Red Raiders end season with loss

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On Friday, The Coffee County Red Raiders ended the season with a loss to Blackman.

On the opening kickoff, the Red Raiders sparked to life after recovering the football from their own kickoff.

Coffee County would bring the ball all the way down to the Blackman 16-yard line before a field goal attempt by Manny Gonzalez came up short.

Blackman took over and took the ball all the way down to the Coffee County end zone for a touchdown and led 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

The next Coffee County drive ended after a penalty forced the Red Raiders to punt from their own 10-yard line.

Blackman couldn’t capitalize with a short field and went three-and-out on their next drive.

The Red Raiders responded with a three-and-out of their own.

On the next drive, the Blaze were threatening to score, bringing the ball down to the Coffee County 10-yard line, but Jaiden Foster of the Red Raiders had other plans and intercepted the football.

The Red Raiders couldn’t carry momentum offensively, and the next drive ended with a three-and-out.

On the next drive, Blackman kicked in a field goal to go up 10-0 with 9:38 left in the first half.

Coffee would respond with another three-and-out and in the ensuing Blackman drive, the Blaze would score a touchdown after a valiant Coffee defensive effort forced a 4th and goal from the Red Raider 1-yard line.

The Red Raiders’ offense could not respond, and Blackman threatened to score again with just seconds to go in the first half, but the Red Raiders intercepted the football again, and this time it was Xavier Randolph who made the play.

Blackman led 17-0 at the half.

No team would break through in the third, and the score remained 17-0 Blackman heading into the fourth quarter.

The Red Raiders showed some life after a punt return touchdown put them on the board for a 17-7 score with 9:53 remaining, but hopes were dashed 14 seconds later when Blackman scored to make it 24-7.

The Blaze would score again in the fourth to make it 31-7 with three minutes to play.

The Red Raiders would tack on another touchdown with over a minute remaining, but it wouldn’t be enough as Blackman would win, 31-14.

“We had some good stops on defense,” Coach Roger Haynes said after the game, “but we were really inconsistent”.

When reflecting on the season, Coach Haynes said of his team, “We need leaders, and this year we didn’t really have any and it hurt us. It’s my fault, and I take full responsibility and those are things that will have to be addressed in the off-season.”

Coffee County ends the season with a 2-8 record.