Howard with 6:27 left in the third. East Marion went for two-point conversion and was successful as Abram hooked up with Ingram. After three quarters of action East Marion led 24-0.

In the fourth quarter, East Marion continued to use their speed to overwhelm Loyd Star as they punched in two more touchdowns. Aaron Abram ran in a 10-yard TD and Lorenzo Armstrong added a 30-yard rushing touchdown.

Loyd Star continued to fight hard through the rest of the game and managed to break up East Marion’s bid of a shutout on a six-yard run by sophomore quarterback Parker Flowers with 5:44 left in the fourth. The Hornets went for the two-point conversion but were unsuccessful.

Offensively, the Hornets finished with 192 total yard for the game. Loyd Star had 110 yards rushing on 29 carries. Zac Arnold paced the Hornets ground attack with 44 yards on 10 carries. Brett Calcote rushed nine times for 28 yards. Peyton Flowers contributed 23 yards on four carries.

Defensively, Peyton Flowers powered Loyd Star with 20 tackles and three quarterback sacks. Parker Flower contributed 10 tackles. Calcote had nine stops.

Loyd Star will have an open date next Friday to enjoy Fall Break and to give their injured players some extra time to heal before returning to the gridiron in two weeks to face the Bassfield Yellow jackets.