Coffee County fought with everything it had Friday night against unbeaten Warren County.
Even though the Raiders scraped together big plays on defense and special teams, uncontrollable factors seemed to be in favor of the Pioneers of Warren County Friday and the Pioneers left Carden-Jarrell Field with a 35-19 victory.
The loss all but eliminates the Raiders from playoff contention and was the first at home for the Raiders this season.
“Our guys played hard, they played physical,” said CHS head coach Doug Greene. “I’m really proud to be their coach.”
Big plays for the Raiders came on defense and special teams.
Trailing 21-0 with five minutes to play in the first half, Red Raider CJ Anthony picked up a kickoff bouncing at the 20 yard line and weaved through Pioneers for an 80-yard touchdown.
Then on the first possession of the second half, pressure on Warren County quarterback CJ Taylor forced an errant pass that landed in the hands of Raider linebacker Tristan Galy, who rumbled 45 yards for a touchdown to close the gap to 21-13.
Warren County answered on a CJ Taylor touchdown run to put the Pioneers up 27-13. Taylor, a major college recruit with SEC offers, was mainly kept under wraps by the Raider defense. Unofficially, Taylor finished with just 68 yards on 19 carries – his lowest totals of the season. He had touchdown runs of 15 and 5. He did throw for two touchdowns – one for 55 yards on a busted coverage and another 18-yard strike to Kasen Holder in the final minutes.
The Raiders got a second defensive score with 9:07 to play, as the defense stuffed Taylor on fourth and short, ripped the ball out and Matthew Pittman picked it up and rumbled 45 yards for a score. The Raiders missed the extra point, leaving the game at two possessions at 28-19.
Coffee County was unable to get its offense going in the second half.
Despite the great effort and the big plays, it was a big, questionable play in the first half that left its mark on this game.
Coffee County took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards on 11 plays to the Warren County goal line. On the 12th play, Tristan Galy appeared to score. After seconds laying on top of the pile, Warren County’s Clay Thompson ripped the ball away from Galy and sprinted 100 yards the other way for what the officials ruled a Pioneer touchdown, putting Warren County up 7-0.
Coffee County falls to 4-4 with the loss, Warren County improves to 8-0.
The Raiders travel to Oakland Friday, Oct. 23. You can hear that game live on Thunder Radio. (Listen to the replay of the Warren County game by clicking here. )
