Quarterback Brock Roberts and his Bogue Chitto teammates wanted to keep the Possum Bowl Trophy proudly resting on a shelf in Coach Gareth Sartin’s field house office for another year. Roberts passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another in leading the Bobcats to a 29-0  Friday night shutout of Loyd Star in the Possum Bowl.

     The Bobcats also played knock down defense, limiting Loyd Star to 114 total yards on William E. “Sambo” Smith Field.

     “It feels great to beat Loyd Star,” said Roberts, a junior quarterback who passed for 73 yards and rushed for 96 more. “We get to keep the trophy at Bogue Chitto and that means a lot.”

     Roberts, who also starts at linebacker,  threw a pair of first-half  touchdown passes to wide receiver Germie Martin.  Both of them were 22-yard connections, the first one coming with 1:19 left in the first quarter.

     “We played good defense and our offense had some pretty good blocking,” Roberts noted. “We were able to run the ball and make some good catches.”

     Sartin huddled with his team after the game and expressed some satisfaction, especially with the defense. “I like what I see on the scoreboard. Loyd Star didn’t score on us.”

     Reviewing the season-opening win, Sartin said, “Our defense came up with some big stops when we needed them. Offensively, we missed some big plays early. We kept grinding and got the job done.”

     He expressed concern about his team’s 18 penalties for 121 yards. “We have to clean up our penalties before we play Enterprise.”

     It definitely was BC’s night to celebrate. After Roberts scored on a 1-yard plunge in the third quarter, the PAT attempt was mishandled. However, kicker Cameron Price alertly picked up the football, scrambled to his right side and lobbed a tipped conversion pass to Damien Terrell who made a successful reception.

     Not much went right for the Hornets. Loyd Star’s Branden Canny intercepted Roberts at the 3-yard line to kill a fourth-quarter TD drive. But on third down, BC linebacker Jeremy Blackwell broke through and tackled Loyd Star’s Brett Calcote in the end zone for a 2-point safety.

     Three minutes later, the lights went out on the  four light poles located  on the visitors’ side of the field  after James “Piro” Blackwell rumbled 19 yards to Loyd Star’s 2-yard line with 3:14 left in the game. It was agreed to continue the game in semi darkness and Blackwell scored on the next play, making it 29-zip.

     “Our kids played hard but we made mistakes,” said Loyd Star coach Randall Huffman who constantly badgered the officials during the game. “Bogue Chitto did a good job defensively.”

     Loyd Star wore its black jerseys as the Hornets unveiled their new Notre Dame Box Offense. Seth Farmer was Loyd Star’s leading rusher with 20 carries for 50 yards.

     On defense, middle linebacker Jeremy Blackwell led BC’s assault with 19 tackles, including a sack. Roberts collected 11 tackles. Devin McEwen and Jer’Monte Barnes each had 7 stops. Jimmy McNulty recovered a fumble.

     The Hornets visit Meadville Friday night to face the Franklin County Bulldogs. Bogue Chitto entertains Enterprise.