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Our Raider Retrospective top five stories of the 2024-25 school year countdown continues with the No. 4 spot.

Last week, I explained the rules of this countdown and we began the list with the No. 5 entry, where Coffee County took part in the TSSAA Wrestling State Championships in February of this year and had two wrestlers place in the girls’ competition.

For this week’s entry, we will revisit the football team’s 2024 regular season finale, where the Red Raiders slugged out a 19-14 win over the Blackman Blaze.

Before reading, please note that this story has been edited from its original version, which was printed on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.

Raiders douse Blaze, earn playoff berth

Entering their Thursday, Oct. 31 clash against Blackman, the Red Raiders didn’t need to win to get into the playoffs, but with other region games taking place that Friday and a multitude of playoff implications hanging overhead, a win over the Blaze was the only guarantee of making the postseason.

The rainy Halloween Night thriller at Carden-Jarrell Field started in a very spooky manner.

The Red Raiders fumbled the ball on their own 42-yard line on the first offensive drive of the game, and Blackman would take advantage, scoring on a rushing touchdown with 7:22 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

Coffee County’s next possession would go nowhere, and the Blaze would take over on the Raider 47, but the Red Raider defense sprang to action, and Austin Green snatched a pass out of the air for an interception, running it back inside Blackman territory to the Blaze 13.

The Red Raiders would make the most of a good opportunity. Jayden Carter bulldozed his way through to the endzone and after the extra point attempt, the score was knotted at 7-7 with 40 seconds to go in the opening quarter.

Blackman moved the ball well on their next drive with the help of some penalties on the Raider defense, but the Blaze fumbled the football and Zander Gomez recovered, returning it 60 yards to the house for a Coffee County lead.

Jayden Silva’s extra point attempt would clang off the left upright, but the Red Raiders still went up 13-7 with three minutes gone in the second quarter.

After a slow start by Coffee County, it was now Blackman who found themselves in a house of horrors.

The Blaze would again have the ball inside Coffee County territory, but the impactful play of Jayden Carter was put on display again, as the senior linebacker stripped the ball away and rumbled 70 yards through the rain and mud for another defensive score.

The Red Raiders would fail an ensuing two-point conversion attempt, but Coffee County still took an odd, two-score lead of 19-7 with 7:25 left in the second quarter and kept that mark through the halftime break.

Blackman’s first two possessions of the second half would both end in a turnover on downs; the first one ending at their own 47, and the second one ending at the Raider 35.

In between, the Red Raider offense answered with punts on each of their first two drives of the half.

The Blaze would begin the fourth quarter with their first score in almost 29 minutes of game time, scoring a rushing touchdown 20 seconds into the period, but the Red Raiders still held a 19-14 advantage.

Coffee County’s offense would begin their next drive on their own 23, and the possession would turn out to arguably be the best drive of the season.

The Red Raiders methodically worked the clock, killing off a massive 10 minutes of game time with the help of some big first down runs by Jayden Carter and Deontae Short before finally running out of gas at the Blackman 20.

Coffee County would go for it on fourth-and-inches, but the ball was placed short, and the Blaze took over with 1:29 left in regulation.

Despite some penalties, the Red Raider defense held up strong, sealing a 19-14 win.

“It was a fabulous effort from these kids and Coach Oliver did a fabulous job managing the offense tonight,” Coach Haynes said after the win. “Our defense also did a great job in the first half causing those turnovers and scoring. Our special teams unit stepped up tonight and we didn’t have any major hiccups there.”

With the win, the Red Raiders earned a spot in the State Playoffs as the No. 3 seed from 6A Region 3.

“I’m really happy for this group of seniors,” said Haynes. “It’s all they’ve talked about throughout the season, making the playoffs. We’ve had some adversity with attitudes, and we’ve had some adversity with a lot of injuries, but for it to culminate with this and for us to not have to wait until tomorrow night, that was our goal heading into this game. We didn’t want our future to be in anybody else’s hands, and they took care of that and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Aftermath

The Red Raiders would suffer a 22-10 loss in their first-round playoff battle at Mt. Juliet the next week, ending the 2024 season at 5-6 with a 2-3 mark in 6A Region 3. Head coach Roger Haynes would resign from the team four months later on March 10 after one full season in the position and most of the 2023 season as the interim head coach.

Despite a season of ups and downs, the Red Raiders showed great potential and provided some fantastic highlights in 2024. The win over Blackman might’ve been their best win of the 2024 season, but my personal favorite game from this past football season will make an appearance later on this list.

Next Week

Coming in at No. 3, the Lady Raider softball team returns to the top of their district, getting revenge over a rival that bested them for the crown the previous year.