Friday night in Shelbyville saw two football teams battle until literally the final second of play. In the end the Golden Eagles managed a 28-26 win over the Coffee County Red Raiders.
Down by two and only few seconds left Raider QB Connor Shemwell threw a beautiful ball to WR Ian Welden who made the catch and was pushed out of bounds with only one second remaining. A 19-yard field-goal would have won it for the Raiders, but there was a flag on the play. The official had shockingly called interference on Welden. The Coffee County team, coaches, fans and the Rooster 101.5 FM were all in a state of shock. One coach told Rooster 101.5 after the game, “There was NO contact on the play.” The Raiders had one more play, but that play did not produce a score giving Shelbyville the win.
Shemwell finished 24-of-41 for 261 yards 2 interceptions and 2 touchdowns to Jahlin Osbourne. Shemwell also added a 13-yard rushing touchdown. The two TD snags by Osbourne were two of the best athletic plays a receiver can make. One at the front pilon that he amazingly kept a foot in bounds for the score and the other was a diving play near the back corner of the end zone. Osbourne was named the Sir Pizza of Manchester Player of the Game. Osbourne hauled in 7 passes for 58 yards.
Other standouts for the Raiders were kicker Elijah McCoy who had a field-goal and was 3-for-3 on extra points. Travis Martin had his best night as a Red Raider, he caught 9 passes for 92 yards. RB Konor Heaton had another nice night with 24 carries for 75 yards and he had 5 catches for 59 yards out of the backfield.
On offense, the Eagles outgained the Raiders by a slim margin, 327-324. On the negative side the teams combined for 9 turnovers, Coffee County 5 and Shelbyville 4.
Coffee County falls to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in region play. The Raiders will be back at home this week as they host the Page Patriots at 7 p.m. in a non-region tilt at Carden-Jarrell Field. You can hear the game stating with Friday Night Live at 6 and kickoff set for 7 on The Rooster 101.5 FM.
