After his final throw here on Sunday, Titans quarterback Zach Mettenberger ended up on the turf at NRG Stadium, on his hands in knees.

He had the breath knocked out of him following a hit by Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt.

It was a scene that played out over and over again in a 20-6 loss to the Texans. Mettenberger was sacked seven times in the contest, and he was hit a whopping 14 times in all.

“That’s just ridiculous, seeing him have to get up from the ground so many times,’’ Titans running back Antonio Andrews said, shaking his head. “That really frustrates me.”

It was just part of another frustrating day for the Titans, who lost their sixth straight contest.

In Mettenberger’s second straight start this season in place of an injured Marcus Mariota, he was harassed all day by Texans defenders. Watt sacked him 2.5 times and hit him a nine times on his own, per the official game book. Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus sacked Mettenberger 3.5 times, and was credited with four hits.

Mettenberger took some blame for holding the ball took long on some occasions.

“The cliché, the internal clock, you have to have that especially with a pass rush like the Texans have,’’ Mettenberger said. “But at the same time you can’t dink and dunk, you have to be able to push the ball downfield.”

He admitted it’s tough to operate with players in his space, and in his face.

“It’s a hard game to begin with, that definitely makes it a lot harder,’’ he said. “We have to find a way to overcome that and deal with that adversity. We couldn’t figure out a way to get it going.”

Meanwhile, Titans tackle Taylor Lewanput a good deal of the blame on his shoulders.

“I need to play better,’’ said Lewan, who was beaten by Mercilus on several occasions. “I definitely played one of the worst games I have ever played in my entire life, and I need to fix that. The offensive line needs to take responsibility for their actions, and I need to take responsibility for mine.

“We played like (crap today), we need to play better. I need to play better.”

Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said he’d need to watch the tape to see where the breakdowns came. But it was clear from the sideline the Titans had issues across the board up front.

It wasn’t just Lewan who struggled. At one point, the team pulled rookie right tackle Jeremiah Poutasi and replaced him with Jamon Meredith.

“I think they created some one-on-one matchups, and they won,’’ Whisenhunt said. “We tried a bunch of different things to try and counter that, but we lost matchups.

“… They had a good day. They won some one-on-one matchups. We obviously didn’t play well enough up front in those situations. You have to give them credit.”

Mettenberger completed 22-of-31 passes in the game, with no touchdowns and an interception.

The Titans went 1-of-12 (8 percent) on third down, which kept the Titans from getting into a rhythm on offense.

On the season, Mettenberger is 49-of-74 for 421 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

“Offensively, we just haven’t operated at the level we need to execute at, myself included,’’ Mettenberger said. “There’s a few throws I’d like to have back, but at the same time there’s a lot of good we can build on, we just have to get over the hump and hopefully guys will see that.”

The Titans travel to New Orleans on Sunday for a Noon match up with the Saints.  Thunder Radio will bring you all the action with Mike Keith and Frank Wychek on the call.

Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists, Frederick Andersen stopped 40 shots, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 Sunday night.

Rickard Rakell, Sami Vatanen and Andrew Cogliano also scored to help the Ducks snap a five-game skid (0-4-1) and get their second win in 11 games (2-8-2).
Shea Weber and Calle Jarnkrok had Nashville’s goals and Carter Hutton stopped 24 shots. The Predators, coming off a 4-3 overtime defeat at Los Angeles the previous night, lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

After scoring just 10 goals in 10 games, the Ducks broke out of their funk with their second four-goal effort of the season.

Rakell finished off a strong early stretch of possession anchored by Stewart and Jiri Sekac with his second goal of the season. Rakell found himself all alone behind the net with the puck before burying a backhand shot past Carter Hutton just 1:11 into the game.

The Ducks did not let up, with Vatanen unleashing his big slap shot from outside the circle to make it 2-0 midway through the first period. Stewart picked up his second assist of the game on the play.

With the Predators still reeling, Cogliano capitalized 12 seconds later. He took Jakob Silfverberg’s pass, cut between distracted defenders Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm down the middle of the ice and scored for a 3-0 lead.

It was the Ducks’ fastest scoring blitz since getting two goals in 11 seconds against the Vancouver on Jan. 19, 2013.

Weber got the Predators going on the power play, scoring 5:23 into the second period. It was only the fourth goal allowed by the Ducks’ penalty kill, entering the game with the league’s second-best mark at 90.9 percent.

Stewart pushed the Ducks’ lead back to three when he jammed home a rebound. Hutton stopped Korbinian Holzer’s initial shot, but the puck trickled across the crease and right to Stewart for his first goal since signing with Anaheim as a free agent.

