Jackets Earn Respect in 34-30 Loss to Carter

The look on Coalfield senior Landon Galyon’s face after the game reflects the extent to which the entire Yellow Jacket team gave their all in a close battle with 4A Carter High School. [Photo by Cathy Bird]

By Terry Futrell

Anyone who has ever stepped on a yellow jacket nest knows just how unpleasant the experience can be. You are attacked, not by one or two bees, but by the entire colony, acting in unison as one. Carter High School, almost six times the size of Coalfield and ranked No. 12 in the state in Division 4A, had a similar experience when they stepped onto a different kind of yellow jacket nest on Rochelle Field Friday evening. Trailing Coalfield most of the game, Carter pulled out a victory with only seconds remaining, defeating the Yellow Jackets 34-30.

Coalfield Coach Benson Napier scheduled the matchup with Carter on Wednesday of this week after Oakdale was forced to bow out of their scheduled game with Coalfield due to Covid quarantine protocols. The reaction from fans was mixed, with some questioning why Coalfield would go up against such a large school. It also meant that Coalfield’s coaching staff would have only one day to readjust their game plan for the new opponent. Though the matchup seemed foolhardy to some, it gave Coach Napier an opportunity to find out how good his team really is. After running through their early opponents like a hot knife through butter, it was perhaps time for a gut check to see what these Jackets were made of. What better way to measure oneself than to attempt the seemingly impossible!

Seemingly impossible? Someone forgot to tell that to the Yellow Jacket football team. Facing the challenge like Sir Edmund Hillary faced Mt. Everest, these young men charged the Carter Hornets head-on and took a commanding 18-0 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter. Carter was able to respond with a score at 8:27 in the second quarter, but Coalfield held an 18-7 lead at halftime.

Carter’s passing attack took control in the second half and the Hornets reeled off 21 consecutive points in the first 14 minutes of play to take a 28-18 lead over the Yellow Jackets. If there ever was a gut check time, this was it! While many teams would have become discouraged and folded at this point, the Yellow Jackets fought back with intensity, scoring two consecutive touchdowns and regaining the lead at 30-28 with 1:17 remaining in the game. The Hornets quickly responded by scoring on a 27-yard pass play with only seven seconds remaining in the game, salvaging victory from the hands of defeat 34-30.

Were the Coalfield Yellow Jackets really defeated? Well, that depends on your perspective. Defeat can be measured in many ways other than points – ways that perhaps have much greater meaning. Did the Jackets accomplish more than was expected of them? Absolutely! Were the Jackets finally able to obtain a true measure of how good this team really is? You bet!

Lazarus Lake, who founded and runs the Barkley Marathons and the Barkley Fall Classic, arguably the most challenging endurance running events in the world, had this to say about the Yellow Jackets’ performance against Carter as he communicated words of encouragement to participants in the Fall Classic that would be run the next day. “they reached down deep inside and found that something extra. the greatness that is in each of us. that something special you have come here to their back yard to find. they fought all the way back to take the lead deep into the 4th quarter. carter scored with 7.5 seconds left to win the game. but coalfield left everything on the field. they faced impossible odds and never backed down. our coalfield boys were men tonight.” What better tribute than this from the man who perhaps understands better than anyone on the planet what it means to push oneself beyond all imaginable physical limits.

Carter Coach Justin Pressley tweeted these words about Coalfield’s performance on the field. “A MAJOR Hats off to … the Yellow Jackets of COALFIELD! Wow. What a football team. As good as any team we have seen in 2 years.” Let’s put this statement in perspective. Since the beginning of the 2020 season, teams faced by Carter include Rhea County, Campbell County, Lenoir City, Knox Central, South Doyle, Gibbs, and Sevier County. Of those teams, Knox Central made it to the Class 5A Quarterfinals and South Doyle made it to the 5A Semifinals. Wow, that is some prestigious company that Pressley compared to Coalfield.

So, how good are these Yellow Jackets? They are VERY GOOD! Playing as a team and not wholly dependent on a few superstars, these young men have what it takes to be remembered as one of the greatest Coalfield teams ever. But lest they lose sight of how they got to this point, Proverbs 16:18 has some good words of wisdom, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Remain humble Jackets, continue to give it your all, and let’s see just how far you can go.

GO JACKETS!