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The 2024 Red Raider football season came to an early end in a 22-10 loss to the Mount Juliet Golden Bears on Friday night at Roger Perry Field.

Coffee County would receive the ball first, but the Red Raiders would be stopped at their own 35-yard line, forcing them to punt.

The Golden Bears struggled to get the ball past the Coffee County defense on their first offensive possession, going for it on fourth-and-12 from their own 34, but the Red Raiders made the stop and obtained some prime field position.

The Red Raiders took advantage, as Jayden Carter rumbled his way to the end zone for a rushing touchdown to give Coffee County a 7-0 lead with 4:20 remaining in the first quarter.

Mount Juliet’s offense would find themselves inside Red Raider territory, but the Golden Bears would again turn the ball over on downs, this time at the Coffee County 3-yard line.

Coffee County could not escape the clutches of the Golden Bear defense, and Deontae Short was tackled in the end zone for a Mount Juliet safety.

With momentum now completely on their side, the Golden Bears scored on their next possession on a run by Jon’Mikael Crudup to take a 9-7 lead with 10:51 left in the second quarter.

The Golden Bears would squib the next kick, and the Red Raiders would take over on their own 47, however the offense stalled out, forcing Coffee County to punt from the 50-yard line.

The snap would fall short of punter Tyler Martin, and Martin attempted to convert on fourth down, but the Golden Bears got the stop and took over on their own 45.

Mount Juliet would convert on their next possession with a run by quarterback Tyler Travers to take a 16-7 lead with 6:27 left in the first half.

Coffee County would kill off almost six minutes of game time on their next drive, but a costly offensive pass interference penalty on Caiden Warren killed momentum, and the Golden Bears ran the clock out to take a 16-7 lead into the locker room.

The Golden Bears would receive the ball to start the second half, and their offense marched all the way down to the Red Raider 2, but the Coffee County defense held strong, forcing another turnover on downs.

Coffee County’s offense would put a little distance between themselves and their own end zone, but the Red Raiders would go three-and-out and be forced to punt.

Mount Juliet would take over on the Coffee County 31, but the Red Raider defense would halt the Bears again, forcing yet another turnover on downs from the Coffee County 31.

This time, the Red Raider offense was able to capitalize, scoring on a 30-yard field goal from Jayden Silva to make it a one score game, 16-10 with 10:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Coffee County’s hopes of a comeback were dashed shortly after, as the Golden Bears extended their lead with a 69-yard bomb to Baylor Osborne. Mount Juliet would fail the two point conversion, but still take a sizable 22-10 lead with 9:57 to go in regulation.

The Red Raiders would find their way into Mount Juliet territory on their next drive, but a pass from Kaysen Lowery would be snatched out of the air by Isaiah Roseberry and the Golden Bears took over from their own 34.

The Golden Bears would again march deep into Red Raider territory, but Coffee County’s defense forced another turnover on downs from their own 8-yard line.

Coffee County’s offense again journeyed to the Mount Juliet side of the field, but the Red Raiders would be stopped at the Golden Bear 31.

From there, the Golden Bears ran out the clock and sealed a 22-10 victory over the Red Raiders.

“I thought it was a great effort by our defense tonight,” said Coach Roger Haynes. “There were so many fourth down stands and we turned them over a handful of times. The score could have been much worse. In the first half, we just couldn’t sustain drives and we couldn’t get many first downs. There were also a lot of costly penalties and it was a little disheartening to see that.”

Coach Haynes also shared his thoughts on how the team approached the season and what lessons the senior players could take with themselves moving forward.

“We know where we’re deficient and that’s why we played to our strengths,” he said. “It’s why we won five games this year. We probably should have won two more, no doubt in my mind. We know we outplayed at least two of the teams that we lost to, but like tonight, we made a lot of mistakes…and some of those were made by players who don’t usually make those mistakes. Tonight was tough, especially for our seniors and you don’t want to see them hurt. You hate to see kids go out like that, but they’ll get tougher. Life’s going to buck them out of the saddle a lot, and they’re gonna have to crawl back up in the saddle, hang on tighter the second go around and hopefully that’s what this game has taught them.”

The Red Raiders officially end the 2024 campaign with a 5-6 overall record and a 2-3 mark in 6A Region 3 play.