Coffee County’s Deaaron Rozier (#1) cuts the ball upfield on Friday night against Grundy County

“Thunder and Lightning” came to Grundy County on Friday night in the form of the Red Raider football team. The Coffee County Central High School team competed in their first scrimmage action of the year as the Red Raiders defeated Grundy County and Bledsoe County in the 3 way scrimmage. Between the inside running of Mill Harner and Gavin Husted(Thunder) and the outside speed of Tyrese McGee, Malik Scott and Deaaron Rozier(Lightning) the Raiders were able to put up 2 touchdowns on Grundy County and one touchdown on Bledsoe County in claiming the 2 wins. The Coffee County defense was spectacular as they forced 2 turnovers and held the 2 squads to 70 yards on 28 offensive snaps. Each team was given 10 offensive plays and them a 1st and 10 series with which to try to score.
In the opening contest with Grundy County, the Red Raider defense held Grundy County to 27 total yards in capturing the 2 to 0 win. McGee scored on the first play of Coffee County’s offensive set on a 60 yard sweep and Harner added a 5 yard TD run to cap the 1st and 10 series for the Raiders. In Coffee County’s 17 offensive plays, the Raiders gained 179 yards without a turnover. Alontae Taylor was 3 for 5 through the air for 45 yards.
Bledsoe County opened the 2nd scrimmage with 3 rushes for 26 yards before defensive coordinator Matt Mueller made the necessary adjustments to hold Bledsoe to 17 yards the rest of the scrimmage. The Coffee County defense got a pair of sacks against Bledsoe, one by Jacoby Lowe and the other by Deaaron Rozier. The Raiders stopped Bledsoe on their fourth down conversion attempt to prevent both teams from getting a first down. Offensively, Coffee County was stymied in their 10 play series before taking their 1st and 10 series down the field covering 70 yards in 12 plays. Taylor rushed for 31 yards in the drive while Husted added 21 yards on 2 carries and McGee caught a 4 yard TD pass to cap the drive and send Coffee County home with the sweep.
After the game, CHS head coach Ryan Sulkowski was happy with his team’s intensity. “I was happy with our defense, Matt did a good job of adjusting to their scheme and shutting (Bledsoe County) down after those first 3 plays. The kids are working hard, we wanted to focus on finding depth and having correct assignments tonight and we were able to do that” added Sulkowski. “Our goal is to have 4 fresh running backs in the 2nd half and our ‘Thunder and Lightning’ combination will provide a great change of pace.” The Raiders return to the practice field on Monday as they prepare for a Friday Jamboree battle with Spring Hill at Forrest High School. That game is set to kick off at 8:50 PM in Chapel Hill.

After creating a fourth-inning eruption that influenced Jose Fernandez’s early exit at Turner Field on Friday night, the Braves backed Julio Teheran with a four-run seventh inning that propelled them to a 6-3 win over the Marlins.

Nick Markakis’ two-run single off Mike Dunn highlighted the decisive seventh that was aided by two Adeiny Hechavarria errors and a misstep by Marlins catcher Jeff Mathis. Mathis’ inability to make contact with the plate on Daniel Castro’s game-tying fielder’s choice helped the Braves erase the three runs they surrendered when Teheran suddenly encountered trouble in the top of the seventh.

“It was an exciting game. You know [Fernandez] is one of the best pitchers in this game,” Teheran said. “He’s coming back from the [Tommy John] surgery, he’s doing a great job. It was an exciting game. I was just trying to do my job and I think I did it really well.”

Fernandez totaled 29 pitches while proving perfect through the first three innings, and he then threw 33 additional pitches before recording his second out in Atlanta’s two-run fourth inning. Fernandez had completed 20 consecutive scoreless innings against the Braves, dating back to Sept. 11, 2013, before allowing RBI singles to A.J. Pierzynski and Joey Terdoslavich.

Markakis extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single at the conclusion of an eight-pitch at-bat that included nothing but strikes during the fourth inning. Fernandez then promptly surrendered three consecutive singles and suddenly found himself facing a two-run deficit.  “Maybe that wore him out a little bit,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Fernandez. “We’ve seen that before, where a guy has a tough time putting a hitter away with a [long] at-bat, and the next thing you know. … It’s a grind trying to pitch to a good hitter in those situations.”

Before allowing each of the first three batters he faced in the seventh to reach safely, Teheran had surrendered just three hits. A Christian Yelich single in the fourth gave the Marlins runners at first and second with none out. But Teheran escaped that jam and righted himself before allowing three straight hits, including Hechavarria’s two-run triple, to begin the seventh. The Braves’ ace allowed three earned runs over 6 2/3 innings and now has a 2.55 ERA through 11 home starts.

Markakis recorded his second three-hit game of the homestand and eighth of the season. He has batted .361 (22-for-61) during his 14-game hit streak. But he has not been Atlanta’s hottest hitter. Pierzynski has batted .426 (20-for-47) during his 12-game hit streak.

