Ardmore hung right with Lawrence County on Friday night and had a chance to potentially get a big region win, but turnovers proved to be the difference in the Tigers’ 33-22 loss.

Two turnovers in the first half set up touchdowns by Lawrence County, and a fourth-quarter interception ended any hopes Ardmore had of completing a comeback.

“We had two turnovers in the first half that really hurt us, and the one in the second half really hurt us badly, too,” Ardmore coach Andrew Smith said. “Those ones in the first half were big because it gave them good field position, and the one in the second half was huge because we were driving and about to score.”

An interception by Lawrence County’s Jacob Gholston and a fumble recovery by Mason Lee set up two 5-yard touchdown runs by Zaye Boyd that put the Red Devils ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter.

Tayi Strickland made an interception in the end zone to prevent the Tigers from scoring to preserve the first-half shutout.

Chase Lay got Ardmore on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 14-6, but Lawrence County answered just a minute later when Austin Blankenship connected with a wide-open Chip Proctor for a 67-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-6 Red Devils with 9:15 left in the third quarter.

Later in the third, Blankenship hit Lee in the flat for a 10-yard touchdown on a screen that put the Red Devils ahead 26-6.

Anthony Taylor broke a run around the left side and went 58 yards for a score to again cut that lead to 26-13 late in the third.

On its next possession, the Red Devils had a snap go over the quarterback’s head that ended up as a safety for Ardmore, with the score at 26-15 early in the fourth quarter.

After returning the free kick back to Lawrence County’s 40-yard line, the Tigers had the momentum and a chance to cut Lawrence County’s lead to single digits with still plenty of time left to go.

However, Procter made another interception at the Red Devils’ 20-yard line that ended Ardmore’s drive and killed any momentum the Tigers had.

“We tried to take a shot downfield and didn’t complete it,” Smith said. “That was the big one. We had a lot of momentum going right there, and we let it get away.”

Lawrence County’s ensuing drive ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Boyd that put the game on ice. Ardmore got one final score when Noah Barnett connected with Walker Dunn on a short touchdown pass late in the game.

Lawrence County moved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in Class 5A Region 8. The Red Devils will travel to face Lee-Huntsville Friday night.

Ardmore fell to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in region play and will host Mae Jemison Friday.

Smith said despite the setback, he can see week-to-week improvement from his team. However, turnovers and mistakes have been their undoing the past two games.

“We’ve improved each week, which is great, and we’ve got to continue to get better each week,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get rid of the turnovers, and that will help us a lot. We’ve got to take care of the football.”

J.R. Tidwell contributed to this report.