Red Raiders invade tonight
They’ve claimed the ‘Coffee Pot.’ They’ve stunned the Region 3-5A’s preseason favorite.
And tonight, they’re aiming to ruin the Pioneers’ Homecoming party.
Coffee County’s 3-1 Red Raiders head north tonight, looking to end Warren County’s undefeated streak in a region battle set to kick off at 7 p.m.
The Raiders’ lone loss has come against Murfreesboro Oakland, but over the past two games they’ve picked up a 19-17 win over Cookeville, the team picked by region coaches as the favorite to win this year’s title, as well as rival Tullahoma, who they defeated 42-21 a week ago.
For the Pioneers, stopping their guests from Manchester will virtually lock up a playoff spot, and will give their team its first 5-0 start since 1980 and first win over Coffee County since 1999.
Accomplishing that feat, however, will mean stopping a punishing ground game which features three backs averaging near ‘ or over ‘ 100 yards per game.
‘They’ve got a really good offense,’ Pioneer head coach Chris Madewell said after last week’s win at White County. ‘They really seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now.’
Justin Kanjanabout has scored seven of his team’s 18 touchdowns so far this fall, and has amassed 453 rushing yards on 96 touches ‘ an average of 24 carries per game.
Michael Goins has 53 rushing attempts so far, with 421 yards and four TDs to his credit, while Blake Tinsley has completed the triple threat with 396 yards on 67 tries, including three scores.
Through the air, Coffee County has averaged 6.5 pass completions per game, and just 12.5 attempts. In their 34-21 loss to Oakland, however, senior QB Brent Hobbs completed 9-of-19 for 128 yards. His main target so far this season has been Justin Owen, who had 57 yards against Shelbyville and 54 against the Patriots.
Madewell said the Raiders represent one of his team’s biggest challenges to date, and said even though tonight’s contest represents the halfway point of the season, the importance of tonight’s game can’t be stressed enough.
‘It’s big just being Homecoming,’ he said. ‘But right now Coffee is playing like the best team in our region. One of our goals is to win the region, and to do that we’ve got to pay a big game on Friday night.’
Last year’s Pioneer team struggled in a Week 10 game against the Raiders, avoiding a shutout when Shane Wilcher returned a fumble from midfield for their only score with two minutes to play in a 28-7 loss.