GREENVILLE — The 8U Chocowinity Indians came close to the end zone on their first drive of the game, but fumbled away their only scoring chance in a 6-0 loss to the Greenville Titans.

Things were looking good when the Indians forced and recovered a fumble on the Titans’ first play from scrimmage. Kymani Pierre and Chaise Smith got Chocowinity’s ground offense rolling, driving to Greenville’s 6-yard line, but the Indians fumbled it away.

Behind the strong running of Tyreek Cooper, who was shedding tackles all afternoon, the Titans were able put together the game’s only touchdown drive. After forcing the Indians to punt, Cooper picked up 10 yards on a third-and-9. He followed that with a 23-yard dash into the end zone.

With that, the Titans took a 6-0 lead with 49 seconds left before halftime.

The Indians almost made something happen before the intermission. Smith erupted for a 37-yard gain that would have put Chocowinity on the doorstep with time to run another play, but it was called back due to a penalty.

While they came up short at the end of the second, the Indians had another chance when they received the opening kickoff of the second half, which Pierre hauled all the way to Greenville’s 22. The Titans made themselves cozy in Chocowinity’s backfield, bringing up a fourth-and-9 scenario.

The Indians’ defense remained stout to keep the game within reach. Bobby Williams was able to carry Greenville into the end zone, and a facemask flag pushed them to the 8-yard line. The Indians bounced back and forced a turnover on downs.

Chocowinity took over, but punted again shortly thereafter. Another Greenville turnover on downs left the Indians with one more chance to either tie or win the game.

In addition to the Titans, they had to battle the clock, too. Chocowinity had less than two minutes to work with, and repeatedly got in its own way with false starts. Time expired as they tried to get off one last snap, finalizing the shutout loss.