MONTROSS—Windsor High stormed back from a two-touchdown halftime deficit and made a game of it here Friday night before losing 47-34 to Washington & Lee High School.

The Dukes fell to 3-2 in the first of three games in a stretch of eight days. Windsor hosts Arcadia at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a makeup of a game delayed by Hurricane Irene. The Dukes then go on the road to face Charles City next Friday.

Windsor Coach Chuck Parrish was proud of the way his team played on the road Friday night.

The Dukes trailed just 40-34 with a minute to go before the host team scored a late touchdown to make the final margin misleading.

“Our kids played hard,” Parrish said. “It was back and forth. We’ve just got to cut down on some mental mistakes, and we’ll be fine.”

Windsor trailed 26-12 at halftime but roared out of the locker room to score two straight touchdowns and two-point conversions to claim a 28-26 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The latter touchdown came when a Windsor player stripped the ball from the Washington & Lee kick returner and sprinted into the end zone.

The home team responded quickly, however, and reclaimed the lead.

The first half was played in a driving rain.

“Don’t get me wrong: You always want to win,” Parrish said. “We’re upset because we didn’t win, but the effort was there. We were physical tonight. We just have to learn to execute and make plays.”