As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the boys’ soccer teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County and Westwood middle schools. 

The highlight of the year was the strong close to the season for the Coffee County CHS soccer team as they won 4 of their last 5 games and advanced to the finals of the District 8AAA tournament.  An exciting semifinal win in Columbia gave the Raiders the berth in the finals and Thunder Radio reported on that win in a story brought to you on May 8^th.

The Coffee County CHS soccer needed almost 100 minutes, but the Red Raiders traveled to Columbia and upset the regular season district champion Lions of Columbia Central.  Coffee County needed 19 minutes of extra time to gain a 1 to 0 win.

John Martinez converted a pass from Briggs Haithcock for the game winner in the 99^th minute.  Coffee County missed out on an excellent scoring chance in the first half but the impressive play of Raider keeper Kix Ferrell send the game to the half scoreless.  In the 2^nd half and extra time, Ferrell turned away countless shots from a tenacious Columbia offense to capture the clean sheet and the praise of Raider coach Robert Harper.  “I can’t count how many incredible saves he had.  Probably the best game ever by a Coffee County keeper” said Harper.

The Red Raiders will ride a 4 game win streak into Thursday’s district finals at Shelbyville.  That match will get underway at 6:30 PM at Shelbyville Central High School.  A win on Thursday will give the Red Raiders a berth in the Region 4-AAA tournament next week.

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team continued their improvement from 2018 as they advanced to the conference finals on April 27^th.  The Red Raiders got a 3 to 2 win over Tullahoma in semifinals.  Thunder Radio reported on the win with the following story we brought to you on April 29^th.

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team capped off their most successful season of the decade.  Coffee County advanced to the CTC tournament finals with a 3 to 2 win over Tullahoma on Saturday afternoon.  In the finals the Red Raiders were stopped by Harris 3 to 0.

Against Tullahoma, Javier Rodriquez got Coffee Middle on the board in the 1^st half to make the score 1 nil at the half.  In the second half, Julius Norris potted a pair of goals to build the Raider lead to 3 nil.  Tullahoma scrapped their way back into the match with a pair of goals late but could not catch up to Coffee County.   The win avenged a 6 to 2 regular season loss to Tullahoma.

In the finals, Coffee County took on a Harris team that blitzed through the conference all season long including an 8 to 0 win in Shelbyville.   Coffee County played exceptionally well but fell 3 to 0.  After the match, Coffee County’s Peyton Pobanz, Isaiah Campbell and Javier Rodriquez were named to the all-conference team.

The Westwood Middle School soccer team came up short in their chance to claim their 5^th straight conference title.  The Rockets season came to a close in a semifinal match at Dyer-Bouldin Field.  Thunder Radio brought you the recap in a story we brought to you on April 18^th. 

The Westwood soccer team closed out their regular season on Wednesday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field.  Hosting conference rival Cascade, the Rockets had a huge 2^nd half as they rolled to a 4 to 0 win.

Westwood got on the board late in the first half as Cascade punched a ball past their own keeper for an own goal.  In the second half, Westwood got a pair of goals from Caleb Cargile and a goal from David Dolack.

The Rockets return to the pitch on Friday, April 26^th when they host the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference postseason tournament.  Westwood, with their first place conference finish, has secured the number 1 seed and will host a semifinal game on Friday.  The CTSC final will be held on Saturday, April 27^th at Dyer-Bouldin Field.

As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at the year for the Coffee County Claybusters.  Fielding arguably the most successful youth teams in this area for the last decade, the Claybusters continued to add to their trophy case in 2019.  The Claybusters added another National Championship trophy to the trophy case at the Aim Grand Championship in Sparta, Illinois.  Thunder Radio reported on the Claybusters success at the AIM Grand Championships in a story we brought to you on August 1^st.

The most successful prep sports team in Southern Middle Tennessee added another national title to their championship pedigree.  The Coffee County Claybusters earned a team title and a pair of Top 3 finishes on Tuesday in the American Trapshooting Association(ATA) AIM Grand American World Trapshooting Championships in Illinois.  All 3 teams and 3 individuals competed in the AIM Singles Championship shooting 100 targets a day on Monday and 100 more on Tuesday.

