The Coffee County CHS basketball teams opened up the 2020 portion of their schedule at home on Friday night welcoming Warren County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.   The Lady Raiders dominated the Lady Pioneers as they rolled to a 60 to 27 win.  An injury depleted Red Raider team battled to an impressive 57 to 46 win.

In the girls’ game, each team finished with double digits in turnovers trying to shake off the rust of the year end break.  Coffee County held Warren County to 3 free throws in the 3^rd quarter to build a 26 point lead entering the 4^th quarter on their way to their 14^th win of the season.  Bella Vinson was the leading scorer for the Lady Raiders as she had 16 points.  Chloe Gannon came off the bench to pour in 14 points to earn the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game honors.

In the boys’ game, Coffee County got inspired play as they controlled the pace of play and committed only 7 turnovers each half.  The Red Raiders took a 2 point lead with 45 seconds left in the 1^st half and maintained that lead for the remainder of the game.  Coffee County built a double digit lead in the 4^th quarter and for most of the final 8 minutes.  Jaylon Wooten led the Raiders in scoring with 21 points as he was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  C.J. Anthony scored 13 points while Hayden Hullett had 8 points and Tyler Taylor added 7. 

The Red Raiders traveled to Lewisburg on Saturday night for a boys’ only game with Marshall County.  The Red Raiders fell in a heart-breaker 52 to 51. Wooten again led Coffee County in scoring as he netted 20 points, C.J. Anthony and Hayden Hullett chipped in 10 points each.

Both Raider teams are back at home on Tuesday as welcome Shelbyville to “The Patch.”  Tip-off for the girls’ game is set for 6 PM; Thunder Radio will begin live coverage with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50.

Download the broadcast at: www.thunder1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County CHS Red Raider wrestling team hit the mat on Saturday in Smyrna taking part in the Stewarts Creek Redhawk Rampage.   The Lady Raiders were in Clarksville taking part in the Rossview Invitational.   The Lady Raiders, which fielded only 4 wrestlers, finished in 12^th place out of 27 teams.  The Red Raiders finished in 10^th place out of 20 teams from Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.   Between the 2 meets, Coffee County came home with 4 individual medals. 

Jeremiah Wardell was the top medalist for the Red Raiders as he finished in 2^nd place in the 106 pound weight class.  Wardell had wins via a pinfall, decision and bye before losing in the title match via a pin to a wrestler from Munford.  Gavin Prater grabbed a 3^rd place medal in the 145 pound weight class.  Prater got 2 pinfall wins and a forfeit win heading into the 3^rd place match.  Prater captured the medal with a decision win over a wrestler from Hartselle, AL.  Chris Speegle also grabbed a 3^rd place medal at 220 pounds.  Speegle won 3 matches by pins heading into the 3^rd place match before gaining a forfeit win over a wrestler from Christian County, KY. 

All 4 of the Lady Raider wrestlers finished in the Top 10 in their respective weight divisions.  Fighting in the 132 division, Mary Anne Walker was the top finisher for the Lady Raiders.  Walker finished the tournament with 3 pinfall wins and a first round bye.  Walker’s final pin came in the 1^st round of the 3^rd place match.  Alanna Coker grabbed 9^th place in the 112 division.  Coker finished the day with a record of 4 and 1 with 4 pins.  Mary Wolfrum also grabbed 9^th place in the 119 division.  Wolfrum was 4 and 1 on the day with 3 pins and a bye.  Lyra Leftwich placed 10^th in the 140 division.  Leftwich was 3 and 2 on the day with a pair of pins and a bye. 

The Raider wrestlers are back on the road on Tuesday as they travel to Cookeville for a tri-match with Cookeville and Siegel.  Weigh-in is at 5 PM with wrestling starting at 6 PM. 

Story by Jim Wyatt, TitansOnline.com

On his birthday, Titans running back Derrick Henry took the cake.

And the Titans blew out the candles on New England’s season.

The Titans pulled out a mammoth win over the Patriots on Saturday night, winning 20-13 on a night when Henry led the way.

Henry, who turned 26 on Saturday, ran for 182 yards on 34 carries.

Cornerback Logan Ryan intercepted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and returned it for a touchdown with nine seconds for Tennessee.

The Titans will travel to face the Ravens next Saturday night at 7:15 CT in Baltimore.

It’s already been a memorable season for the Titans, who finished with their fourth consecutive winning season (9-7), marking their first time to do so in the “Titans era.”

