ROBERTSDALE — Turnovers and tackling woes took their toll on the Robertsdale Golden Bears as they fell to 6A Region 1 rival LeFlore 30-20 on Homecoming night Friday at J.D. Sellars Stadium.

“It all starts with tackling and being able to protect the football,” said Robertsdale Head Coach Brian Campbell following Friday’s loss, “and we weren’t able to do either, particularly in the first half.”

The Golden Bears gave up 230 yards of total offense in the first half, 211 on the ground, most of which was accounted for by running back Dwan James, who had 201 yards on 14 carries in the game’s first two quarters, including touchdown runs of 49 and 66 yards.

The Rattlers also recovered a Bear fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.

The two teams traded blows in the first half with Robertsdale striking first off a LeFlore turnover as Collin Laird picked off a Rattler pass and returned it all the way to the LeFlore 6-yard line, where Deandre Prim needed just one play to run the ball in for the score and Mark Alvarez’s point-after made the score 7-0 with 8:01 to play in the opening period.

LeFlore would strike back six plays later with James’ 49-yard run on third-and-7 and Damian Mcmillian ran for 2 to put LeFlore up 8-7 with 5:28 to go in the first.

The two teams then traded turnovers as Nate Krebs was picked off by Rodney Finley Jr., but Robert Barnett returned the favor, giving the Bears the ball back at their own 30.

A 45-yard run by Prim then a 13-yard completion from Blake Nichols to Evan Robertson converted a fourth-and-11 to give the Bears a first-and-goal at the 8, then a Rattler penalty put the ball on the 4-yard line where Krebs took the ball himself from the quarterback spot for the score. Alvarez’s extra-point gave the Bears back the lead at 14-8.

Two plays later, LeFlore picked up a Robertsdale fumble after a big gain and raced back for the score. Another 2-point conversion made the score 16-14 before Prim took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 75 yards for the score, but a missed extra point left the score at 20-16.

Three plays later, James picked up his second big gain for a score, a 66-yarder, followed by a 2-point conversion to put the Rattlers up 24-20 with 5:01 left in the half.

The Bears almost took the lead back intercepting another Rattler pass with Nichols taking the ball near the Rattler endzone and racing back 88 yards, only to come up 12 yards short as time ran out in the half.

It would be a theme repeated time and again in the second half with the Bears getting close, but not being able to score, turning the ball over on downs three times in Rattler territory, first at the 28, then the 14 and finally at the 43.

The Bears also turned the ball over at their own 22, but the defense stepped up, saving a Rattler score. After LeFlore gained a first down to the Bear 12, Barnett dropped James for a seven-yard loss, followed by a tackle for a loss of eight yards by Hunter Allen all the way back to the 27. After an incomplete pass, James was stopped well shy of a first down to give Robertsdale back the ball at the 15.

But on its next possession, the Bears would give the ball back to the Rattlers again on the LeFlore 43 and James would cap a five-play drive with a 33-yard score with just 43.2 seconds to play. A failed two-point conversion would not matter as Robertsdale drove to the LeFlore 33, but again could not translate the drive into points following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which pushed the ball back to near midfield.

The Bears fell to 1-8, 1-5 in 6A Region 1 play, with the loss while LeFlore improved its record to 3-5, 2-4 on the year. Up next, the Bears take on the Daphne Trojans at home while LeFlore squares off against Baldwin County High in a home contest at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.