MATT TYSON

Staff Writer

Coffee County football closed out its regular season with a victory Friday night.

Hosting Shelbyville Central for Class 6A Region 6 matchup, the Red Raiders came out on top 28-21 to send the team’s class of 2027 off with a senior night win.

After the two teams traded touchdowns on each side’s opening drive, Coffee County ended Shelbyville’s next possession early on an interception from Jett Trussler. Starting up on the Golden Eagle 30-yard line, the Red Raider offense took advantage of the opportunity and went on reach the end zone on a one-yard run from Tez Garrett. Gaiden Bellamy followed with the extra-point attempt to put Coffee County ahead 14-7 with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

After Matthew White came away with an interception of his own late in the first quarter, the senior added a second pick late in the second quarter to set the Red Raider offense up on the Golden Eagle 44-yard line. Not long after, quarterback Caleb Hill connected with Kaysen Lowery for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 until halftime. Bellamy’s PAT sailed through the uprights to ultimately send Coffee County into the break leading 21-7.

After neither team added any points in the third quarter, Shelbyville cut the Red Raider lead to seven on a touchdown with 11:41 remaining.

Coffee County answered right back on its next drive, with Lowery taking off for a 32-yard run to the end zone with 10:50 on the board.

The Golden Eagles did not let the Red Raiders stay ahead by 14 points again for long, adding another touchdown on their following possession to cut Coffee County’s lead to 28-21 with 8:22 left to play.

The Red Raiders went on to eat up a large portion of the clock on their next drive, ending it with a turnover on downs at the Shelbyville 12-yard line with around 10 seconds still to play. The Coffee County defense took care of business from there to preserve the regulation win.

The result put Coffee County’s final regular-season record at 3-7 overall and 1-5 in region play, marking a one-game improvement on last year’s 2-8 overall record.