The Cathedral Green Wave nearly upset Loyd Star Friday in a hard-fought game that ended in a 28-18 Hornet victory that seemed much closer.

Cathedral came out of the gates fired up, forcing Loyd Star to punt after the games first three plays and then took control themselves, driving 59 yards on a 10 play drive that culminated on a 4-yard touchdown run by Ja’ Mel Jackson.

But Cathedral’s two-point attempt failed, and the Green Wave settled for a six-point lead with 5:24 left in the first quarter.

Loyd Star controlled the rest of the first half in Cathedral territory when quarterback Brad Britt spun out of a Cathedral sack attempt and scrambled for a 27-yard gain on fourth down, setting up their only score of the half, a 1-yard touchdown run by the fullback Adam Speeg.

&uot;We played as hard as we can play,&uot; Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley said. &uot;The scramble in the first quarter hurt us the most. We had him, and he made a big play. We just need a win.&uot;

The second quarter was filled with mistakes and fumbles as Loyd Star turned the ball over three times and Cathedral once. The first half ended in a 6-6 tie but with Cathedral seemingly in control.

Cathedral continued to control early in the third after pinning Loyd Star on their own 1-yard line and recovering a Brad Britt fumble in the end zone to regain the lead 12-6.

Loyd Star scored on its next position with a 5-yard touchdown run by Derrick Johnson. The two-point conversion was successful to give Loyd Star a 14-12 lead.

Jackson scored for Cathedral on a 13-yard run after a Loyd Star punt attempt was botched by a bad snap. The Green Wave ended the third quarter with an 18-14 lead.

Unfortunately, that also ended their scoring as the big plays and good breaks they got most of the game just quit coming in the fourth quarter.

Adam Speeg scored on Loyd Star’s first drive of the period and to put them up for good with a 20-18 lead. They also scored with 1:48 remaining in the game to make the final score 28-18.