Alpharetta Falls To Coffee In High School Football Quarterfinals

By Mike Blum

Even in this era of pass-happy football that extends from the NFL to high schools, sometimes you have to run the football. And if you can’t run successfully in those situations, you aren’t going to win. The Alpharetta Raiders discovered that painful truth Friday night at home against the Coffee Trojans in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAAAA high school football playoffs. The Raiders lost 28-14, failing to score twice in the second half after having first-and-goal.

Throughout the night the Raiders could not muster a point on four series in which they got the football to at least the Coffee 20. The inability to take advantage of those opportunities prevented the team from cashing in on a strong second half defensive showing after the Trojans scored four touchdowns on their five first half possessions to take a 28-7 lead.

The Raiders (11-2) controlled the game from the final two minutes of the second period until the early stages of the fourth quarter, when they were stopped on fourth-and- goal from the Coffee 1-yard line. The Trojans then ran almost eight minutes off the clock, grinding out five first downs and 65 yards, keeping the ball for the rest of the game despite never reaching the Alpharetta 30.

“That was the disappointing part,” Alpharetta coach Jacob Nichols said of his team’s failure to score when it had the chance. “We executed our game plan pretty well. But we gave them too much of a cushion early and couldn’t make the plays when they mattered.”

For a while, it looked like the Raiders might become the third straight Coffee opponent to be trampled in the first half. The Trojans scored 42 points in the first half in each of their first two playoff games, and jumped out to a 21-0 lead in Alpharetta, coasting to long scoring drives on their first two series and taking advantage of a short field to make it 21-0 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.

Coffee (9-3) rolled up 241 yards in the first half despite losing standout running back Jameon Gaskin to injury on his third carry, and then losing his backup Marquavius Jefferson early in the second period. The Trojans did not miss a beat offensively in the opening half, with the Raiders battling back from the 21-0 deficit to score twice in the final 4:30 of the half.

After the Trojans drove 84 yards in 11 plays on their first series to take a 7-0 lead, Alpharetta seemed poised to tie the game, driving 59 yards to the Coffee 13. But Jefferson intercepted a Matthew Downing pass at the goal line and carried three times for 38 yards in the ensuing drive, including a 16-yarder for a touchdown to make it 14-0. Coffee quarterback Wade Sumner broke loose for 53 yards on the other play, as the Trojans swept 91 yards in just four plays.

Coffee needed to go only 26 yards for the team’s next score after the Trojans punted Alpharetta inside its 1.
Trailing 21-0, the Raiders got some help from the Coffee defense, which committed two penalties to give the Raiders a pair of first downs. Alpharetta continued the drive without any assistance, with Downing hitting Luke Estes behind the Coffee secondary for 38 yards and a touchdown on second-and-1, catching the Trojans unprepared for the long ball.

A long kickoff return and an Alpharetta penalty enabled the Trojans to start their next series from the Raiders’ 31, and Coffee scored again as Sumner found a wide open receiver for 28 yards and his second TD of the game against an Alpharetta secondary without its two starting safeties. Jaycee Horn, one of the area’s top players, was out with an injury, and Marcus Webster was ineligible after being ejected from the Douglas County game the previous week following a hard tackle out of bounds.

It took the Raiders just over 90 seconds to match the Coffee touchdown. They drove 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Downing to Estes. It was the only time the Raiders scored in five trips inside the Coffee 20. The big play was a 43-yard run by backup running back Kevin Watkins, the only time the Raiders gained more than five yards on a running play that wasn’t a keeper by Downing. Watkins and starter Nolan Edmonds gained 19 yards on 19 attempts other than Watkins’ big gainer. The Raiders have traditionally been a pass-oriented team that has struggled to run the ball against the better defensive teams on their schedule.

“We need to learn to be more physical on offense,” said Nichols, with the Raiders not having that concern on defense. “Maybe we’ll send a little more time focusing on that.”

The Raiders had a chance to score on their first possession of the second half, which began at the Coffee 43 following a short punt. Downing hit Spencer Gaddis for 38 yards to the 5 on the next play, but two running plays lost a yard and Downing’s third down pass was incomplete. Coffee blocked Dylan Schorr’s field goal attempt and returned it to the Alpharetta 40. The Raiders held on their 22, twice stopping Gaskin, who returned to the game but could not got the first down on consecutive short yardage plays.

Five straight completions by Downing got the Raiders to the Coffee 20, but Watkins was stopped for no gain on first down. A Downing pass into the end zone was incomplete before the Alpharetta quarterback was sacked on third down. A desperation fourth down pass had no chance. The Alpharetta defense, led by lineman Nick Markus, kept the Raiders in the game, and Alpharetta again threatened to close within a touchdown. Downing completed six of eight passes for 74 yards as the Raiders drove from their 5 to the Coffee 7.

The Raiders again tried to run on first down, but Edmonds lost a yard. Downing and Estes almost hooked
up for a third touchdown pass, before Gaskins was pushed out of bounds a yard shy of the end zone after catching a pass on third down. Alpharetta tried to power the ball into the end zone on fourth down, but Edmonds was stopped inside the 1. An offside penalty against the Raiders’ defense on first down got the Trojans away from their goal line, and Gaskin helped his team keep the ball away from the Raiders over the final seven-plus minutes.

Alpharetta put up some big numbers in a losing effort, piling up 25 first downs and 396 total yards. Downing was 22 of 36 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, and gained 51 yards on 11 carries. Gaddis led the Raiders with seven catches for 89 yards, with Estes catching four passes for 78 yards. Coffee had 338 yards, with most of the Trojans’ 97 yards in the second half coming on their clock-eating final drive.

The Raiders lose approximately 20 front line seniors, including Downing, Edmonds, Gaddis and three linemen on offense, and Horn, Markus, Reid Schulz and Webster on defense. Watkins returns on offense along with receiver Robbie Ruppel and two starting linemen, with linemen Jack Stanton and Jackson
Michaels and linebacker Dane Motley among those who will be back on defense.

This was the first time in school history that the Raiders had reached the state quarterfinals, with the loss snapping Alpharetta’s 11-game winning streak. Coffee will play in the semifinals next week at Tucker. Had Alpharetta won Friday, the Raiders would have hosted Tucker in the semifinals, with the likely to have been played at Roswell.

Image via Shutterstock