Middle School Football: Raiders fall to Harris in home opener
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The Coffee County Middle Red Raiders fell to 0-2 after a 32-6 loss to Harris on Tuesday night at Carden-Jarrell Field.
Coffee County couldn’t contain a potent Eagle offense that gained a total of 172 yards in the first half alone, and the Red Raiders failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second straight game.
On the opening kickoff, the Eagles elected to receive first, starting on their own 43. It took a grand total of one play for Harris to find the endzone, scoring six on a 57-yard pass and converting a 2-pt conversion to take an 8-0 lead just 18 seconds into the ball game.
Coffee County’s first offensive drive would prove to be their best of the ball game. Starting on their own 38, Kaden Spencer broke through for two runs of nine and four yards respectively to put Coffee County in Harris territory. Tripp Trussler ran for five on the next play, then Spencer ran for a short gain of two and a big gain of 25 to put the Red Raiders in scoring position.
From that point, things didn’t fare too well for the Raider offense. Andrew Boles and Spencer ran on the next two plays, resulting in a net gain of three yards, then Trussler was tripped up three yards back to bring up third-and-7 from the Harris 17.
On the next play, the Eagles snatched the ball out of the air and took over on their own five after a holding penalty followed the interception.
The Eagles methodically worked their way back up field with the help of a few big runs and a couple of big passes, but as the clock flipped over to the second quarter, the Eagles stalled out on their own 44, being tackled for a loss and turning the ball over on downs.
Coffee County took over and two runs by Spencer again put the Raiders inside the Eagle red zone, but Harris forced a Red Raider turnover on downs at the Eagle 16.
The Eagles moved 18 yards in three plays, two of which were big runs, but on the fourth play from their own 34, a pass thrown towards the sideline was picked off by Jayden Melton, who ran it back for six. A failed two-point conversion kept Harris in front 8-6 with 2:54 left to play in the first half.
Harris responded on their next drive, marching to the end zone from their own 42-yard line in nine plays. Capping off the drive was a 21-yard passing play, and with another completed 2-pt play the Eagles went up 16-6 with only 11 ticks of the clock remaining in the second quarter.
The Red Raiders only had time for one rush of two yards before heading into the locker room.
Out of the halftime break, the Red Raiders were set to receive, but a short kick by the Eagles caught Coffee County by surprise, and Harris recovered at the Raider 49.
Five plays later, the Eagles hit paydirt and converted another two point try to extend the lead to 24-6 with 6:28 remaining in the third.
Coffee County failed to pick up a first down on their next turn of the football and was set to punt, but after a low snap, the Raiders ran with the ball, stopping way short of a first down and handing the ball right back to Harris at their own 48.
In four plays, the Eagles made it to the Coffee County 28, but a block-in-the-back penalty on second down forced them back to the 38. The Red Raiders held the Eagles to two incomplete passes and forced a fourth-and-16, but the deceptive Eagles completed a touchdown pass on a fake punt play to go up 32-6, a lead that they would hold until the clock hit zero.
With the loss, the Red Raiders dropped to 0-2, having been outscored 51-6 in the first two games.
Coffee County Middle will try to end their winless start to the season when they travel to McMinnville’s Nunley Stadium to face the Warren County Middle Pioneers on Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
