Coffee County Soccer Needs Extra Time to Stun Columbia and Advance to District Finals

John Martinez of CHS soccer[Photo by Pascale Randolph]

The Coffee County CHS soccer needed almost 100 minutes, but the Red Raiders traveled to Columbia and upset the regular season district champion Lions of Columbia Central.  Coffee County needed 19 minutes of extra time to gain a 1 to 0 win.

John Martinez converted a pass from Briggs Haithcock for the game winner in the 99th minute.  Coffee County missed out on an excellent scoring chance in the first half but the impressive play of Raider keeper Kix Ferrell send the game to the half scoreless.  In the 2nd half and extra time, Ferrell turned away countless shots from a tenacious Columbia offense to capture the clean sheet and the praise of Raider coach Robert Harper.  “I can’t count how many incredible saves he had.  Probably the best game ever by a Coffee County keeper” said Harper.

The Red Raiders will ride a 4 game win streak into Thursday’s district finals at Shelbyville.  That match will get underway at 6:30 PM at Shelbyville Central High School.  A win on Thursday will give the Red Raiders a berth in the Region 4-AAA tournament next week.