The Coffee football team has scored so many points – a school-record 552 this season – that the defense has been too often overlooked.
No longer.
The No. 1-ranked Trojans used quickness and conditioning to slow down No. 2 Creekside, a team averaging 41 points, and won the school’s first state championship on Wednesday, a 31-14 victory in the Class 5A final at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
It was the first state championship for Coffee (15-0).
“I feel like our whole team is underrated because don’t have all those Power Five guys,” Coffee coach Mike Coe said. “But I’ve got a bunch of dang good high school football players that hit you in the mouth and won’t quit and are in great shape.”
The Coffee defense limited Creekside to 67 yards rushing on 23 carries, caused two fumbles and intercepted a pass. Jyarius Carter led the team with seven tackles and Jayden Hancock and Isaiah Johnson each had six.
“We had a chance to get turnovers and didn’t do it,” Coe said. “They finally finished it off.”
Coffee was led by quarterback Maurice Hansley, who completed 8 of 10 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown and ran eight times for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Fred Brown rushed 35 times for 166 yards and 1 touchdown.
Creekside (13-2) was led by quarterback Vinson Berry, who completed 17 of 37 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns, both to Shane Kelley, who caught 10 passes for 170 yards. l
After taking a 21-0 halftime lead, Coffee’s defense came up big in the second half, preventing Creekside from scoring on first-and-goal at the 3l and coming up with a late interception to douse any hopes of a Seminole comeback.
“That (goal line stand) was big time,” Coe said. “That got the momentum back. It was an unbelievable stand, but they’ve done it all year long.”
Coffee wanted to keep the clock moving in the first half and keep Creekside’s big-playmaking offense off the field. The Trojans rode sturdy running back Fred Brown 17 times and ate nearly 15 minutes of the clock. Coffee scored on a 21-yard run by Maurice Hansley, a 27-yard pass from Hansley to Bray Coe and a 5-yard run by Brown.
Creekside made it interesting by striking for a touchdown on its first offensive play of the second half, a 39-yard toss to Shane Kelley from Vinson Berry. Coffee countered with Jonah Saylor’s 40-yard field goal to up the lead to 24-7. Creekside drove to the 3, but failed to score after two runs and two incompletions.
Senior cornerback Tyriq Edwards, who had five tackles, said, “They drove down there and had the momentum and we get the goal-line stand it it just took the breath away from them.”
Creekside still wasn’t finished. The Seminoles scored on a 40-yard pass from Berry to Kelley with 7:30 left and got the ball back after forcing Coffee to punt. Creekside advanced it to the Coffee 41, but endured sacks from Larenzo Harvey and Iverson Gifford, as well as a holding penalty. On fourth-and-35, Berry was intercepted by Jayden Hancock to seal the game.
Coffee added a final score with three seconds left, a 6-yard run by Hansley.
