4:30 PM – CCMS Basketball(Girls) vs. Spring Hill at TMSAA Area Tournament at CCMS – Thunder Radio broadcast
6:00 PM – CHS Wrestling at Warren Co
6:00 PM – TBCS Basketball HOSTS Philadelphia Christian
6:00 PM – CHS Basketball at Tullahoma – Thunder Radio broadcast

The Coffee County CHS freshmen basketball teams traveled to Fayetteville on Monday afternoon.  Both Raiders teams came up short in the MLK Day doubleheader.  The Lady Raiders fell 45 to 34 while the Red Raiders lost 53 to 44.

A 16 point 4^th quarter outburst by the Lady Raiders was not enough as they fell to the Lady Falcons.  Nia Sheffield led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 10 points.  Maggie Crouch added 9 points and Katelyn Davis finished with 5.

Despite hitting six 3 point baskets, the Red Raiders came up short to the Falcons.  Brady Nugent led the Raiders in scoring with 11 points.  Hayden Collins added 10 points and Ryan Gravely chipped in 9 points. 

The freshmen teams are off until Monday when they travel to Woodbury to play the Cannon County freshman squads.  The girls’ game tips off the doubleheader of action at 6 PM. 

The goal, of course, was to make it to the Super Bowl, and win it.

The Titans came up short of reaching that accomplishment with a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

On Monday, the Titans’ list of players set to play in the Pro Bowl grew by two, however – quarterback Ryan Tannehill and defensive lineman Jurrell Casey have been named to the roster.

Tannehill has been named to the 2020 Pro Bowl team, and is replacing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Casey has also been named to the Pro Bowl, and he’s replacing Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones.

Tannehill and Casey will join running back Derrick Henry and punter Brett Kern, named to the Pro Bowl in December, on the Pro Bowl roster.

Tannehill, who will be making his first Pro Bowl appearance, led the NFL with a 117.5 rating in 2019, his first season with the team after playing previously with the Dolphins. During the regular season, Tannehill threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He guided the Titans to a 9-4 mark since taking over as the starter in Week 7.

Casey, named to the Pro Bowl for the fifth straight season, ended the 2019 season with 61 tackles, 30 quarterback pressures and five sacks. Casey had two sacks in the team’s playoff win at Baltimore on January 11.

In 2019, Casey became the seventh player in team annals to reach 50 career sacks (51), and his five sacks during the season made him the organization’s first player since Ray Childress (1986-1994) to tally at least five sacks in seven straight seasons.

This year’s Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The Nashville Sounds announced that they will host the Texas Rangers Winter Caravan at Ole Smoky Distillery and Yee-Haw Brewing Co. at 6th and Peabody on Wednesday, January 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Recently named Nashville Sounds Manager Darwin Barney will attend the event along with Rangers left-handed pitcher Brett Martin and infielder Nick Solak. Joining Barney, Martin and Solak will be Rangers Director of Minor League Operations Paul Kruger.

Martin, 24, is a Morristown, Tenn. native and pitched in 10 games for the Sounds before making his Major League debut in 2019. In 10 appearances with Nashville, Martin recorded a 0.71 ERA (1 ER/12.2 IP) with 19 strikeouts. The left-hander made his big-league debut on April 19 vs. Houston and pitched in 51 games for Texas last year.

Solak, 25, played in 30 games for the Sounds last year after the Rangers acquired him in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on July 13. The top prospect out of the University of Louisville hit .347 with 23 runs, 16 extra-base hits and 27 RBI with Nashville before being promoted to Texas on August 20. He spent the rest of the season with the Rangers and hit .293 with 19 runs, 12 extra-base hits and 17 RBI in 33 games.

The event is free to the public and will include live music performed by Payton Taylor, player autographs, a Q&A session hosted by Sounds radio broadcaster Jeff Hem and Ole Smoky Distillery & Yee-Haw Brewing Co. at 6th and Peabody’s traditional trivia Wednesday with a baseball focus.

Earlier in the day the Sounds and Rangers contingent will visit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt where they will visit Seacrest Studios and spend time with patients and families during room-to-room visits.