The Claybusters Team #1 captured the Junior Division national title as they shattered 972 targets out of 1000.  Leading the Juniors was Hayden Jacobs who shot 197 clays.  Colter Smith was right behind him with 196.  Tucker Carlton shot 195, Victoria Majors shattered 193 and Cheyenne Martin finished with 191 as each shooter had at least 2 perfect 25 rounds.

Claybusters Team #2 finished in 2^nd place in the Sub-Junior Division Class AA with a final score of 952.  Team #2 was led by twin brothers Landon and Logan Meadows who each dropped 194 clays.  Garrett Taylor was right on their heels after shooting 192 clays.  Riley Bellomy shot 188 and Emma Mathews dropped 184.

Claybusters Team #3 claimed 3^rd place in the Sub-Junior Division Class A with a final score of 922.  Team #3 was led by Jonah Wyatt who shot 194 targets.  Brayden Davenport dumped 191 and Aubrey Payne shattered 186.  Xavier Bartley scored 176 hits while Dylan Hickerson scored 175.

Individually, Alexus Stacey shot a 179 as a Junior Class B shooter.  Jacob Anderson  had a 171 as a Pre-Sub Junior Class A shooter and Emily Deford shot 163 in the Junior Division Class D.

Roman Josi scored for the fifth consecutive game and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves to help the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Bridgestone Arena. The result sends the Preds into the Christmas break as winners of four of their last five games with nine more points to their name over the past week.

Nashville’s netminder also collected his 354th career victory to move into sole possession of 20th on the NHL’s all-time wins list.

A newfound confidence that began on the road carried over into Monday night at home, and after a dominating start, the Predators settled in and found yet another way to boost their confidence and climb in the standings once more.

“It was a huge win for us,” Josi said. “That’s a good team over there, and I thought we played really well in the first. We weren’t happy with the way we played in the second, but Peks played unbelievable. It was a hard-working win for us and we found a way.”

The Predators came out flying, and on their 21st shot of the first period, Filip Forsberg was rewarded with his team-leading 14th tally of the season for a 1-0 advantage after 20 minutes. Josi, who was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week earlier in the day, assisted on Forsberg’s goal to extend his point streak to five games.

“Right now, he’s in a groove and that’s good for us,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of Josi. “He’s had such a strong start to his season. Every game, if not the most noticeable player, he’s one of them. There’s never a game where he doesn’t show up and punch his ticket. He works hard every game. He leads by example.”

In the second, it was Viktor Arvidsson, who scored for the first time since returning to the lineup on Saturday, a month to the day since he was injured back in November. Midway through the frame, Arvidsson ripped a shot that struck the mask of goaltender Antti Raanta and carried over the line for a 2-0 lead.

Lawson Crouse got the visitors on the board when his backhand shot beat Rinne at 18:07 after the Nashville netminder had already made a number of key stops in the contest.

In the third, Josi floated a shot from the point, the kind of attempt that finds its way in when the goals are coming with regularity, and the Captain gave his team their third of the night and what proved to be the game-winner. Arizona answered quickly, but Rinne and his mates shut the door the rest of the way to earn win No. 18 on the season.

“We’re definitely playing better,” Josi said. “We’re getting bounces, but looking back at the road trip at the Islanders game, we were working hard… As long as you put in the work, you’re going to get those bounces and those goals. Lately, we’ve been working a lot harder.”

Saturday night’s overtime win in Boston to finish off the four-game trip was gratifying, but the message in the Nashville room emphasized that the Christmas break hadn’t arrived yet.

One more game loomed, and now that it has also delivered a win, the Preds can settle in for a well-deserved three days of rest before getting back to work.

“The guys are working hard right now, and it was a good road trip,” Laviolette said. “We needed that, and we wanted to play a solid game at home before we went into the break. We have a couple of days off, and when we get back, we just need to continue what we’re doing.”

“We needed that, and it’s nice to relax and take your mind off of hockey after a couple of good wins,” Rinne said. “We’ll re-energize and come back, but it was huge to get those points.”

