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The Huntland High School Hornets lost to the Collinwood Trojans 18-0 on the road Thursday for their eighth loss of the season.

The Hornets were unable to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities deep in enemy territory while the Trojans steadily built up their lead to give the Hornets a regional loss in their final game of the season.

Huntland head football coach Kermit Reed said that the game showcased issues that plagued his team throughout the season.

“It’s the same old story. I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys more prepared to not make the mistakes that cost you ballgames,” he said. “When you get inside the 20-yard line five times and don’t score, that’s the whole season in a microcosm.”

Reed also referred to a general animosity between the two teams that built up over the course of the game with numerous personal fouls being called and several shoving matches occurring between plays.

“We got really undisciplined tonight, including myself. Those are things we’ve been working on since I took over. When things go rough in life, people react differently,” he said. “Tonight, we let our emotions get the best of us.”

The Hornets moved the ball inside of Collinwood 10-yard line on their opening drive, but they turned the ball over on a fumble to negate the early scoring chance.

Huntland’s defense then forced a three-and-out followed by a punt with a good return from Lashawn Kimmons putting the ball at the 32-yard line of the Trojans.

The Hornets once again drove down to as far as Collinwood’s 8-yard line before being pushed back, and a 35-yard field goal attempt by Grant Morris missed the mark to keep the game scoreless.

The Trojans then put together an 80-yard drive which ended in a short rushing touchdown to give them the lead. The Hornets were able to stop the two-point conversion that followed with Grant Jernigan intercepting a pass in the end zone on the attempt to keep the score at 6-0 with 10:23 left in the first half.

The Hornets’ next possession ended in a punt, and the Trojans broke off a 32-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive to take a 12-0 lead with seven minutes to go in the first half.

Following another Huntland punt, the Hornets forced a turnover on downs to start their next drive at Collinwood’s 41-yard line.

The Hornets once again worked the ball down to the red zone before having their own turnover on downs at Collinwood’s 20-yard line.

A punt by the Trojans to conclude the next drive was shanked hard, giving the Hornets the ball at Collinwood’s 28-yard line with 13 seconds left in the half, but the next three plays resulted in incomplete passes to end the second quarter.

Huntland trailed 12-0 at halftime.

After forcing a punt to start the third quarter, the Hornets went on the move once more and elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Trojans’ 11-yard line. However, running back Jarren Kinslow was stopped for no gain to flip the ball back to Collinwood.

The next two possessions ended in punts with a punt-return touchdown by the Trojans being called back due to multiple penalties to start the fourth quarter.

However, the Trojans still managed to score on the ensuing possession as a touchdown with 9:46 remaining brought the deficit up to 18-0 late.

The Hornets made one final push into enemy territory and briefly crossed over the 20-yard line for a fifth time before being pushed back by a personal foul.

An interception thrown on fourth down a few plays later gave the ball back to Collinwood with 5:29 to go, and the Trojans ran out the rest of the clock to seal the 18-point loss for Huntland.

With the loss, the Hornets finished their season with an overall record of 2-8 and a regional record of 1-5.