Media is welcome to attend the caravan event at Ole Smoky Distillery & Yee-Haw Brewing Co. at 6th and Peabody. Barney, Martin, Solak and Nashville Sounds General Manager Adam Nuse will be available for interviews from 5:00-5:30 p.m.

The 2020 season begins on Thursday, April 9 when the Sounds host the Iowa Cubs at 6:35 p.m. 2020 season ticket memberships are on sale through the Nashville Sounds ticket office. For more information on membership packages, call 615-690-4487, or e-mail tickets@nashvillesounds.com.

Looking to avenge the loss that ended their season last year, the Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team welcomed Riverdale to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday night.  The Lady Raiders played incredibly stingy defense, especially in the final 3 quarters, to hold Riverdale to 32 points.  Coffee County got the win over their region rival 53 to 32. 

After a back and forth first 4 minutes, Riverdale closed out the 1^st quarter on a 10 to 2 run to take a 16 to 12 lead into the 2^nd quarter.  Coffee County grabbed the lead at 24 to 23 with 1:53 left in the half and never surrendered the edge.  The Lady Raiders owned a 30 to 26 lead at the intermission and held the Lady Warriors scoreless for the first 6 minutes of the 2^nd half to take a 7 point lead into the 4^th quarter.  In the 4^th quarter, Coffee County shredded the Riverdale full court press outscoring the Lady Warriors 18 to 4 in the final 8 minutes.

Coffee County finished with 3 players in double figures, led by Bella Vinson who had 17 points to earn the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game honor.  Jenna Garretson finished with 15 points and Ellie Graham added 11 as Coffee County improved to 18 and 3 on the season. 

On Tuesday, Coffee County’s Raiders and Lady Raiders travel to Tullahoma to take on the rival Cats.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.  Thunder Radio’s live coverage will begin with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50 PM. 

The Coffee County CHS wrestling team traveled to Sewanee on Saturday for the 15 team Mt. Top Invitational.  The Raider grapplers grabbed 5 individual medals on the day.  In the team standings, Coffee County finished in 8^th place out of the 15 squads.  A trio of Lady Raider wrestlers also competed in a pair of matches each. 

For the Lady Raiders Alanna Coker and Mary Anne Walker each were 2 and 0 on the day.  For the Red Raiders, Cardin Stump and Hunter Massey captured 2^nd place medals while Chris Speegle and Gavin Prater came home with 3^rd place medals and Jeremiah Wardell finished with a 4^th place medal. 

Stump(fighting in the heavyweight class) got a 1^st round bye to start the day before grabbing pinfall wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to advance to the championship.  In the title match, Stump was pinned by a McMinn County wrestler to finish in 2^nd place. 

Massey(126 pounds) also got a first round bye before pinning his opponent in the quarterfinals.  In the semifinals, Massey scratched out a 7 to 6 decision win to advance to the finals.  In the finals, Massey pushed the match to 3 full rounds before losing in a decision to his opponent from Sale Creek.

Prater(145) opened his tournament bracket  with a bye then grabbed a quarterfinal win with a pinfall.  In the semifinals, Prater lost via a decision and fell into the consolation bracket.  Prater closed out the day with a pinfall win and a major decision victory to grab 3^rd place. 

Chris Speegle(220) grabbed a pinfall win in the quarterfinals after receiving a 1^st round bye.  In the semifinals, Speegle was send to the consolation bracket when he lost his match via a pin.  In the consolation bracket, Speegle got a decision win to advance to the 3^rd place match where he pinned his opponent for the medal. 

Wardell(106) opened his bracket with a bye before grabbing a pinfall win in 44 seconds in the quarterfinals.  In the semifinals, Wardell was pinned in the 2^nd round to drop him into the consolation bracket.  Wardell won a pinfall decision in the consolation semifinals to advance to the 3^rd place match.  In the medal match, Wardell was once again pinned early in the 2^nd round to finish in 4^th place. 

The Raider wrestlers travel to Warren County on Tuesday for a match with the Warren County High School team.  Also on tap for Tuesday night will be a youth wrestling match between the Warren County Youth and the Coffee County Youth wrestling programs.  First match is set to get underway at 6 PM. 

