The Coffee County football team’s offense was stymied all night by the Page defense on Friday at Carden-Jerrell Field in Manchester.
The Red Raiders managed only 83 yards against the very experienced Patriot defense. Coffee County was playing without Caiden Martin due to an injury. Martin is the team’s starting tailback, defensive back, and punter.
Page first scored on a 9-yard interception return by Brenden Anes. A short time later, Jonathan Palmer hit Calvin Kotarba for a 74-yard TD pass as the Patriots took a 14-0 lead at the half.
In the 3rd quarter, Page got a 40-yard punt return to set up the next score when Palmer hooked up with Isaac Power for an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0. The final Patriot score came when William Wiebush ran into the end zone from 6 yards out to make the final score 28-0.
One of the best plays in the game by Coffee County came when junior Tyler Martin intercepted a Palmer pass on a diving catch in the end zone to stop a scoring attempt by Page. Martin was named the Rooster 101.5, Giles Dunn Diamond Company Player of the Game. The defensive play of Tyler Smith, Claudio Vik, Jayden Carter, and Brendon Sheppard was also impressive.
On offense, Torin Van Zandbergen had his best night this season at receiver as he caught 5 passes from quarterback John Massengill.
The Red Raiders will host Riverdale in the 2023 Homecoming game on Friday at 7 p.m., with pregame set for 6:30 p.m. on the Rooster 101.5. www.rooster1015.com, or the Rooster 101.5 app.
