The air attack of Walker Valley proved to be effective against a depleted Red Raider secondary on Friday night as the visiting Mustangs dropped Coffee County 49 to 28.  The visitors from Bradley County used 4 passing touchdowns in the first half to build a 42 to 7 lead at intermission.  Coffee County was able to rally for 3 second half touchdowns but it was not enough to pick up the non-region win.

Coffee County was held to 110 yards of offense in the first half highlighted by a 55 yard touchdown run from Alontae Taylor.  Taylor also added a touchdown in the 3^rd quarter as Dearron Rozier and Silas Vaughn scored the other 2 touchdowns for the Red Raiders.  Vaughn, an offensive tackle, rumbled in from 18 yards with 2:41 left in the game as he scooped up an errant lateral and carried it in for the score.  For his head’s up play, Vaughn was named the Thunder Radio/Crazy Daisies player of the game.

Taylor led Coffee County in rushing with 183 yards on 22 carries and 2 TD’s.  Rozier finished with 83 yards on 15 carries and a score.   Coffee County will return to region action next Friday when they travel to Riverdale.  Kickoff is set for 7 PM.

Caitlyn Moore of CHS Soccer

The Coffee County Lady Raider varsity and JV soccer teams competed in the Rebelette Classic on Saturday and Sunday in Winchester. Each team competed in 3 pool play games but neither advanced to Sunday afternoon’s final. The JV team was 1-0-2 on the day while the varsity had a record of 1-1-1 for their 3 contests.
The Lady Raiders opened play on Saturday morning with a draw with district foe Columbia. A Caitlyn Moore goal in the 1st half gave Coffee County a 1 to 0 lead before Columbia tied it in the 2nd half. In the 2nd game of the day, a late penalty kick by Karson Young gave Coffee County a dramatic 2 to 1 win over Community. Moore also notched a first half goal to give Coffee County another 1 to 0 halftime lead. After Community tied it just after the half, the Lady Raiders appeared to be headed to their 2nd straight draw. However, Coffee County was awarded the PK with 2 minutes remaining and Young banged it home to give Coffee County the win. In Sunday morning’s game, the Lady Raiders got blitzed by Stewarts Creek as they fell 6 to 1. Eliza Masters had Coffee County’s lone goal with an assist from Allie Amado.
The JV Raiders got a 2 to 0 win over Huntland on Saturday morning as Emilee Roberson and Reyna Flores had goals. Ellie Graham had the assist for Coffee County. On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Raiders battled to a scoreless draw with Stewarts Creek before closing out the tournament on Saturday with a 1 to 1 draw with Mt. Juliet. Ashley Woods had the goal for Coffee County.
The Lady Raiders return to district action on Tuesday night when they welcome Lawrence County to the home pitch. That match is set to kick off at 6:30 PM.

A year ago, the Titans began the season with a dandy.
On Sunday, they produced a dud.
A nice start faded into a disappointing finish as the Titans lost 25-16 to the Vikings at Nissan Stadium. It ended a streak of three consecutive wins on the NFL’s Kickoff Weekend.

“Turnovers, self-inflicted wounds,’’ tight end Delanie Walker said afterward. “That’s why we’re sitting here talking about how this one got away. But we have each other’s back. This is not the way we wanted to start this year, but it’s only one game. We’ll overcome this.”
The Titans dominated early, but mistakes and turnovers doomed them in the second half as the Vikings took control of the contest, spoiling the team’s season opener.
The Titans looked good early while surging to a 10-0 lead at halftime.
After 28-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Succop made it 3-0, running back DeMarco Murray provided a big highlight – and a big touchdown – late in the first half when he scored on a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marcus Mariota.
With the Titans facing a second-and-goal, Murray caught a ball in the flat, turned upfield and headed toward the end zone. Vikings defensive back Terence Newman was there waiting for him, but Murray hurdled him and landed in the end zone for a touchdown, making it 10-0.