The Coffee County CHS basketball teams returned home on Friday night for a district doubleheader with Lincoln County.  In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County held onto their spots at the top of the district standings with a pair of wins.  The Lady Raiders rallied to drop the Lady Falcons 35 to 32.  The Red Raiders led from wire to wire in a 54 to 28 stomping of Lincoln County. 

Jenna Garretson hit a pair of 3 pointers in the 4^th quarter to give the Lady Raiders their 1^st lead and their last lead of the 4^th quarter.  Tied at 23 entering the 4^th quarter, the Lady Falcons used a 7 point run to take a 4 point lead with 2:25 remaining.  Garretson’s 2^nd three point basket of the 4^th quarter, and a pair of Bella Vinson free throws, provided the winning margin for Coffee County.  Garretson finished the game with 10 points, all of them coming in the 4^th quarter, to be named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Vinson led Coffee County in scoring with 13 points.  Ellie Graham added 5 points for the Lady Raiders who are now 5 and 0 in district play. 

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 6 to 1 lead and stretched the margin to 13 at the half.  Coffee County put the contest out of reach in the 3^rd period as they outscored Lincoln County 16 to 4 in the decisive period.  Jaylon Wooten led the Raiders in scoring with 10 points.  Shawn Anderson came off the bench to add 9 points as he was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Jaxon Vaughn also had 9 points and the duo of C.J. Anthony and Hayden Hullett chipped in 7 points apiece.  The win moves the Raiders record to 4 and 1 in district play and in a 1^st place tie atop the standings. 

The Lady Raiders return to action on Saturday as they play host to Riverdale at 5 PM.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of the game which is the 2^nd game of the Region 4AAA doubleheader.  Lincoln County will take on Stewarts Creek in the first game of the afternoon tipping off at 3:30 PM. 

On Tuesday, Coffee County’s Raiders and Lady Raiders travel to Tullahoma to take on the rival Cats.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.  Thunder Radio’s live coverage will begin with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50 PM. 

Download the broadcast at: www.ThunderRadio1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider basketball team matched up against White County on Friday night in Warren County for the CTC tournament championship.  After splitting the 2 regular season matchups, Friday night’s winner would claim the conference crown.  The Lady Raiders fell in an early hole and could not catch up as they lost 36 to 29. 

White County dominated the offensive and defensive boards in the 1^st quarter and raced out to a 13 to 0 lead.  The Warriorettes carried a 16 to 2 lead into the 2^nd quarter over a stunned Coffee County squad.  From that point, the Lady Raiders outscored White County the remainder if the game, but could not make up the initial deficit.    

The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Olivia Vinson who had 12 points.  Taylor Anthony added 8 points and Bella Lawson netted 6 points for the Coffee Middle. 

The Lady Raiders will return to the court on Tuesday night at home in the opening round to the TMSAA Area Tournament at CCMS.  The Lady Raiders will square off against Spring Hill at 4:30 PM.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of the game as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Jonathan Oliver will be on the call with the pregame show beginning at 4:20. 

A season filled with so many high moments ended with a big low in Kansas City on Sunday.

One win away from a trip to Super Bowl LIV, the Titans came up short. Instead, a 35-24 loss to the Chiefs ended the team’s season after what most considered an improbable run to the AFC Championship Game.

“It’s tough — I’m kind of in shock a little bit,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said afterward. “You don’t prepare yourself for this outcome. Everything in your preparation and your mind is: ‘We’re going to win this game.’ So when it hits, it hits hard. I love this team, I love these guys, the way we competed this year.

“It hurts. You feel the pain across the locker room and how far we’ve come, only to come up short from our end goal. It hurts. It’s going to take a while to get over.”

The Titans, who entered the postseason as the No.6 seed in the AFC, knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Then, in the Divisional Round, the Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC’s top-seeded team.

With a win over the Chiefs, the Titans had a chance to join the 2010 Packers and the 2005 Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to appear in the Super Bowl since 1990 when the NFL instituted the current 12-team playoff format.

But it didn’t happen. After battling back from a 2-4 record at the beginning of the season and winning in must-win situations so many times, the Titans couldn’t finish the way they wanted to on Sunday.

And in the locker room, many players began saying their goodbyes.

