Photo by Gary Horton

The Coffeeville High School Panthers saw their season come to an end 27-18 this past Friday night to the Eagles of Autaugaville at Panther Stadium in Coffeeville.

“They had a very good football team,” Coffeeville head coach Robin Tyra said. “But I felt that we matched up fairly well with them.

“We, as a team, felt we were in the game and had a chance to win it,” he added.

The Panthers scored first in the contest as Tim Washington scored on a short run, falling behind his big lineman Donavan Cox and Anthony Dunning. The try for two came up short, but Coffeeville led 6-0 late in the first quarter.

Autaugaville came right back to score on a touchdown pass. “Our defensive back actually batted the ball and it hung in the air just long enough to allow their receiver to catch it,” Tyra said. The added PAT gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead.

The Eagles, behind the play of their quarterback Xavier Carroll, added to their lead with a TD run, making it 14-6.

The Panthers answered late in the second quarter as Michael Thomas took a throw-back pass from Washington to score. The try for two came up short, but Coffeeville cut into the lead 14-12.

Carroll broke free on a 35-yard run to increase the lead to 21-12 as the first half ended.

“He is a difference maker,” Tyra said of Carroll.

In the third quarter the Panthers drew closer as Thomas hit Washington on a 35-yard fade pass. Again the try for two failed as Coffeeville drew closer 21-18.

Late in fourth quarter Autaugaville drove the ball deep into Panther territory and on fourth and two from inside the 5-yard line, the Coffeeville defense turned the Eagles away.

From there they started driving but a fumble near the 40-yard line, ended the drive.

Two plays later the Eagles scored, but missed the PAT and led 27-18.

“I couldn’t have ordered a better group of kids to have this season,” Tyra said. “They did everything asked of them.”

The Panthers, finished with a record of 7-4 and finished as the runner up in Class 1A, Region 1, with just 12 ball players.

Fultondale, a team in north Alabama, cancelled their season, six games into it, because they only had 16 players, while Coffeeville completed their season with one over the required 11 needed to put an offense or defense on the field.

Looking for running room

Larry Pendleton (24) tries to find room against Pike County last Friday night.