Coffee’s season ends with 3-point loss to Newnan
Photo: Coffee County vs Newnan
Robert Preston, Jr.
The Douglas News
NEWNAN — Missed opportunities.
That’s the story of Coffee High’s 28-25 loss to the Newnan Cougars Friday night in Newnan.
Two first quarter miscues put Coffee behind the eight ball and the team never seemed to be able to consistently mount a charge. What’s worse, the Trojans had opportunities at several different key points in the game and just couldn’t capitalize. Following the game, head coach Jerry Odom was at a loss for words. “I’ve got no words on that,” said an obviously disappointed Coach Odom. “Newnan played hard and deserved to win. Our guys are upset.”
Newnan took the opening kick-off and wasted no time in driving downfield and scoring an early touchdown. The Cougars added another seven points just a few minutes later after they recovered a fumbled handoff from quarterback Burke Batten to running back Demario Ingram.
The turnover gave Newnan the ball deep in Coffee territory and quarterback Russell Powell promptly guided his team into the end zone. The score put the Cougars up 14-0 very early in the game.
On their third possession of the first half, the Trojans showed they could move the ball against Newnan. The drove across midfield and built a little momentum. Faced with fourth and four, Batten found wideout Demario Bennett for a first down. The drive stalled and Batten’s offense found themselves with another fourth down situation. Deciding to go for it, Batten dropped back to pass. The Cougars’ defense did a superb job of covering Coffee’s receivers, giving Leyland Russell time to penetrate the offensive line and sack Batten.
The Trojan defense stood up to the Cougars on their ensuing possession and forced a punt. The kick was a bad one and Coffee took over with excellent field position.
But the turnover bug bit again.
Right at the beginning of the second quarter with the Trojans driving, a Cougar stripped the ball from Johnny Williams and returned it for a long touchdown. The score silenced the Coffee faithful and gave Newnan a 21-0 lead.
To the Trojans’ credit, they didn’t give up and took one away from the Cougars. After the touchdown, the offense stalled again and punted. The Newnan offense fumbled early in the drive and Corvoski Hutto picked up the ball and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. Coffee trailed 21-7 and was starting show some signs of life.
On the Cougars’ next possession, linebacker D’Juan Smith intercepted a Powell pass and returned the ball to the Newnan 45. The back-to-back turnovers shifted momentum in Coffee’s favor and Odom’s team looked ready to mount an offensive.
And they did — briefly. Batten methodically marched the offense toward the goal line. A score looked almost inevitable. Then the unthinkable happened — a Coffee fumble at the two-yard line gave Newnan the ball.
The Trojans managed to claw back late in the half and kick a 34 yard field goal. At half time, Coffee trailed 21-10.
Despite the turnovers, the Trojans moved the ball well and had chances to score. They amassed 141 yards of total offense in a fairly balanced attack (83 rushing, 58 passing).
Unfortunately, the Trojans couldn’t sustain the momentum. Newnan scored its only second half touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter. Coffee answered with a 23-yard touchdown from Mark Wilson and a successful two-point conversion by Akeem Wesley.
The third quarter ended with the Cougars leading 28-18. The Trojans scored again with about nine minutes left in the game on a 48 yard touchdown pass from Batten to Williams. The score brought Coffee to within three points, trailing 28-25.
Late in the game, the Trojans had more chances to score. They got the ball back for their final possession with about two minutes left. But the two-minute offense, which Coffee has run pretty efficiently this season, just wasn’t there. With 25 seconds left, a fourth down pass from Batten to Williams fell incomplete, effectively ending the Trojans’ season.
A look at the numbers tells a convoluted story: Coffee gained 384 total yards (172 rushing, 212 passing), forced three turnovers and scored on both offense and defense. Teams rarely put up numbers like that and lose. Unfortunately, it happened Friday night and the Newnan Cougars move on to round three to face North Gwinnett, which upset Brookwood 17-3.
The Trojans finished with a 9-3 record for the second season in a row.