Notes:

Pekka Rinne’s 354th career win allows him to pass Rogie Vachon and Evgeni Nabokov for the 20th-most in NHL history. His 354 career wins are the third-most by a European-born goalie, trailing only Dominik Hasek (389) and Henrik Lundqvist (457).

The Predators will now have the next three days off as the Christmas break arrives. They’ll return to the ice on Friday to begin a home-and-home set with the Pittsburgh Penguins, starting in Nashville. After that pair of outings between the 2017 Stanley Cup Finalists, it’ll be off to Dallas for the Preds ahead of the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

It was a busy, and successful, end of the week for the Coffee County CHS wrestling team.  On Thursday, the Raider grapplers welcomed Cascade to the Coffee County Raider Academy.  On Friday night, Coffee County traveled to Winchester for a tri-match with Rockvale and Franklin County.

Taking on the Champions from Wartrace on Thursday, the Raiders also welcomed the Cascade Youth program to wrestle the Coffee County Youth program.  In the high school matchup, the Red Raiders claimed a 48 to 18 win.   The Raiders got forfeit wins from Leo Ramirez(at 195 pounds), Christopher Speagle(220) and Hunter Massey(126).  Grabbing pinfall wins for the Raiders were Caleb Boothe(138), Gavin Prater(145), Zach Speagle(170), Russell Ralph(182) and Cardin Stump(285).

On Friday, Coffee County got a 42 to 30 win over Rockvale and a 42 to 12 conquest of Franklin County.  Against Rockvale on Friday night, Coffee County captured a 42 to 30 victory.   Hunter Waring(145), Shon Taylor(160), Zachary Speagle(170), Chris Speagle(220) and Cardin Stump(285) all got pinfall wins.  Caleb Boothe(138) and Russell Ralph(182) got forfeit wins. 

Against Franklin County, the Raiders got forfeit wins from Caleb Boothe(138), Dalton Long(120), Shon Taylor(160) and Hunter Waring(145).  Coffee County got pinfall wins from Russell Ralph(195), Cardin Stump(285) and Hunter Massey(126). 

Coffee County will be off until Saturday, January 4^th when they return to action in Murfreesboro for the Red Hawk Rampage.  That individual tournament will get underway at 8 AM. 

Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis looked like the best defensive pairing in the NHL on Saturday night in Boston – and they’re headed home happy.

Josi tallied twice to tie the NHL lead for goals by a defenseman, while Ellis dominated the overtime session before scoring the game-winning goal in a 4-3 Predators victory over the Bruins. The result gives Nashville seven of a possible eight points to conclude their four-game road in season-defining fashion.

“It’s a great win for us,” Josi said. “That’s a really good team over there, one of the best in the League, and we wanted to end the road trip on a positive note. It was a huge win for us.”

“It definitely had a hard fought feel to it, playoff type feel to it,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “They’re a good team, they check well, they defend well and we had to go to overtime. It was a great, great hockey game.”

After a scoreless opening frame, the Bruins got the game’s first goal seven-and-a-half minutes into the second stanza, courtesy of Par Lindholm. Fewer than five minutes later, Roman Josi cut through the slot, and with Arvidsson providing a screen, the Preds captain backhanded a shot past Jaroslav Halak to even the score.

But, with less than a minute to play in the middle period, Patrice Bergeron scored on the power play to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead to conclude the frame. The Bruins were 12-0-2 when leading going into the third period.

“They have a good team, and their top line is as dangerous as anybody in the League,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “You know it’s a good team, but I think we started the game really well and defended really well all night long. It was a hard-fought battle.”

For the third time on their trip, the Predators refused to go away quietly. First, Filip Forsberg tallied the important tying goal when he crammed the puck through the pads of Halak at 7:35. Thirty-five seconds later, Josi topped his individual effort from earlier in the game.

The defenseman charged into the zone on a partial breakaway but was met by a challenging Halak way out from his crease. Josi blocked the goaltender’s clearing attempt, however, and spun at the half wall to fire the puck into the open net.

“He was awesome,” Laviolette said of Josi. “He’s definitely at the front of the rope trying to pull us in the right direction, so tonight was another example of that.”

