Whale Branch suffered another tough loss to a top-10 opponent Friday, falling 14-7 at Bamberg-Ehrhardt.

The Warriors drove to the Red Raiders’ 40 in the final minute, but they were stopped on a fourth-down pass to seal the result.

Bamberg-Ehrhardt scored on the opening drive before the teams settled into a defensive struggle. Neither team scored again until the Red Raiders broke through with a 25-yard run with 10:45 left in regulation.

After converting a fourth-and-7 to keep the drive alive, the Warriors finally broke through with less than six minutes left when Jaylen Reeves hit Keith Bing for a 35-yard touchdown pass.

A quick defensive stop gave Whale Branch a shot, but Reeves couldn’t connect with Jaden Jenkins on fourth-and-8, and the Red Raiders held on.

The Warriors (5-3, 1-3) are locked into the No. 4 seed in the Class 2A playoffs and wrap up the regular season at home against Battery Creek next Friday.