S

On Tuesday night, the Coffee Middle Red Raiders celebrated Homecoming and Eighth Grade Night, but the festivities were ruined by the North Franklin Gators in an 18-15 contest at Carden-Jarrell Field.

The Gators would receive the ball first, and their first drive would take up almost half of the first quarter, ending in a rushing touchdown with 4:28 left in the opening frame. North would fail to convert on the two point conversion, but still lead 6-0.

Coffee County would gain 12 yards on their first play with a run by Isaac Barnes, but the drive wouldn’t last long, as the Gators intercepted a pass from Keyton Childress and took over on the Coffee County 45.

North’s next drive would carry over into the second quarter and the Gators again found the end zone on a rushing touchdown to double their lead to 12-0 with 5:38 remaining in the first half.

The Red Raiders responded well, as Isaac Barnes took one to the house for a rushing touchdown, putting Coffee County on the board, 12-6 with 5:25 to go in the second quarter.

The next drive by the Gators would eat up almost five minutes of game clock, but the drive ended on downs at the Coffee County 25 with 57 seconds to go, and the Red Raiders ran the clock down to the halftime break down by six points.

At halftime, the members of the homecoming court were honored with eighth grader Taley Harden being voted homecoming queen and eighth grader Joe Jordan chosen as homecoming king.

Out of the locker room, the Raiders went back to work, as Brody Crase raced 52 yards on the first play of the half to reach the end zone and tie the game at 12-12 for Coffee County. The Raiders would make the extra point and take a 13-12 lead with 7:45 left in the third quarter.

North Middle would use up all the time remaining in the third quarter on their next drive, then score five seconds into the fourth quarter to retake the lead 18-13.

Each team would turn the ball over on their next drive; Coffee County on a fumble and North on a turnover on downs.

The Red Raiders were threatening to score on their next drive, reaching the Gator 12 yard line, but another fumble by the Red Raiders ended a chance to grab the lead.

With 2:50 remaining in the ball game, the Gators took over and again burned off a lot of time on the clock before intentionally running the ball out of the   for a safety with three seconds to go.

On the kickoff, the Red Raiders tried several laterals in an effort to stay alive, but the Gators stopped them to win 18-15.

The Red Raiders are now 1-4 on the season and will play host to Harris on Tuesday, Sept. 10 for a day game starting at 11 a.m.