The Bruins still had an answer up their sleeve, as Bergeron got his second of the night with 65 seconds left in regulation and Halak pulled for the extra attacker. In the Bruins’ 10th overtime home game of the season, Ellis took over. The blueliner kept the Bruins off the scoreboard until the four-minute mark of OT when he jumped off the bench and one-timed a feed from Ryan Johansen for a 4-3 victory.

“The lane opened up, and a heck of a play by [Johansen] recognizing it,” Ellis said. “Good sauce play, and all in all, just a good game for us.”

When this road trip started on Monday in New York City, the Predators weren’t anywhere near where they wanted to be in the standings. They’re still not there yet, but they’re seven points closer, and that leaves a good feeling as they pack up to head back to Nashville.

“It was a huge road trip for us,” Josi said. “Nobody on this team was happy with the way we were playing and the position we were in. We’re still not happy where we are in the standings, so we’ve got to keep pushing, but that was definitely a huge road trip.”

“We’re still in a dogfight,” Rinne said. “We still have to win more games and put together some streaks, but at least this is a huge road trip against good teams. We’re just looking forward to a little break at Christmastime, but we still have one more game at home.”

That final contest before a three-day break comes Monday against Arizona, and the holiday will be even happier if they can find success once more.

“It’s a good four games for us, but we’ve got one more job,” Ellis said. “We can’t let our foot off the gas. We have to get the two points at the next game, get a bit of a break, kind of reset and go from there.”

Notes:

Viktor Arvidsson returned to the Nashville lineup after missing four weeks with a lower-body injury. Mikael Granlund also dressed after sitting out the past four games with a lower-body injury.

In addition to extending his goal streak to a career-high four games, Josi now has four multi-goal games this season, the most among NHL defensemen.

With their four-game excursion now complete, the Predators return home to host Taylor Hall and the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, the final game before the three-day Christmas break.

It was a good news, bad news kind of day on Sunday for the Titans.

First, the bad news: The Titans went toe-to-toe with the high-flying New Orleans Saints before losing, 38-28, at Nissan Stadium. It was the team’s second straight loss after winning four games in a row.

The good news is the Titans are now in a win-and-in playoff scenario next Sunday in Houston. A win vs. the Texans and the Titans would claim a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoffs. A win by the New York Jets over the Steelers on Sunday cracked the door for the Titans in Week 7.

The Titans dropped to 8-7 with the loss on Sunday, while the Saints improved to 12-3.

The Titans got off to a fast start on Sunday to claim an early touchdown lead, and then fought back late, before the Saints clinched it.

The Titans took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill to tight end Jonnu Smith.

On the team’s next possession, Titans rookie A.J. Brown took a handoff and sprinted 39 yards for a touchdown, making it 14-0 barely 10 minutes into the game.

But the Saints rallied, cutting the lead to 14-10 on a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Brees to tight end Jared Cook, which followed a 47-yard field goal by kicker Wil Lutz earlier in the second quarter.

It was 14-10 Titans at the half.

The Saints then surged ahead 17-14 on a 40-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamari just one minute into the third quarter. Another Kamara touchdown, this one from one yard out, midway through the third quarter made it 24-14.

A few minutes later, Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill found receiver Tajae Sharpe open for a 36-yard touchdown pass, which made it 24-21 with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

But the Saints responded with a quick scoring drive of their own to reclaim a ten-point lead, going up 31-21 on a 16-yard touchdown toss from Brees to Cook again.

Back came the Titans. Tannehill connected with Sharpe again for a touchdown – this time from seven yards out – to make it 31-28 with 7:27 left in the contest. When the Titans got the ball back, Tannehill connected with receiver Kalif Raymond for a big play across the middle, but the ball was dislodged and the Saints recovered the fumble and returned it deep into Tennessee territory.

Brees connected with Thomas for a two-yard touchdown to make it 38-28 with 2:10 left and the Saints held on.

Titans running back Derrick Henry, who is dealing with a lingering hamstring injury, was among the team’s inactives. Dion Lewis started in his place at running back, and Lewis and Dalyn Dawkins both got carries on offense for the Titans.

The Titans travel to Houston to face the Texans in the regular season finale next Sunday.