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The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Coffee County Raiders 10-7 at home Friday in their first game of the season.

The game was low-scoring throughout with the Rebels being held scoreless until the fourth quarter as a late rally attempt came up just short.

The Rebels forced the Raiders to punt on the opening possession of the game, but penalties pushed the Rebels back and caused their first possession to stall out.

The Rebels then lined up to punt, but the snap went over the kicker’s head to give the Raiders the ball at Franklin County’s 16-yard line.

The Raiders capitalized on the short field and kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Rebels brought the ball down to Coffee County’s 5-yard line as the first quarter came to a close, but a field-goal attempt a few plays later would be foiled by another high snap to keep Franklin County off the board.

Neither team would be able to get much going on offense for the rest of the first half as the Rebels trailed 3-0 going into the halftime break.

A strong punt return by the Rebels midway through the third quarter would be neutralized by a block-in-the-back penalty which pushed them back to their own 5-yard line, and they were ultimately forced to punt shortly afterward.

The Raiders once again used a short field to their advantage as they scored a touchdown with four minutes left in the third quarter to make it a 10-0 game.

Franklin County’s offense would be jump-started by a punt return as Willie Cobb was able to return a kick down to Coffee County’s 30-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

After converting a fourth down to create a goal-to-go situation later in the drive, the Rebels got on the board when quarterback CJ Seals connected with Eric Jones for a touchdown pass. The score and the ensuing point-after attempt cut the deficit down to three points with 5:27 remaining.

The Raiders started their next drive on Franklin County’s 32-yard line after a big kick return, but a few sacks by the Rebels pushed Coffee County back and led to a punt.

The Rebels received the ball at their own 2-yard line with about two minutes to go and attempted to drive down for a tying or go-ahead score late, but an interception with 29 seconds on the clock sealed the loss by three.

Seals ended the game with 16 completions for 118 yards and 12 carries for 30 yards.

Jones had 41 rushing yards on 12 carries and 16 receiving yards on five catches in the contest.

Kai Baker caught eight passes for 64 yards, Cobb had two receptions for 24 yards, and Jacob Hardison had one catch for 14 yards.

With the loss, the Rebels started their season with a record of 0-1.

They will next play Friday at home against South Pittsburg High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.