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To end our Raider Retrospective Countdown list for 2024-25, let’s take a look back at our pick for the best CCCHS sports story of the school year, known by many as ‘The Night the Lights Went Out in T-town.’

Before the game

Looking for their 33rd win in the series, and revenge from 2023’s 16-0 loss to the Wildcats, the Red Raiders travelled to Wilkins Stadium hoping to go 2-0 in the 2024 season after a 49-0 thrashing of the Franklin County Rebels in the season-opener on Aug. 23.

Tullahoma was coming off of a 33-21 loss at Stewarts Creek in their Week 1 opener.

The 2024 edition of the Coffee Pot game, which was set for Aug. 30, was set to occur nearly 100 years to the date of the first meeting, which took place on Oct. 17, 1924, but due to the games not being played in 1943 and 1944, the 2024 Coffee Pot game was only the 99th edition.

Coffee too hot for Tullahoma (originally printed on Sept. 4, 2024)

Coffee County received the ball on the opening kickoff, and gained some good yardage on their first possession, but the Wildcats would stop them at the Tullahoma 42 yard line, forcing the Red Raiders to punt.

Tullahoma would strike first, scoring on their first drive with a passing touchdown to take a 6-0 lead with 4:56 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats would fail the ensuing two-point conversion.

The Red Raiders again found some good yardage on their next drive, but Coffee County couldn’t make it out of their end of the field and again was forced to punt.

Tullahoma would make it to the Coffee County 27 and try a field goal as the game flipped over to the second quarter, but the kick landed short of the uprights.

Coffee County’s offense continued to struggle on the next drive, and a bad snap turned a third-and-short into a fourth-and-long, backing the Red Raiders up to their own 12 where they were, yet again, forced to punt.

During Tullahoma’s next drive, Coach Roger Haynes called Coffee County’s second timeout of the half and had a long talk with his team.

“We had to settle down and do our job on defense,” said Haynes. “We weren’t mentally in the game…I felt like if we could settle down and hold them (Tullahoma) on defense, we would have an opportunity.”

The talk seemed to work. Out of the timeout, Caiden Warren snatched the ball out of the air for a Red Raider interception, giving Coffee County some pivotal momentum.

The Red Raiders used that momentum and marched down the field, capping things off with a rushing touchdown by Caiden Martin to tie the score at 6-6. Coffee County would make the extra point attempt, and with 3:07 to play in the first half, the Red Raiders assumed a 7-6 lead.

Coffee County forced Tullahoma to punt on their next possession, and Jayden Carter scooped up the ball and ran it back 60 yards for another Red Raider touchdown, sending the visiting fans into a frenzy. The Red Raiders would make the extra point attempt, and with 1:06 remaining in the first half, Coffee County led 14-6.

With little time remaining, Tullahoma marched all the way down to the Red Raider 13 yard line and nailed a 28 yard field goal at the end of the half, but Coffee County went into the locker room still up 14-9.

Both teams would punt on their first drives of the second half, and after Tullahoma was forced to punt on their second drive of the third quarter, the Wildcats pinned the Red Raiders down to their own two yard line.

Coffee County couldn’t seem to get going on offense, and after a penalty called on Torin Van Zandbergen, the Red Raiders snapped the ball too high on the next play, and the ball went through the end zone for a Tullahoma safety, making the score 14-11.

The Wildcats received the ball at the 50 yard line after the kick, and on their next play, went 50 yards on a rushing attempt to reach the end zone and take the lead 18-14 after the extra point attempt.

It looked as if things were falling apart for the Red Raiders, who then botched the ensuing kick return, giving Tullahoma the ball on the Coffee County 11, however, the Red Raiders held strong, forcing Tullahoma to kick a 39 yard field goal, which they made to extend their lead to 21-14.

Coffee County’s next drive would roll into the fourth quarter, and with eight minutes to play, Deontae Short punched his way into the endzone, tying the score at 21-21 after the extra point.

Tullahoma would stall out on their next drive, and with over six minutes left to play, the Red Raiders began another march to the end zone.

The Raiders would burn over five minutes of game clock and even tried a different formation with Jayden Carter taking snaps.

Coffee County would be on the doorstep of another touchdown, but they couldn’t punch it through, choosing instead to burn the clock down to 13 seconds left and attempt to win the game on a field try.

Jayden Silva’s attempt from 24 yards would sail through, giving Coffee County a 24-21 lead.

Tullahoma would have one more chance on offense, but the Red Raiders intercepted the ball, sealing their second Coffee Pot win in three seasons and fourth win in the last 10 years of the series.

The Red Raiders and the Manchester faithful might have brought too much energy with them, so much so that the transformers at Wilkins Stadium blew right before the trophy was handed out.

“For the fans and for the players it was a great win,” said head coach Roger Haynes. “We made a lot of mistakes as a coaching staff tonight, but in the end, we willed ourselves to win the game.”

Editor’s note

This was the first Coffee Pot game that I have had the fortune of attending, and I have to say, it was quite the introduction.

Outside of the State Basketball Tourney, I don’t think I’ve experienced this much energy out of a high school sporting event before, and that was one of the many reasons I put this story in the No. 1 spot on our countdown.

I may or may not be in the minority here, but I don’t think a rivalry has to be historically close to be good. For example, the Tennessee-Alabama football rivalry is known for its long winning streaks, with Alabama going on the most recent streak from 2007-2021, but in the last three meetings, Tennessee has won twice.

Neyland Stadium has garnered a reputation as one of the loudest environments in football and having been to a few Tennessee games in the last couple of years, including 2024’s edition of the Third Saturday in October, I can tell you that Tennessee fans are much louder when the Crimson Tide ‘roll’ into Knoxville. They don’t care about Alabama’s most recent streak.

The Coffee Pot game is very similar to the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry, except that Tullahoma has many more victories over Coffee County than Alabama has over Tennessee in the history of their rivalry. Despite the historical records, the fans from both rivalries bring an exceptional energy when they face each other and that, in my opinion, is the hallmark of a good rivalry.

The 99th edition of the Coffee Pot was an exciting chapter to add to this historic rivalry, and I hope that the 100th edition this coming season will be even better.