Murray was swarmed by teammates on the field and on the sideline, as the Nissan Stadium crowd went wild.
When Vikings kicker Blair Walsh misfired on a 56-yard field goal on the final play of the half, the Titans were feeling great.
Coach Mike Mularkey delivered this message at the half: “Finish, finish this game. That’s one thing we failed to do last year.”
But things changed in the second half as the Vikings scored 25 consecutive points, thanks to some costly turnovers by the Titans.
After a pair of field goals from Walsh, disaster struck for the Titans – twice.
Facing pressure, Mariota was intercepted by Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks, who returned it 77 yards for a touchdown.
After a 45-yard field goal by Walsh gave the Vikings a 15-10 lead, Mariota and Murray botched an exchange, and Vikings defensive lineman Danielle Hunter picked the ball up and raced 24 yards into the end zone to make it 22-10. A 30-yard field goal by Walsh with 2:36 left made it 25-10.
Mularkey called the turnovers “catastrophic.”

“It’s frustrating,’’ Mariota said. “It is something we can learn from. We really just kind of beat ourselves today. We were moving the ball efficiently, and we ended up giving them 14 points and we just can’t do that.”
A four-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to Murray with 28 seconds left made it 25-16.
Mariota completed 25-of-41 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, with an interception. His favorite target was rookie receiver Tajae Sharpe, who hauled in seven passes for 76 yards.
Murray ran for 42 yards on 13 carries, while rookie Derrick Henry had just five carries for three yards. Both players turned in big plays catching the football. Before Murray’s highlight-reel dive into the end zone, Henry caught a 29-yard pass on an earlier drive.

The Titans shut down Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who managed just 31 yards on 19 carries. But quarterback Shaun Hill was efficient, completing 18-of-33 passes for 236 yards.
Mularkey said he was happy with the performance of his defense, which didn’t give up a touchdown.
“Our defense gave us a chance,’’ Mularkey said.
On this day, however, it wasn’t good enough.
“Definitely frustrating,’’ Titans linebacker Brian Orakpo said. “Definitely not what we expected. We had high expectations of coming into this locker room with a victory. But it’s the NFL. Crazy stuff happens. That’s what this NFL is all about. There is a lot of adversity that you have to face throughout the game. It’s back-and-forth, and back-and-forth. And when they had a turnover, we just couldn’t catch up. We have to learn from it and get ready for Detroit.”

The Titans travel to Detroit next Sunday for a match up with the Lions.  Kickoff is set for Noon and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action on the Titans Radio Network.

The Mets had more important matters on their minds Sunday than exorcising the ghosts of Turner Field, which have haunted them for the better part of two decades. In the thick of a skin-tight National League Wild Card race, the Mets simply needed a win.

But they could not have asked for a better sendoff to Turner Field, marshalling a parade across home plate in their 10-3 blowout over the Braves. Yoenis Cespedes clubbed a grand slam for his 30th homer and Seth Lugo contributed seven standout innings, moving the Mets a half-game in front of St. Louis for the NL’s second Wild Card spot.
“For us, it’s about winning games,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “I don’t care who they’re against. We’ve just got to go in and win as many as we can.”
It was Cespedes who broke things open in the third inning, extending a one-run lead to five with his slam off Williams Perez. The Braves starter felt some elbow discomfort as he threw the hanging curveball that Cespedes mashed. He lasted just one additional batter before leaving due to a right triceps impingement.
“We had two four-run innings against us,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That doesn’t help. It was just one of those days. It’s tough when your starter leaves that early.”
The Mets then piled on in the middle innings, with five of their nine starters — including Lugo — driving in runs. Lugo’s primary contributions came on the mound, however, with seven innings of two-run ball. He improved to 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts since joining the rotation.
“Just throwing strikes makes it easy to get more comfortable out there and relax, and make quality pitches,” Lugo said. “It’s been a lot easier since I’ve relaxed out there.”
The Mets, meanwhile, improved to 67-106 all-time at Turner Field. Sunday’s victory gave them seven road wins in a season against the Braves for the first time ever, dating back to their time in Milwaukee. The Braves will move to SunTrust Park in Cobb County next season.
With the loss, Atlanta became the first NL team to be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, joining the Twins in the American League.
The game was not yet a blowout when Cespedes, who also homered Saturday, stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the third. Cespedes took a Perez breaking ball in the dirt, before dropping his hands to line an 89-mph sinker into the left-field stands. There, a Turner Field employee caught Cespedes’ fourth career grand slam with one hand.
Cespedes declined to discuss his grand slam after the game. “He’s going to let his bat do the talking,” a team spokesman said.
The Braves recorded one hit through the first three innings and then opened the bottom of the fourth with four straight hits, including Adonis Garcia’s leadoff double and Freddie Freeman’s RBI single. But after a Nick Markakis single loaded the bases, Lugo induced an Anthony Recker popup and got Dansby Swanson to ground into a double play. Jace Peterson ended the game with a double-play groundout to lower Atlanta’s batting average with the bases loaded to .195.
“[Lugo] just made a lot of really good pitches in some big situations,” said Recker, who caught the Mets’ starter at the Triple-A level last year. “He didn’t have a ton of trouble out there. There weren’t a ton of guys on base when he was out there. But that one inning we really had a chance, and we let that one slip away.”
The Braves brought Perez back to the Majors last week hoping he had overcome the right shoulder ailment that had sidelined him most of this summer. But Sunday marked the second straight start in which his two-seam fastball lost life after the second inning and led to a third-inning exit. The right-hander will undergo further evaluation on Monday to determine the extent of what could be an elbow injury.
“He started out and looked pretty good,” Snitker said. “Then as he goes and presses on, something is just not right there.”
Jeff Francoeur will return to Turner Field on Monday, when Atlanta begins a three-game series against Miami. Mike Foltynewicz will be aiming to win his fifth straight decision when he throws the first pitch at 6:10 p.m. CT.  THunder Radio will bring you that broadcast beginning at 6 PM.