“I definitely shed a couple of tears, because I love my teammates and I love the chemistry that we have throughout the whole season,” running back Derrick Henry said. “I just felt like I could have done more for this team. I love this team, I loved playing football and competing.

“I am definitely going to miss this team, and as I look back, I know I had a lot of good teammates, a lot of good moments I can look back on.”

After a solid start, the Titans saw an early lead evaporate on a cold day at Arrowhead Stadium, where the temperature was 17 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of five degrees.

Following the game, the Chiefs celebrated their AFC title on the field, while the Titans packed their belongings in a quiet locker room and headed back to Nashville.

“We always believed that we should be in this position,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said. “The goal, the expectation, is always going to be to get to the Super Bowl. Maybe not a lot of people believed we could get to this point. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way we all wanted it to – we wanted to go to the Super Bowl.

“Now we have to do what we need to do to put ourselves in a position to get back here again next year, and win.”

The Titans jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but they trailed 21-17 at the half and found themselves digging out of a deeper hole in the second half.

Henry, dominant in the first two games of the postseason, was held in check on a day when the Titans abandoned the run in the second half while playing from behind. Henry finished with 69 rushing yards on 19 carries, but he ran the ball just three times for seven yards in the second half.

Tannehill completed 21-of-31 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the contest.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead in their opening possession in a 30-yard field goal by kicker Greg Joseph, which capped an eight-play, 58-yard drive. Tannehill completed passes of 37 yards (to A.J. Brown) and 12 yards (to Corey Davis) on the drive, but the Titans had to settle for a field goal after reaching the Kansas City 12.

When the Titans got the ball back, Henry, who lined up in the “Wildcat” formation, finished off a nine-play, 58-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 10-0. A 22-yard pass from Tannehill to tight end Jonnu Smith set up the Henry run. Tannehill’s three-yard pass to receiver Adam Humphries on fourth-and-two from the Kansas City 29 kept the drive alive.

Things were looking good right out of the gate.

“We started how we wanted to,” Smith said. “We came out ready to play.”

After the Chiefs cut the lead to 10-7 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to receiver Tyreek Hill, the Titans surged back ahead 17-7 on a one-yard touchdown pass from to Tannehill to tackle Dennis Kelly, who lined up as an eligible receiver on the play. The touchdown capped off a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took 9:07 off the clock. It was Kelly’s second touchdown reception of the season.

But the Chiefs responded with a pair of touchdowns to close out the first half, first scoring on a 20-yard pass from Mahomes to Hill to make it 17-14 with 4:03 remaining in the first half.

When the Chiefs got the ball back, Mahomes scored on 27-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left in the first half to give Kansas City a 21-17 lead. Mahomes tight-roped the sideline on the run and escaped some sloppy tackling by the Titans to get into the end zone.

The Chiefs extended their lead to 28-17 on a three-yard touchdown run by Damien Williams, which capped off a 13-play, 73-yard drive. The score came with 14:50 remaining in the contest.

A 60-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to receiver Sammy Watkins made it 35-17 with 7:33 left, and confetti filled the skies at Arrowhead Stadium.

But the Titans kept fighting.

A 22-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to tight end Anthony Firkser with 4:18 left made it 35-24 with 4:18 left. It followed a perfectly executed fake punt by the Titans – a pass from punter Brett Kern to safety Amani Hooker.

After a defensive stop, the Titans got the ball back again.

But on this day, the celebration came to an end for the Titans.

“You have to be proud of the things you accomplish in life,” Smith said. “We came up short, and now we have to keep working. I know I will, and I know the guys in this locker room will, too.

“And next year, we want to put ourselves back in this position again, and win next time.”

Titans coach Mike Vrabel delivered a message to his players before the plane ride back home.

On Monday, the Titans will clean out their lockers and head their separate ways for the offseason.

“I told them it was an honor to coach them,” Vrabel said. “I felt like we left that locker room before the game as a family and we need to leave it as a family after the game. I’m proud to say that I coached them, and I appreciate their efforts. … I felt like they fought.

“… The expectations have always been really high, whether you lose in the AFC Championship Game, or you lose in the Super Bowl. I want the expectations to be high. That’s what (controlling owner) Amy (Adams Strunk) wants, that’s what (GM) Jon (Robinson) wants, and that’s what I want.”