MATT TYSON

Staff Writer

For the first time since week 1, Coffee County football was back at Carden-Jarrell Field for a home game Friday night.

Hosting Independence for a Class 6A Region 6 clash, the Red Raiders briefly led early on but gave up four turnovers on the way to a 56-14 loss.

The result dropped Coffee County to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in region play, following a 26-20 loss at Franklin the week before. On the other side, the Eagles improved to 2-3 overall and 2-0 against region 6 opponents, joining Ravenwood and Brentwood as the only teams in the standings with an unblemished region record.

The Red Raiders got on the board on their first drive of the night, reaching the end zone on a 35-yard pass from Kaysen Lowery to Joe Jordan. Gaiden Bellamy followed up with the extra-point attempt to put Coffee County up 7-0 with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

After Independence’s next drive ended on 4^th down with an incomplete pass at the Coffee County 30-yard line, the Red Raider offense took over and moved the ball to around midfield. The Eagles went on to come away with an interception and proceeded to move the ball about 16 yards back the other way. Independence followed this up with a 36-yard touchdown pass on 2^nd & 13, tying it at 7-7 on the PAT.

Still tied at 7 at the end of the first quarter, Independence finished off its first possession of the second quarter with the go-ahead touchdown on a 16-yard run into the end zone. The Eagles followed this up with a 24-yard touchdown pass on their next drive to put Coffee County in a 21-7 hole with 5:06 left until halftime.

After Lowery was picked off again on the Red Raiders’ next drive, the Eagles answered with one more touchdown at the 29-second mark to go into the break up 28-7.

Independence continued to push ahead as the second half got under way, reaching the end zone on a 9-yard carry with 5:44 left in the third quarter.

Starting their next drive on their own 29-yard line, Coffee County was able to advance the ball down to Eagle territory, before Lowery took it the rest of the way for a 28-yard run to pay dirt. Bellamy added the extra point to make it a 35-14 game with 1:27 remaining in the quarter.

After Independence came up empty on its next drive, Coffee County took over and stretched its possession into the start of the fourth quarter. The offense came off the field shortly after when the Eagles recovered a fumble and began their next drive on the Red Raider 25-yard line. Another Independence touchdown followed, putting Coffee County down by 28 points with 10:29 left to play.

Another Red Raider interception followed early on the next drive, giving the Eagles the ball back on the 1-yard line before another touchdown followed to make it a 49-14 game.

Independence went on to add one more touchdown on a 50-yard pass with 2:06 remaining, setting up Coffee County to finish the game down by 42 points.

The Red Raiders remain at home for a non-region game against Smyrna this Friday night. The Bulldogs come into the matchup at 3-2 on the season and fresh off a 28-21 road victory over Class 6A Region 3 foe Rockvale.

Kickoff of Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m.