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Coffee County football came up short in its return from the bye week Friday night.

Hosting Summit for a Region 6-6A matchup, the Red Raiders could not overcome a quick start from the Spartans on the way to a 35-21 loss in what was their final home game of the season.

The senior night defeat was Coffee County’s fourth straight, as well as the team’s third straight in region play following losses to Independence on the road on Sept. 19 and Brentwood at home on Oct. 3.

Trailing 6-0 after an early Summit touchdown and missed extra point, the Red Raiders soon found themselves in a 14-0 hole after a second trip to the end zone for the Spartans along with a successful two-point conversion. A Coffee County fumble turned the ball back over not long after, allowing Summit to finish the first quarter up by 14.

The Spartans continued to push ahead as the second quarter got under way, reaching pay dirt once again with 10:17 left until halftime. Another unsuccessful PAT gave Coffee County the ball back down 20-0 to open its next possession.

This time around, Coffee County was able to answer with a touchdown of its own, reaching the end zone to cut the lead to 20-7 with 5:54 remaining in the quarter. Summit responded by returning the ensuing kickoff for another touchdown of its own, but the Red Raiders took the next kickoff all the way back as well to ultimately make it a 28-14 game at halftime.

Coffee County continued to narrow the gap in the third quarter, adding a touchdown with 5:20 on the clock to cut the Spartan lead to 28-21. Now a one-possession game for the first time since the first quarter, Summit went on to add a touchdown with three minutes until the start of the fourth to take a 35-21 advantage.

This would ultimately be the game’s final score, as neither team reached the end zone again before time expired.

The loss put Coffee County at 2-6 on the season and 1-3 in region play. The Red Raiders currently sit in sixth place in the region standings, leading only Franklin, who they beat 7-6 on Sept. 12.

Coffee County will wrap up its regular-season schedule with road region matchups against first-place Ravenwood (8-0, 4-0 region) this Friday and third-place Shelbyville Central (3-5, 3-2 region) on Oct. 30.

The Raptors come into this week’s game off of a 45-14 region road win over Shelbyville this past Friday to remain undefeated.

Kickoff for this week’s game against Ravenwood is set for 7 p.m.