Friday night’s quarterfinal playoff game between the Coffee Trojans and the Dalton High Catamounts, played in the North Georgia mountains on Dalton’s home field, came down to two sets of numbers: 23 and two. At one point, the Coffee trailed Dalton by 23 with just over one quarter left to play. The Trojans rallied to get within two points only to see their dream of a re-match with the Valdosta High Wildcats in the semifinals slip away when the Catamounts intercepted a pass with just a few seconds left in the game when Coffee was getting close to field goal range. Dalton won 30-28 and will play the ‘Cats at an as-yet undetermined location, pending a coin toss.
From the Trojans’ standpoint, it wasn’t much of a game in the first half. Coffee’s Demetrius Davis, who started despite leaving last week’s game in the fourth quarter in an ambulance, scored on the Trojans’ first possession. He darted five yards into the end zone to help tie the game seven after Dalton opened the game with a touchdown drive of its own.
From there, the Catamounts took control. They blocked a punt and ran it in for a score. The point-after, however, missed. Then, as time expired in the first half, Dalton kicked a 21-yard field goal to take a 16-7 lead into halftime.
When the third quarter opened, it was more of the same. The Catamounts scored two more touchdowns through the third frame to take a 30-7 lead.
Then the Trojans woke up. On Coffee’s fifth possession of the second half, quarterback Max Hughes marched his team 86 yards to the end zone. Hughes capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Spivey, a 250-pound lineman turned receiver for that last play. The extra point was good and with 11:10 left in the game, the Trojans trailed 30-14.
Spivey’s score seemed to breathe some new life into Coffee. On Dalton’s next possession, the Catamounts drove into Coffee territory but stalled inside the red zone. Dalton opted for a field goal, which sophomore Azi Johnson blocked. He scooped up the loose ball and raced 78 yards for a touchdown. Hughes and company went for two; he found Milton Jackson in the end zone for two. Jackson, however, took a ferocious hit from a Catamount defender and had to be helped off the field by Coffee’s athletic trainers. He did not return. With 6:22 remaining, Coffee was down by a much more manageable 30-22 score.
The two teams traded turnovers on their ensuing drives – an interception by Marquavious Jefferson and fumble by Hughes – before the Trojans launched another long drive, this time with 3:23 on the clock. A long pass from Hughes to Dalrone Donaldson set up a four-yard touchdown run by Twyone Brewton to get Coffee within two. Head coach Robby Pruitt called for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 30. Hughes’s pass fell incomplete but 2:50 were left on the clock.
The Trojans still had a chance.
Coffee attempted an onside kick but Dalton recovered. The Catamounts controlled the clock until their drive ground to a halt at the Trojans’ 27-yard line. The attempted a 42-yard field goal that missed. Coffee took over with 42 seconds and a prayer left in the game.
Hughes and his offense moved the ball to midfield and, with around 10 seconds left in the game, had a couple of opportunities to get into field goal range. However, a Hughes pass went off the fingertips of Raquan Burch and landed in the hands of a Catamount defensive back. With seven seconds in the game, Dalton had finally secured the victory.
“I’m real proud of our kids. They made some mistakes but they didn’t quit. We had a chance right there at the end. We made too many mistakes to win but because we didn’t quit, we had a chance to win,” said Coach Pruitt after the game.
The Trojans’ season ends with a 7-6 mark and just the fourth trip to the quarterfinals in program history. The Catamounts are 13-0 and will face Valdosta next weekend in the semifinals. Northside-Warner Robins, another of Coffee’s region opponents, defeated Glynn Academy and also advanced to the semifinals.