RIVERSIDE – Two fourth-quarter touchdowns ended the hopes of the Southeast Cyclones picking up a win in the 2022 season-opener at Riverside on Friday afternoon.

When the final horn sounded, the Riverside Rebels handed Southeast a 20-10 loss.

“We played really bad,” coach Mark Bullington said. “We left probably 14, 21 points on the field.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cyclones broke the tie when Austin Short broke free on a 28-yard sweep for the game’s first touchdown.

In the third quarter, Short added a 37-yard field goal, and it proved to be the final points of the game for Southeast.

Leading 10-6 going into the fourth quarter, the Cyclones had multiple opportunities to put away the Rebels but couldn’t.

“We were inside the five once and jumped offsides. We made too many mistakes,” Bullington said. “We were on the 15-yard line, and we went for it on fourth down. All we had to do is get three yards, but we throw a pick-six for 95 yards.”

Adding, “We should have kicked a field goal.”

Bullington said the team now knows where it stands and what they need to work on.

“We had people playing positions they had never played before; a new starting quarterback, a new tailback and a new fullback,” he said. “We made some mistakes that we wouldn’t have made with a more experienced people in that position.”

This week, the Cyclones (0-1) travel to Wright (0-1) to open 1A 9-Man East Conference play.

Wright is coming off a 59-0 loss to Rocky Mountain.

“They played Rocky, and they have a lot of kids back from last year’s state runner-up team,” Bullington said. “They were just outmanned. Rocky is just so much bigger. Wright played pretty well. We’ll have our hands full.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.