With a 2-4 mark after Week 6, the Titans made a quarterback change, as Ryan Tannehill stepped in for Marcus Mariota. The Titans ended up going 7-3 in their final 10 games to reach the postseason, clinching a playoff spot for the second time in three seasons with a win at Houston last weekend.

Tannehill led the NFL with a 117.5 passer rating during a season when running back Derrick Henry captured the NFL’s rushing title with 1,540 yards, racking up 16 rushing touchdowns and six 100-yard games along the way, including a 211-yard performance last Sunday in Houston.

On Saturday night, the Titans came to town and knocked off the defending Super Bowl champions.

With fog swirling above Gillette Stadium, it was tight from the get-go.

The Titans took an early 7-3 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill to tight end Anthony Firkser, which capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive. Running back Derrick Henry ran for 49 yards on seven carries on the team’s opening drive, providing a sign of things to come in the process.

The Patriots, who took an early 3-0 lead on a 36-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk, regained the lead 10-7 on a five-yard rushing touchdown by receiver Julian Edelman.

The Titans were in danger of going into a double-digit deficit before halftime, but the defense got a big stop, holding the Patriots to another field goal after they had a first and goal at the Tennessee 1. Titans linebacker Rashaan Evans made a pair of stops near the goal-line, including one on a Sony Michel run on third down, and the Patriots led 13-7 with 2:16 left in the first half after another Folk field goal.

The Titans then reclaimed the lead at 14-13 with 35 seconds left in the first half on a one-yard touchdown run by Henry, which capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive.

The Titans led 14-13 at halftime, and Henry had 106 yards on 14 carries.

The Titans held the Patriots without a score in the second half, as the Titans rode Henry to run out the clock.

The Predators salvaged a point with a two-goal rally in the third, but a shootout victory for the Ducks forced Nashville to exit Honda Center unsatisfied on Sunday night in Anaheim.

A sluggish first period, and later three goals allowed in the second, established an uphill battle for the Predators to fight. Goals from Craig Smith and Rocco Grimaldi tied the game in the third frame, but after Ryan Getzlaf netted the winner in the shootout, Nashville went back to thinking about what could have been. After a back-to-back set in Southern California, the Predators will return to Music City with three out of a possible four points.

“In the first, we came up flat,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “Thanks to [goaltender Juuse Saros] it was only 1-1 [after the first period]… in the second, we actually played better, but we took too many penalties, and that kind of cost us. It was great for us to come back, and we had some chances in OT too, but I wish we would’ve got two points in the shootout.”

The Ducks had the Preds under siege from the start of the game, and it was Adam Henrique, who put the home team on the board first with a backhander 12 minutes into the first. If it weren’t for the stellar play of Saros in the Nashville net, the Predators could have found themselves down by more than one.

With less than a minute to play in the opening frame, Austin Watson tipped home a Colin Blackwell shot to even the score after 20 minutes. Saros ended up with a total of 20 saves in the first period.

“We were flat in the first period,” Watson said. “No excuse for it. But I thought for a group that, we’ve gotten down in some games and haven’t been able to claw our way back and let them get out of hand a little bit, but for our group, I thought it was a real big gut check to be able to come out and… get a point.”

Early in the second, Smith gave the visitors their only lead of the night when he redirected a pass from Kyle Turris past John Gibson and into the cage. The Ducks came back with three unanswered goals from Cam Fowler, Daniel Sprong and Henrique before the middle stanza was out.

The Predators weren’t ready to surrender, however, especially the line of Smith, Nick Bonino and Grimaldi. After Smith put home his second of the night, Josi extended his point streak to 10 games with a beautiful assist to Grimaldi, who evened the score at 4-4 to force overtime.

“The whole line was really good tonight,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “Rocco was terrific. He got going in the second and third period, and I thought that line started to take over the game for us there. They were really dominant out there every time they were on the ice. Good things were happening, and they scored some big goals for us.”

“With our line, I think we just want to just go and attack,” Smith said. “Create turnovers, maybe we let them off the hook, but we’re sick of doing that. We’ll be all right.”

After Grimaldi came inches away from winning the game on a breakaway in OT, a five-round shootout saw Getzlaf score the winner to send the Preds home with a single point.

There wasn’t any satisfaction in the loss on Sunday night, but the Predators did take three out of four points over the two-day span. For a team that needs points wherever possible right now, the weekend wasn’t all bad.

