SIDNEY — Lehman Catholic repeatedly fought back on Thursday but couldn’t climb all the way out of big holes.

Two late turnovers doomed the Cavaliers’ final comeback hopes in a 51-34 loss to Milton-Union in a Three Rivers Conference opener on Thursday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs (2-2) had struggled offensively in their first three games but didn’t much Thursday. They unofficially amassed 374 yards of offense and built a 20-0 lead by the midpoint of the second quarter.

But Lehman (2-2) fought back, cutting the gap to 20-14 early in the third, then by scoring 20 straight points to pull within 37-34.

But junior defensive back Payton Mayfield returned a fumble for a touchdown, then intercepted a pass to set up another TD, which allowed Milton to put it away in the final minutes.

“We definitely handled adversity, fought our way back and made it a tighter game,” first-year Lehman Catholic coach Dwane Rowley said. “We had our chances, but we ended up beating ourselves.”

After Milton-Union built a 23-point lead midway through the third, the Cavaliers rallied.

Devin Pride made a diving catch while hitting the turf on a 43-yard TD reception from Donovan O’Leary with 16 seconds left in the third to cut the gap to 37-20 after a missed extra-point attempt.

O’Leary scrambled on the TD pass — as he had to a lot on Thursday — and did again after a Milton-Union three-and-out in the fourth. He threw a short pass to Da’Ron Pride, and Pride ran up the visitor’s sideline on a 58-yard TD reception to cut the gap to 37-27 with 9:57 left in the fourth after an extra point by Daniel Carlisle.

After a Milton-Union fumble deep in its own territory, the Cavaliers drove quickly and scored on a 3-yard TD run by O’Leary to pull within 37-34 with 8:57 left.

The Bulldogs were forced to punt, and Lehman got the ball at about its own 20. On what looked to be a first-down run, the ball popped out of O’Leary’s grasp and went straight to Mayfield, who grabbed it an ran untouched into the end zone to increase the lead to 10 points.

“Unfortunate. We looked at it on film (on a tablet on the sidelines), and we saw it unfold as the play developed,” Rowley said. “He makes one cut opposite of where he went, he goes to the house for a touchdown.”

Mayfield then intercepted a pass from O’Leary on fourth down and returned it about 30 yards to set up a short TD run by senior running back Jordan Foose, who was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher.

Foose, who scored four TDs, bulldozed his way straight ahead many times and extended runs by dragging Lehman defenders with him. The Bulldogs had 269 yards of offense on the ground.

“Their iso (gave us problems),” Rowley said. “… We didn’t have an answer for it. Our D-line didn’t control the line of scrimmage. We just didn’t play good. They have a good, solid running game.”

The Cavaliers, like in a 30-21 loss to Southeastern two weeks ago, punted on their first two offensive possessions and fell behind early.

But Lehman did better offensively afterward and finished with 275 yards unofficially. O’Leary completed 10-of-34 passes for 198 yards and two TDs and ran for much of the squad’s 77 yards on the ground, including two TD runs.

“We’ve got to look for the positives,” Rowley said. “How we battled back from 20 down and got it within 3. We were able to move the ball. Our offense is pretty good at moving the ball. We just have to find a way to get off the field on defense. We had to get some defensive stops, and our defense didn’t hold up.”

Mayfield scored on a 27-yard TD run to cap off the game’s first drive and give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Foose scored on a 25-yard run before the end of the quarter to boost the lead to 13-0 after an extra point by Braden Schaurer, and he scored on a 1-yard run in the second to increase the lead to 20 points.

But the Cavaliers got in it before halftime. O’Leary scored on a 4-yard run to cut the gap to 20-7 with 17 seconds left. Lehman got the ball again after Milton fumbled the kickoff but couldn’t score before halftime.

The Cavs scored quickly in the third, though. Turner Lachey returned the opening kickoff about 85 yards, then Will Ford scored on a 4-yard run with 11:41 left to cut the lead to 20-14.

“The kickoff return was huge,” Rowley said. “That changed the momentum, got us fired up and back in the game.”

Foose scored on a 4-yard run to cap off a long possession by the Bulldogs, then Mayfield ran in on a two-point conversion try to push the lead to 28-14.

After a penalty and deep kickoff resulted in Lehman starting its next drive at its own 5, a snap went over O’Leary’s head for a safety. Mayfield then scored on a 20-yard TD run on the ensuing possession to push the advantage to 37-14.

Each team finished with three turnovers.

The Cavaliers are scheduled to play at Miami East (2-1) next Friday.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.