Tom Koehler takes the hill on Saturday for Miami in the third game of the series, which starts at 6:10 p.m. CT.  Atlanta will counter with Mike Foltynewicz, who will be making his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett. Foltynewicz allowed four home runs in six innings against the Giants on Monday. Newly acquired Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn are expected to debut for the Braves.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of Saturday’s game beginning at 6:00 PM

Westwood wingback Shawn Anderson(in white) turns the corner on his way to the first of 2 TD’s against Moore County on Thursday night.

A pair of Shawn Anderson touchdown runs in the first quarter was all the offense that Westwood needed on Thursday night as they stopped conference rival Moore County 14 to 0 in Lynchburg. The muggy conditions produced a swarm of gnats, corn flies and mosquitoes but it was no match for the swarming Rocket defense which held the Blue Raiders to 55 yards in the game and only 4 yards in the second half. The ground control offense of Westwood kept the ball away from Moore County for all but 2 plays in the 4th quarter and 8 plays in the 2nd half. Anderson scored on a pair of jet sweeps of 24 yards and 35 yards, with the last run coming on the final play of the 1st quarter. Anderson also accounted for the 2 point conversion to give him all 14 points on the night. Anderson finished the game with 7 carries for 80 yards and the 2 TD’s. Jacob Floyd ground out 66 yards on 16 carries including 8 carries in the 4th quarter as Westwood ground out the clock.

Westwood head football coach Chad Dyer talks to his team during a timeout in Thursday’s game at Moore County. The win is the 50th in his career at Westwood.

“That is the way we will have to win football games this season” said Westwood coach Chad Dyer. The Rockets were hampered by 6 penalties, but only 1 in the second half and did not commit a turnover. Jake Hollandsworth had an interception for the Rockets as the Westwood defense forced Moore County to turn the ball over on downs twice in the game. “The key for us is to play smart, play defense and run the football” said Dyer as he claimed his 50th win as a head coach. The win gives Westwood a 1 and 0 record overall and in the conference heading into next Thursday’s game at Fayetteville. Thunder Radio will have the broadcast of that game beginning at 6:15 with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 PM.

Coaches Mike Ray(left) and Marshall Gilliam(right) pose with the Coffee County Lady Raider golf team after they claimed the Murfreesboro Invitational Title on Thursday. Pictured are: Coach Ray, Spohie Vinson, Savannah Quick, Teagan Perry and Coach Gilliam. Photo provided

Rain, lightning and a scorecard playoff were not enough to deny the Lady Raider golf team from claiming their 2^nd straight Murfreesboro Invitational title on Thursday at Champions Run.   Coffee County, which is perfect in match play this season, got a 70 from Savannah Quick along with a career best 79 from Teagan Perry and an 81 from Sophie Vinson to tie Riverdale for first place.  The Lady Raiders were crowned champions after a scorecard playoff of the tournament that was delayed several hours due to lightning in the Eagleville area.  Quick tied Riverdale Reagan Kinnie for low individual score but lost out on the overall crown in the scorecard playoff.

CHS senior golfer Hayden Proffitt hits a drive – File Photo

The Red Raiders got a 6^th place finish out of 15 teams as they shot a season best score of 320.  Senior Hayden Proffitt gutted out the brutal conditions to card a season low score of 74 to lead the Red Raiders.   Austin Farris shot an 80 while Samuel Prater and Reid Lawrence both had 83’s on the day for Coffee County.  The Red Raiders finished 8 strokes ahead of Tullahoma in the tournament.

Coach Mike Ray had nothing but praise for his young team. “I was very proud of both teams today.  The boys found a way to grind out pretty good scores considering the long delay and the difficult conditions.  The Girls played well but we found out today we have some competition for the Region championship in Riverdale and we’re going to have to play a little bit better if we intend on being back in the state.”   The Raiders and Lady Raiders will travel to Cookeville on Monday for the Early Bird Invitational at the Cookeville Country Club.  The match is set to tee off at 8 AM.

The Coffee County CHS volleyball team got a pair of victories on Thursday night in scrimmage action at Cumberland County.  The varsity team claimed a 3 to 1 win over the host Lady Jets while the JV team claimed a 2 set sweep.  In varsity play, the Lady Raiders dropped the first set, only to roar back and take the next 3 sets and the match.  Set scores were 15-25, 25-10, 25-18 and 25-22.  Coach Andrew Taylor was pleased with his young team’s performance and singled out Kaylee Skipper and Peyton Nicoll for their attacking and their serving.  The junior varsity team were pushed to the limit in both of their games, but got the match sweep winning 25-23 and 25-21.  The Lady Raiders will host a middle school scrimmage play day on Saturday beginning at 9:00 AM.  Saturday will also be the last day for girls to sign up for the Youth Volleyball League for girls in grades 4^th thru the 6^th.  Signups and the play day will be held from 9 to 5 at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.