CANTON — Confusion in the waning seconds of a 20-14 loss to Riverwood cost Sequoyah a chance at its second win of the season.

The Chiefs (1-2) trailed 20-7 at halftime, but with 50 seconds to go in the game, they were closing in on victory.

After gaining 11 yards on the next two plays, it looked as if Sequoyah had a first down at Riverwood’s 6-yard line, but the clock kept running and, two plays later, the result was a turnover on downs.

Sequoyah coach James Teter made no excuses for the loss.

“You can’t spot a good team like that 20 points,” he said. “They scored 20 points on some big plays, and our offense could not get it going.”

Sequoyah scored the opening points of the game on a 1-yard touchdown run from Blake Ingleton on the opening drive of the game. Riverwood (4-0) stormed back and scored the next 20 points for the 20-7 halftime lead.

The Chiefs allowed 254 total offensive yards and seven first downs in the first half. Sequoyah managed only 157 yards of total offense in the first half.

“I told the kids at halftime that we were not losing because of our defense,” Teter said. “The defense was making plays, but the offense was not executing.”

Riverwood didn’t get a first down in the second half until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and managed a mere 57 yards of offense.

Teter said he was proud of how his defense stepped in the second half after getting gashed for a big play near the end of the first half. Riverwood running back Tyler Blake took an option pitch 89 yards for a touchdown with 3:08 remaining in the first half.

That score was the last time Riverwood got close to the end zone, but, in a sloppy third quarter, Sequoyah fumbled away a few positive drives. The Chiefs fumbled three times in the second half, losing possession twice.

“We turned the ball over way too many times in that third quarter,” Teter said. “If we could have scored a touchdown on one of those drives, we could have been leading 21-20 late in the game.”

After the teams combined for three lost fumbles in three straight possessions, Ingleton cut the Riverwood lead to 20-14 with a 7-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.