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The Huntland High School Hornets lost to the Cascade Champions 21-14 on the road Thursday for their third loss of the season.

The Hornets held a seven-point lead going into halftime, but the Champions flipped the scoreboard in the third quarter with the Hornets not being to answer back.

Huntland head football coach Kermit Reed said the game followed a similar pattern as his team’s first two contests with turnovers and penalties at inopportune moments proving costly.

“We played well enough to win and made some key mistakes that didn’t allow us to win,” he said. “We’re going to keep working hard, and we’re going to get there. We’re close. We’re 0-3, but we easily could be 3-0.”

The Champions went three-and-out on the opening drive of the game with a short punt giving Huntland excellent field position at Cascade’s 45-yard line.

The Hornets then drove all the way down the field with Lashawn Kimmons finding the end zone on a short run. Grant Morris added a successful point-after attempt to make it a 7-0 game with 5:26 left in the first quarter.

The Champions answered back early with a 64-yard touchdown drive for Cascade tying the score at 7-7 with 1:49 remaining in the opening period.

The Hornets made it into enemy territory on their drive, but the possession stalled and ultimately ended in a turnover on downs.

The Champions also made it across midfield on their next drive before Huntland’s defense stepped up and forced a punt.

The Hornets then put together a 78-yard drive with Jarren Kinslow breaking off a long touchdown run to give Huntland a 14-7 lead with 2:22 left in the first half.

Huntland’s defense came up with a turnover on Cascade’s next possession with Grant Jernigan intercepting a pass over the middle to preserve the early lead.  Jernigan has picked off four passes for the Hornets so far this season.

They led 14-7 at halftime.

The Champions went for an onside kick to start the second half and successfully recovered the ball to steal a possession.

The Champions then quickly moved down the field and scored a rushing touchdown to tie the score at 14-14 less than two minutes into the third quarter.

The Hornets made it past midfield again on their next drive, but a fumble would be recovered by the Champions for a turnover.

The fumble led to another touchdown drive for Cascade with the Hornets falling behind by a score of 21-14 with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

A long pass from Jernigan to Trace Kilpatrick moved the Hornets down to Cascade’s 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but a series of penalties and plays for negative yardage pushed the Hornets back more than 20 yards before they ultimately turned the ball over on downs.

The Hornets got some momentum back on their side when their defense forced a fumble which was recovered by Tyler Archer.

However, the Hornets had another drive stall around Cascade’s 30-yard line with a turnover on downs giving the Champions the ball back with 3:37 to go.

The Champions then ran out the rest of the clock to seal Huntland’s loss by seven.

With the loss, the Hornets moved to 0-3 on the season.

They will next play on Sept. 15 at Eagleville High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.