Nation Ford’s Quadier Hand sprints down the field after one of his five catches during Friday’s game. Photo by Rob Upton

Six turnovers in the game led to four scores from the visiting George Washington Eagles as they beat the Nation Ford Falcons 46-31 Friday night.

The team out of Danville, Va. traveled two and a half hours and then trailed at halftime 23-20 before scoring 20 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a commanding lead as they never looked back. The loss drops the Falcons to 1-3 on the season.

Nation Ford really hurt their chances with six turnovers, including four interceptions thrown by Falcons’ quarterback Carson Black. Black unofficially went 12-for-26 with two passing touchdowns and one rushing score, but three of his four interceptions led to scores for the Eagles. Nation Ford also fumbled twice, one of which led to another George Washington score.

“We knew coming in that they had the capability to score the ball from anywhere on the field,” said Nation Ford head coach Michael Allen. “I thought we played good defensively in the first half. But when you turn the ball over six times, it is tough to win. We have some work to do, but we will get there.”

George Washington did the majority of their work on the ground rushing for more than 300 yards as Jakobe Dixon rushed for 190 yards on 18 carries. Trailing 23-20 to open the second half, the Eagles scored three touchdowns in about three minutes to gain control of the game.

The Eagles opened the quarter with a 78-yard touchdown run from Dixon to regain the lead at 27-23.

Nation Ford fumbled the ball for the first time in the game with about nine minutes left in the third quarter, which led to another George Washington touchdown.

After the third quarter, the Eagles led 40-23 and had Nation Ford in a hole they couldn’t get out of. Nation Ford did score in the fourth quarter to get back in the game with Jerimiah Hailstock running in from 57-yards out to make it 46-29 with about seven minutes left in the game. Black scored on a two-point conversion to pull the Falcons within 15.

Nation Ford had another opportunity to score late in the fourth but coughed up the ball for the second time on a break away run where the Falcons player dropped the ball about the 30-yard line and gave it back to the Eagles.

The Eagles wasted no time scoring early as they picked off Black on the Falcons’ first series of the game. A play later, Eagles quarterback Jeb Byrnes threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to get George Washington on the board.

Nation Ford was able to march down the field and tie the game off a one-yard run by Black with about 5:28 left in the opening quarter. However, Black threw his second interception of the game with this one leading to a 31-yard touchdown putting the Eagles back on top 13-7 after the missed extra point.

The Falcons returned things to tie it up as Black found Jerrick Foster, who caught four passes for 88 yards, for a 64-yard touchdown before the end of the first quarter. Nation Ford then took a three-point lead on a 26-yard field goal from Evan Cox with just under 11 minutes left in the second quarter.

George Washinton went back on top as the second quarter moved on with another touchdown, but Black found Quadier Hand with just under three minutes for a 40-yard touchdown pass to allow Nation Ford to get back the lead at 23-20 entering the half. Hand caught five passes for 86 yards in the game.

Nation Ford has a home game next week against Harding University out of Charlotte.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep