By Owen Whitsett
The Coffee County Central Red Raider football team came up just short in a heart-pounding finish Friday night, falling 29-22 to Wilson Central in Manchester. The back-and-forth battle went down to the final play, with the Raiders holding the lead for much of the night before the Wildcats slipped away late in a game you heard live on Thunder Radio.
Wilson Central opened with a statement drive, running the ball exclusively before capping a six-minute march with a 5-yard touchdown by Chaz Martin for a 7-0 lead. Coffee County quickly answered, sparked by a 51-yard kickoff return from Matthew White that set up the Raider offense at the Wildcat 34. On fourth-and-one, sophomore Tez Garrett powered through for a 12-yard pickup to move the chains. Moments later, junior quarterback Kaysen Lowery kept it himself and punched in a short rushing score to even the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.
The teams then traded punts through much of the second quarter, with Coffee County’s special teams pinning Wilson Central deep inside their own 10 on one kick.
That set up a turning point. With the Wildcats backed up, Jett Trussler’s pressure forced a hurried throw that landed in the hands of defensive back Kane Dixon, who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Coffee County carried a 14-7 lead into halftime after stuffing the Wildcats in the red zone as the clock expired.
“We’ve got to do a better job of executing every possession,” Raider head coach Brandon Harmon told Thunder Radio’s Owen Whitsett before halftime. “We knew our opportunities would be limited tonight, so we have to take advantage and start fast in the second half.”
The Raiders received the kickoff to open the third quarter and pushed across midfield, but a costly penalty set up third-and-long and forced a punt. On the very next snap, Wilson Central flipped momentum when Martin broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown. With the two-point try successful, the Wildcats surged ahead 15-14 with 6:40 left in the third.
Coffee County answered with a drive fueled by a 17-yard grab from Jordan Thompson. Early in the fourth quarter, Lowery capped the march with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown, then added the two-point conversion to put the Raiders back in front 22-15.
Wilson Central leaned on Martin again, this time grinding out a clock-draining drive aided by a pass interference call. The Raider defense stood tall on fourth-and-goal, but Martin muscled in from short yardage with 5:30 remaining. Coffee County denied the two-point attempt, hanging on to a 22-21 lead.
Looking to seal the game, the Raider offense was stuffed on its next possession and forced to punt. That gave Wilson Central the opening it needed. The Wildcats strung together another long march, draining two minutes off the clock before Martin once again broke the plane for his third touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion was good, pushing Wilson Central in front 29-22 with just 47 seconds left.
The Raiders still had life. Starting from their own 20, Lowery fired an incompletion, then hit Teagan Stem across the middle for 17 yards. A spike stopped the clock at 27 seconds with 63 yards still to go. Lowery followed with a 13-yard strike to Matthew White, who was tackled inbounds. Another spike left nine seconds, but a sideline incompletion set up one final desperation play. With four seconds left, Lowery heaved deep toward Kane Dixon, but the pass fell incomplete as time expired.
Lowery finished with 105 yards passing and 44 yards rushing with two touchdowns on the ground. Stem caught three passes for 33 yards, while Thompson added three receptions for 35 yards to go with 37 yards on the ground. Garrett chipped in 19 rushing yards on six carries. Defensively, Dixon’s 40-yard interception return provided a huge boost. For Wilson Central, Martin was the workhorse, piling up 276 rushing yards on more than 30 carries with all three Wildcat touchdowns.
Despite the tough finish, Coffee County battled wire to wire and had the lead for much of the night before Martin’s late surge proved decisive. The Raiders (1-2) will look to regroup and even their record when they host Franklin next Friday at 7:00 in Manchester.
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