Jarnkrok added the other Nashville goal late in the second period.

Seth Jones nearly scored a third, skating through the Anaheim defense on the power play but unable to get the shot off. The loose puck then trickled between Andersen’s legs before redirecting off his skate and going just wide of the net.

The Predators are off until Thursday night when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Wild.  Face-off is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action on the Fifth-Third Bank Nashville Predators Radio Network

The CCMS GIrls basketball team poses with their championship trophy on Friday night

In their final tune-ups for the regular season that begins on Monday, the Coffee County Middle School basketball teams swept the titles at last week’s Woodbury Grammar School Border Battle Tournament,   Even though the games were scrimmage contests, the wins set the Raiders and Lady Raiders up for a fast start to the regular season.

The Lady Raiders built a 20 point lead in the first half against Woodland on their way to a 57 to 38 victory in Friday’s finals.  Julia Duncan led Coffee County in scoring with 25 points.  Bella Vinson added 9 points and Keri Munn netted 6 for the Lady Raiders.  Duncan, Vinson and Keelie Hillis were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The CCMS Boys basketball team poses with their championship trophy on Friday night

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders used a 16 point 2nd quarter to overcome a first quarter deficit to beat Swiss Memorial 51 to 28.  Brandon Jernigan led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points while Blanton Brown and Jalen Morris each finished with 8 points.  Jernigan, Brown and Morris were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Coffee Middle opens the regular season on Monday night at CCMS as they play host to South Franklin.  The girls game is set to tip off at 6:00 PM.

Final Scores (Girls)
College Street 29, East Coffee 9
New Union 25, North Coffee 7
Westwood 27, Deerfield 14
Hillsboro 19, Hickerson 2

Final Scores (Boys)
College Street 33, East Coffee 12
New Union 31, North Coffee 5
Westwood 24, Deerfield 3
Hickerson 30, Hillsboro 23

Standings – Girls
Hillsboro 2 & 0
New Union 2 & 0
College Street 2 & 0
Westwood 1 & 1
Hickerson 1 & 1
North Coffee 0 & 2
Deerfield 0 & 2
East Coffee 0 & 2

Standings – Boys
College Street 2 & 0
Westwood 2 & 0
New Union 2 & 0
Hillsboro 1 & 1
Hickerson 1 & 1
Deerfield 0 & 2
North Coffee 0 & 2
East Coffee 0 & 2

Coffee County and Siegel teams meet at midfield to pray for injured Siegel play Baylor Bramble following the first play of the game. (Photo by Dustin Murray)

In a game atmosphere unlike a normal Friday night, the Coffee County Red Raider football team saw an emotional Siegel team claim a 45 to 26 win on Friday night in Murfresboro. The game began with a tribute to Siegel junior Baylor Bramble, who wears number 33 and who has been in critical condition for the past week at Vanderbilt after suffering a head injury in the Warren County game. With only 10 players on the field, the Stars kicked off, and Vanderbilt commit Alontae Taylor ran up to the 33-yard line and downed the ball there. Taylor took a knee on the first snap of the game as the public address announcer credited Bramble with the stop. At that point, both teams met in the middle of the field for a prayer for Bramble.
Coffee County scored first as Taylor scored from 11 yards out to give the Raiders a 6 to 0 lead with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter. Siegel’s Greedy Howse scored the first of his 4 touchdowns 59 seconds later to put the Stars on top 7 to 6, only to see Coffee County’s Mill Harner gallop 49 yards for a touchdown to end the first quarter with a score of 12 to 7 in favor of the Raiders.
The game’s turning point occurred late in the first half as Siegel scored 2 touchdowns in the final 85 seconds of the first half to give Siegel a 28 to 12 halftime lead. A second TD from Mill Harner and a 51 yard TD reception by Tyrese McGee in the second half were not enough to overcome a Siegel offense that rolled up 470 total yards. Harner finished the game with 21 carries for 140 yards and 2 TD’s to earn the Farm Bureau/Thunder Radio Player of the Game honor. Taylor rushed 22 times for 103 yards and a rushing and passing touchdown as Coffee County piled up 380 yards of total offense on the game.
With the loss, Coffee County will finish as the 7th seed in Region 2-6A and will be forced to travel for Round #1 of the TSSAA playoffs. The Raiders begin playoff competition on Friday night as they travel to Johnson City to take on Science Hill. That game will kick off at 6:00 PM CST and Thunder Radio will have the broadcast of that game beginning with the pregame show at 5:45.