The Ware County Gators handed the Coffee Trojans their first loss of the season at Memorial Stadium in Waycross Friday night. The Gators defeated the Trojans 24-14 after scoring 21 unanswered points in the third quarter.
The win was also significant because it ended Coffee’s 14-game non-region regular season winning streak. The Trojans hadn’t lost a non-region regular season game since August 26, 2022, when the Bainbridge Bearcats handed Coffee a last minute 24-21 loss in Bainbridge. Since that game, the Trojans have been on a roll, winning the next 14 non-region games over parts of four seasons.
Friday night, that streak ended, along with a two-game winning streak over the Gators.
The start of the game was delayed due to weather and it was nasty in The Swamp. The teams were slow to get going and it took a little while before either the Trojans or Gators could get on the board. Near the end of the first quarter, the Gators kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead. The Trojans answered in the second quarter with a touchdown pass from quarterback Trey Ross to Bobby Reynolds to take a 7-3 lead. Neither team scored the rest of the second quarter and Coffee took a four-point lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Ware scored 21 unanswered points. The touchdowns came on a 67-yard fumble recovery by Terron Birden, a 38-yard pass from Isaiah White to Ja’Mario Rice, and a 40-yard Tayshaun Franklin run. At the end of the third period, the Gators led 24-7
The Trojans were able to add another score early in the fourth quarter when Ross connected with Aaereon Biggs for his second touchdown pass of the night, this one for 29 yards. The touchdown narrowed Ware’s advantage to 24-14 but that’s as close as the Trojans would get.
Coffee is 1-1 on the season and travels to Lake City, Fla., next Friday night to take on the Columbia High School Tigers. Columbia defeated Suwannee (Fla.) 35-14 Friday night. The Trojans play at home on September 12 and September 19 before traveling to Northside (Warner Robins) on September 26 for the region opener.