When the Riverside Warriors took a 14-point lead with just 4:15 remaining in Friday night’s home matchup against the Huntington Highlanders, everyone in attendance thought the game was pretty much over.

Huntington had different ideas, however. The Highlanders scored a pair of late touchdowns and, had it not been for two failed attempts for two points on each, they might have tied or won the game.

In the end, the Warriors survived for a 21-19 victory.

“We had a real problem with turnovers tonight,” Warrior coach Ralph Hensley said. “That’s not what we wanted to see because we didn’t have any turnovers last week and you are always looking to get better each week, not go the other way. So, we’ve got some things to work on. Aside from the turnovers, we played pretty well. Our defense played especially well because Huntington has a good ball club.”

The Highlanders started their late rally by recovering a Riverside fumble with 2:32 left on the clock. A 15-yard penalty against the Warriors gave Huntington the ball at the Riverside 23.

From that point, Highlander quarterback C.J. Crawford fired a 23-yard pass to the end zone. When the ball was tipped, the pass looked as though it would fall incomplete. But Martegus Martin somehow caught the ball and held on to pull Huntington within one touchdown with 2:15 left.

The point after was no good, but the Warriors were flagged for running into the kicker. With the ball closer, the Highlanders chose to go for two rather than attempting to kick it again. The pass failed and the score stood at 21-13.

Huntington then attempted an on-side kick attempt, which Riverside recovered near midfield. On the very first play of their ensuing possession, however, the Warriors fumbled the ball yet again.

Michael Morton recovered for the Highlanders and returned it all the way to the Riverside 36. Two pass plays later, Joey Christian caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Crawford with 1:30 remaining.

This time, Huntington was forced to go for two. Once again, the pass play failed, and the Warriors still held a two-point lead, 21-19, with 90 seconds on the clock.

The Highlanders again attempted an on-side kick. Riverside’s Thomas Gray made a solid cover to give the Warriors possession. This time, Riverside held onto the ball. The Warriors needed to run just four plays to run out the clock.

During much of the game, Riverside ran the ball at will against the Highlanders. The Warriors totaled 226 yards on the ground and added 64 through the air.

Alex Kimble scored the first Riverside touchdown with 6:04 to play in the opening quarter. After gaining over 100 yards last week versus South Charleston, Kimble was held to 13 yards on five carries before being forced to leave the game with an injury.

Warrior running back Adam Watts led all ground-gainers with 72 yards on 15 carries and scored the other two Riverside touchdowns — one in each of the third and fourth quarters.

Huntington was held to a mere six rushing yards on 15 carries. Crawford completed 11-of-24 passes for 148 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The Highlanders fell to 0-2.