DANVILLE—After a tough first half, things were looking up for Southampton High School early in the third quarter of Friday’s road football game against George Washington High School.

Down 13-0, the Indians took the second-half kickoff and marched methodically down the field, consuming six minutes of the clock. The drive came to an abrupt halt, however, with a fumble at the 18-yard line, and SHS never threatened again in a 22-0 non-district defeat.

Southampton fell to 4-2 heading into a crucial stretch of four consecutive district games. The host Eagles improved to 3-2.

“If we put that one in, we’re right in the game,” SHS Coach Wes Griffith said of the ill-fated drive to start the third quarter.

George Washington scored in the first quarter on a 30-yard run and returned an interception 80 yards for a score with two minutes left before halftime.

After the Indians fumbled early in the third quarter, the Eagles responded with a field goal, then capped the scoring with a long run early in the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t like they just blew us out of the water,” Griffith said. “They earned everything they got.”

SHS managed just 160 yards of offense, all but 17 on the ground.

The Indians return home next week for homecoming against rival Greensville County at 7:30 p.m. in Courtland.

It is the first of four straight Southside District games to close the season.

“We’ve got the big part of our season coming up now,” Griffith said. “We’ve got to get these four district games and make some noise. We can get a good playoff seed if we can do that.”