John Essex was on the road at Fruitdale Friday night in a tightly contested, high-scoring affair. The Hornets came up just short, though, losing the game 34-32.

Dimitri Brock led the Hornets with four catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Demarcus Bennett added 98 yards rushing on 14 carries and a 60-yard touchdown run, and Markiese Shelton had 156 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.

Head coach Jerome Antone said that the players played hard and minimized their mistakes from last week’s game.

“We played hard and didn’t cramp this week,” he said, “but there is no excuse in losing. We minimized our mistakes, but we have to play better pass defense.”

The loss moves the Hornets to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the region.