On October 29, 1985, the late Dusty Rhodes delivered his now-famous hard times promo as he prepared to battle Ric Flair for the Mid-Atlantic world heavyweight championship at Starrcade. “He put hard times on Dusty Rhodes and his family. You don’t know what hard times are, daddy,” growled Rhodes into announcer Bob Caudle’s microphone. Against all odds, he would go on to defeat Flair and win the world title.
Friday night, the visiting Ware County Gators put some hard times on the Coffee Trojans. And, in Dusty Rhodes-like fashion, Coffee battled back and won the game. Ware jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter after a Coffee turnover. The Trojans regained the lead 7-3, fell behind 13-7 after a Ware touchdown and field goal, then pulled ahead again 14-13 in the second quarter. The Gators added a field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go up 16-13. Then, about halfway through the fourth quarter, the Trojans took the lead for good and won 20-16.
“We’re not in a bad position. This is where you find out what kind of team you are. This team has to find its identity. This isn’t last year’s team. We don’t have any Salems on our schedule this year,” said Coffee head coach Mike Coe at halftime – when the Trojans were winning.
Things got much worse before they got better. The Trojans battled a bevy of penalties, turnovers (they turned the ball over three times to Ware’s 0), and had to come from behind three different times before they eventually dug themselves out of the proverbial hole and won the game.
Hard times indeed.
“That defense is lights out. What did I tell you before the game? I’ll run it and punt it. When we had to have a play [Tyrese] Woodgett got a few. Zean [Preston] popped that one down the sidelines. We found a way. Two years ago we’d have lost that game,” said Coach Coe after the game. “We had some timely stuff happen – some good punts and the defense just rode it.”
Coffee certainly asked a lot of the defense on Friday. And every time, they answered. The Gators managed just three field goals off Coffee turnovers that gave them good field position. The defense terrorized Ware quarterback Luke Hooks all night. Though the Trojans never forced a turnover, Hooks felt pressure on every possession and took some big hits.
Coffee took the ball to start the game. The possession ended prematurely with an interception. Ware took over on the Coffee 30. A pass interference call against the Trojans moved the ball to the 13. Ware could only get a couple of yards before they ran out of downs and attempted a field goal. The 27-yarder was good and Ware led 3-0 with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
The Trojans then launched an 82-yard drive that ended in a Tyrese Woodgett touchdown. With 3:11 left in the first quarter, Coffee had taken a 7-3 lead.
The two teams traded punts and then, on the Gators’ third possession, Hooks found a receiver for a 16-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. Coffee fumbled on its next possession and Ware recovered. The Gators turned that gift into another field goal, this one from 32 yards out. The kick gave Ware a 13-7 advantage.
The Trojans answered quickly, scoring about a minute later when Woodgett broke a 42-yard touchdown, putting Coffee ahead 14-13.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. However, the Gators kicked a 22-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a 16-14 lead. Penalties and punts spoiled both teams’ marches toward the end zone through the middle portion of the final period. Then Coffee punter Aiden Gonzalez pinned Ware at their own four yard line. That led to a Gators punt from their own end zone. The Trojans took over for the fourth time of the half from Ware’s 37. The first play went to Zean Preston for his one and only carry of the night. He ripped off 19 yards and energized his team and the Jardine Stadium crowd, both of which seemed to be sputtering amid all the false start flags. Woodgett took the ball on the next play and went to the opposite side for an 18-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winner. Coffee went for a two-point conversion but did not make it. With 6:34 left in the game, the Trojans had a 20-16 lead.
Ware still enjoyed two more possessions after Coffee took the lead. The defense, however, refused to budge. A big sack by junior Montana McGinty led Ware to punt it away. The Gators’ final possession ended when they turned the ball over on downs.
The Trojans took over with 1:53 remaining in the game and picked up a first down, effectively ending things right there. Coach Coe didn’t like the penalties but at the same time, he was pleased with the effort. And he certainly isn’t going to complain about a win. “I’m proud of the effort. We’ve got to clean it up. But we will. It’s a rivalry game. They’ve got a good football team,” he said.
Coffee is 2-0 on the season and enjoying a 17-game winning streak. Next week, Columbia County (Lake City, Fla.) comes to Jardine Stadium for Week 3. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. “They’re a good team. They’re a lot like Ware,” said Coach Coe.