Good Hope's Matt Hancock cries out in pain on Friday.

GOOD HOPE — The Raiders showed tons of fight on Friday night, but they ultimately gave away the prize.

Literally.

Good Hope committed six turnovers — five inside Cordova territory — en route to a 26-14 defeat to the Blue Devils inside James W. Shabel Stadium.

The Red and White dropped to 2-2 this season (1-2 in Class 4A, Region 6) following the loss, while Cordova improved to 2-3 (2-1) after the road triumph.

“The guys played hard, but we’ve got to learn from this,” coach Alan Scott said. “We had one like this against Fayette (County) two weeks ago. Tonight, we didn’t protect the football very well. You can’t be negative in the turnover department like that. But I’m proud of the kids and their effort. They never quit.”

The Blue Devils kicked off the meeting with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Demetrius Kirk to Kolbi Fuqua to  grab a quick 6-0 lead and pushed their advantage to 12 points soon after following a 1-yard scoring scamper by Javion Hill midway through the first quarter.

The Raiders trimmed the deficit down to five points with a 23-yard touchdown strike from Bailey Quick to Matt Schwaiger later in the frame and recovered an onside kick one snap later to set up shop inside the Blue Devil 30-yard line.

Unfortunately, Good Hope turned the ball over twice on the ensuing two possessions, which allowed Cordova to extend its cushion up to 20-7 following a 35-yard touchdown dash by Jeffrey Mayes and successful 2-point conversion.

The Red and White amassed a late touchdown in the first half — Schwaiger fell on a Quick fumble in the end zone — to bring the game to within six points heading into the locker room.

But the Blue Devils made sure a comeback was fruitless in the final 24 minutes.

Aiden Gay and Hill each picked off passes from Quick, while Fuqua fell on a fumble — Cordova also claimed a fumble recovery on the final play of the game — to slowly drain the life out of Good Hope’s offense.

Throw in a 32-yard scoring jaunt from Hill … and that was all the road squad needed.

“Their first play really hurt,” Scott said. “It’s a different ballgame if not for that, because we are really chasing just one score and not two for the rest of the outing. They threw it early and ran it late. I thought we adjusted well and stayed in the game. We definitely had opportunities, but we didn’t take advantage of them.

“As coaches, we’ll learn from this and try to get our team better heading into next week.”

Quick finished the evening with 202 total yards (104 rushing and 98 passing), while Dixon plowed hard for a 16-carry, 77-yard performance. He also caught three passes for 55 yards. Dylan McDonald scored a fumble recovery on defense.

Cordova was paced by Mayes (19 carries, 120 yards) and Hill (18 carries, 72 yards), while Kirk claimed 136 yards through the air — thanks in large part to Fuqua, who caught five passes for 100 yards.

The Blue Devils travel to 3A No. 5 Oakman next Friday.

Good Hope, meanwhile, will look to get back on track with a home contest against 2A Cold Springs.

“You’re only as good as your next play,” Scott said. “Some days it’s going to go your way, others days it’s not. We’ll get ready to play Cold Springs, which is a great county contest. We’ll move ahead, try to learn from this one and be better because of it.”