MATT TYSON

Staff Writer

Coffee County football kicked off its 2026 season in impressive fashion Friday night.

Hosting Franklin County, the Red Raiders gave the fans at Carden-Jarrell Field plenty to cheer for on the way to a 34-8 thrashing to open the season with a victory.

“Just super proud of our guys. It’s been a long summer, they’ve worked hard and just to deal with the first game stuff, hats off to them. You could tell they (Franklin County) had worked a whole different package that they hadn’t shown in scrimmages, so super proud of the defense,” Coffee County coach Brandon Harmon said. “They had us on the first drive, we missed some tackles, but made adjustments and shut it down the rest of the game. Offense I thought was pretty close to being flawless.”

Franklin County got on the board first, closing out the game’s first drive with a 30-yard passing touchdown with 10:40 on the clock in the first quarter.

Trailing 8-0 after the successful 2-point conversion, Coffee County needed just three plays on the following possession to get right back into it. After running for 54 yards on a pair of quarterback keepers, Kaysen Lowery connected with Kam Stafford for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 9:14 on the board. Gaiden Bellamy followed with the extra point attempt to cut the Franklin County lead to 8-7.

Opening the second quarter on the Franklin County 14-yard line, the Red Raiders continue to move the ball forward on the ground before Lowery got it into the end zone for a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Another successful PAT put Coffee County ahead 14-8 on the Rebels with 10:15 left in the first half.

The Red Raiders went on to add one more touchdown before halftime, with Lowery once again using his legs to get the ball into the end zone, this time from six yards out with 37 seconds on the board. The extra point attempt was unsuccessful this time around, ultimately sending Coffee County into the break with a 20-8 lead.

Franklin County initially took control to open the second half after recovering an onside kick attempt. The Rebel drive would be short-lived, ending on the first play when Austin Pierce came away with an interception to give the ball right back to the Red Raiders.

Coffee County took advantage of the opportunity to get the offense back on the field, capping off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run for Tez Garrett. Bellamy proceeded to add on the extra point attempt to put the Red Raiders up 27-8 with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.

Coffee County added one more touchdown before the quarter’s close when Luke Christian made a leaping catch from Lowery and ran it into the endzone for a 40-yard pass with 3:37 remaining. The PAT made it a 34-8 Red Raider lead and brought the game to what would be its final score.

“No doubt, this is exactly what we worked for all summer. We’ve been working since November, we’ve been putting in the work and we just showed it. We just showed what we can do,” Lowery said. “Like everyone’s been saying, what we have is in our hands. We have everything we need in our hands, just can we apply it to the field. When we do, that’s what happens.”

Coffee County (1-0) now turns its attention to the annual Coffee Pot game against Tullahoma. The Wildcats fell to Shelbyville Central 13-10 in overtime in their week 1 matchup, but won last year’s edition of the rivalry game 57-23 in Manchester.

Kickoff of Friday’s game in Tullahoma is set for 7 p.m.