A late lead didn’t hold up for the Nashville Sounds in a heart-breaking 10-9 loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers Sunday night at First Tennessee Park.

The loss ends the Sounds’ season while the Dodgers advance to the Pacific Coast League Championship Series to face the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Two separate four-run innings helped the Sounds overcome multiple deficits but it wasn’t enough in the end. Franklin Barreto, Matt Olson and Renato Nunez all crushed homers for Nashville.

The two comebacks helped the Sounds to a 9-7 lead after six innings. Reliever Andres Aliva worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings before handing it off to Ryan Brasier who turned in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.

With one out in the eighth, Micah Johnson singled and Brasier issued a walk to Cody Bellinger. They both came back to hurt when O’Koyea Dickson drilled a go-ahead three-run homer to give the Dodgers a 10-9 lead.

The drama wasn’t over as Nashville had multiple chances in the eighth and ninth innings. Rangel Ravelo doubled with two outs in the eighth, but Jacob Rhame struck out Bryan Anderson to end the threat.

Tucker Healy worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to give the Sounds a chance. With one out in the bottom half, Jaycob Brugman sent a single into left field to give Nashville a runner. Franklin Barreto followed with a double down the left field line to put runners at second and third.

Clinging to a 10-9 lead, Oklahoma City elected to intentionally walk Matt Chapman to load the bases. The move paid off when Rhame got Olson to pop out for the second out. The right-handed closer finished the job by getting Nunez to pop out behind home plate.

Oklahoma City jumped on Nashville starter Chris Jensen early. Chris Taylor’s two-run double and Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly helped the Dodgers to a 3-0 lead after two innings.

The first rally started with Jaycob Brugman’s leadoff single in the third. Barreto followed with the first home run of the night – a two-run blast to the left field seats to trim the deficit to 3-2. Lisalverto Bonilla walked Matt Chapman to set up Olson who launched a mammoth two-run blast down the right field line to give the Sounds a 4-3 lead.

Oklahoma City didn’t trail for long as they used their own four-run top of the fifth to take the lead. Kyle Farmer and Drew Maggi had run-scoring hits, and the Dodgers took advantage of an intentional walk issued by Angel Castro and an error at third base committed by Chapman.

The Sounds immediately got a run back when Nunez hit a booming solo homer to left-center to trim the deficit to 7-5.

In the sixth, Barreto tripled with one out and scored when Chapman followed with a double. A base hit by Nunez scored Chapman to even the game at 7-7, and Rangel Ravelo’s two-run single gave the Sounds a 9-7 lead.

Nashville had a number of opportunities to build on the lead but left the bases loaded in four separate innings, including the ninth. They went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left a season-high 14 on base.

Barreto and Ravelo each had three hits while four other Sounds had multi-hit games. Dickson finished the night 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs.

The 2016 season was the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. For up-to-date news over the offseason, visit www.nashvillesounds.com.