POWDER SPRINGS - After holding ninth-ranked Hillgrove on its first possession, and scoring on a 32-yard field goal midway through the first half, Sequoyah couldn't have asked for much more.

The problem was, Hillgrove was trying to give more.

Either way, the Chiefs headed back to Cherokee County on the wrong end of a 21-3 loss that marked the second straight defeat for Sequoyah.

"Their defense played well, but part of it was their offense taking control of the game," Sequoyah coach James Teter said. "We were sort of living on a double-edged sword. We could try to keep running the ball in the second half and run out of time, or we could start throwing the ball more."

Sequoyah fell to 1-2 after the Region 7AAAA crossover game. Hillgrove moved to 3-0, avenging its second loss from '08 in as many weeks following its win over Rome last week.

Sequoyah beat the Hawks, 28-6, last season at Skip Pope Stadium.

Hillgrove turned that 3-0 deficit into a 18-point halftime lead and the Hawks were never threatened in the second half.

But it didn't look like it would be a Hawk walk early.

Hillgrove had a bad pitch on a fourth-and-inches that resulted in a 10-yard loss and turned the ball over on downs on its opening drive. The Chiefs were given a second shot at the end zone on the ensuing possession when the Hawks jumped offside on a field-goal attempt, but Sequoyah had to settle for just three points on a Shawn Wortham's field goal.

From that point on, nothing went right for the Chiefs.

Hillgrove took the next possession and wasted little time in driving 65 yards in five plays. Synjyn Days completed just two passes all night, but both of them went for scores. The first was a 32-yard touchdown to Trevor Tatum.

The next time Sequoyah had the ball, eight plays netted 1 yard of total offense and a punt to Hillgrove.

The Hawks took that possession 90 yards in just six plays with Kenyan Drake capping off the drive with a 2-yard scrambled on a botched pitch.

It was that kind of night for the Hawks.

On Sequoyah's third possession, Hillgrove held the Chiefs to three-and-out and minus-1 yard. A fumble on the next offensive play for Sequoyah gave the ball back to Hillgrove and the Hawks scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Days to Chuby Uwadie.

From there, Sequoyah never got its offense on track. A three-and-out possession marked the start of the second half, and Hillgrove ate nearly 9:00 off of the game clock with a non-scoring drive. The Hawks may not have scored, but they kept the Sequoyah offense off of the field.

"We've got a lot of kids on this team that came in with a lot of inexperience, but they are going to get better," Teter said.