“It was a good comeback tonight,” Josi said. “We weren’t happy with the way we’re playing in the first, and then I thought we battled back and stayed with it. You always want the four points, but it was good character coming back. We just have to find a way to win it.”

Notes:

Josi set a franchise record for a defenseman with points in 10 consecutive games. He became the eighth defenseman in the last 20 years in the NHL to register a point streak of at least 10 games.

As was the case on Saturday, the Predators were without Ryan Ellis (upper-body injury, Injured Reserve), Matt Duchene (illness) Colton Sissons (lower-body injury, Injured Reserve) and Dante Fabbro (upper-body injury, day-to-day).

Alexandre Carrier dressed for the Preds on Sunday night in Anaheim for his third career NHL game and his first since January of 2017.

Their three-game road trip now complete, the Predators will return home for a single contest against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night (at 7 p.m. CT) at Bridgestone Arena before heading back out on the road, starting Thursday in Chicago.

An injury-depleted Predators lineup earned a victory in Los Angeles on Saturday night, as Nashville played simple, focused hockey and emerged 4-1 winners. The road win snaps a three-game losing skid for the Preds and gives them their first victory of 2020.

The Predators were without some big pieces on Saturday night – Ryan Ellis (upper-body injury, Injured Reserve), Matt Duchene (illness) Colton Sissons (lower-body injury, Injured Reserve) and Dante Fabbro (upper-body injury, day-to-day) – but they found a way to win the first and third periods and claim two points.

“It was really good,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of the effort. “We played a really strong first period. The second period, we worked hard, we made some decisions with the puck that gave them some opportunities, but I thought in the third period we went back to that mindset of just playing a smart, simple game. Guys worked hard and competed hard for 60 minutes, and we got a big road road win with some guys missing out of the lineup.”

Just as they did on New Year’s Day at the Cotton Bowl, the Preds had a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes, and the first tally of the night came courtesy of Rocco Grimaldi, who collected his own rebound to beat Jack Campbell midway through the first.

“It’s a huge win for us,” Grimaldi said. “It’s our first one since the Christmas break, so especially the way we lost last game… it was a tough pill for us to swallow being up 2-0 and losing. We were hungry to come in and get two points tonight.”

With less than a minute to play in the opening frame, Preds Captain Roman Josi went to work. Already with an assist on Grimaldi’s goal to extend his career-high point streak to nine games – a mark that tied former Nashville Captain Shea Weber for the longest streak by a defenseman in franchise history – Josi went full spin-o-rama at the L.A. blue line, before driving to the net and laying a beautiful backhand pass right on Ryan Johansen’s tape. The Nashville centerman did the rest to give his club a two-goal lead and a huge boost going into the intermission.

The effort from Josi left his teammates in awe.

“Ridiculous,” Grimaldi laughed. “I don’t know, ridiculous That’s crazy.”

“It was awesome,” Laviolette said. “He’s been doing that for the whole year, and it wasn’t just that play. He was attacking the offensive zone whenever he saw a seam or saw a crack and just pushing the pace offensively. But it was a beautiful, beautiful play all the way from the blue line in.”

In the second, the Kings fought back, and Alex Iafallo put Los Angeles on the board when he capitalized on a power play in the early stages of the period, but that was a close as they came.

Yakov Trenin made it 3-1 in the third when he redirected a Matt Irwin shot into the twine, and Craig Smith put the game out of reach just moments later. Pekka Rinne also contributed in net with 23 saves on the evening to stymie the Kings.

“It was a huge game for us,” Josi said. “We’re not happy with the way we’re playing the last few games, and it was a big win. Everybody bought in, and that’s what we need.”

The Predators will attempt to replicate Saturday’s effort with a quick turnaround in Anaheim on Sunday night, a chance to take four points in Southern California on the weekend.

“We’ve got up start putting wins together and start putting points on the board,” Grimaldi said. “Every game is huge for us, and you know Anaheim is going to be a hungry team in their home building. You have to have another effort like we did tonight.”

Notes:

With two points on the night, Josi established a new record for points by a Preds player through the first 40 games of the season with 43 (14g-29a).

With Ellis (IR) and Fabbro (day-to-day) out of the lineup against the Kings, Josi skated alongside Yannick Weber, Mattias Ekholm was with Jarred Tinordi and Dan Hamhuis saw time with Matt Irwin.

The Predators will head down the California coast to Anaheim ahead of Sunday evening’s contest (at 9 p.m. CT) with the Ducks to finish their back-to-back weekend set in the Golden State.