The Coffee County Elementary League opened up their postseason tournament on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Four boys’ and 4 girls’ quarterfinal matchups advanced 8 teams to Thursday night’s semifinals.  The championship and consolation games will be held on Saturday. 

In girls’ games on Saturday, East Coffee got a thrilling 15 to 14 double overtime win over College Street; North Coffee raced past Hillsboro 27 to 4; New Union dumped Hickerson 43 to 11 and Westwood shot down Deerfield 36 to 2.

In the boys’ quarterfinals, Westwood bested East Coffee 16 to 9; New Union doubled up Hillsboro 22 to 11; North Coffee rolled over 30 to 5 and College Street clipped Hickerson 34 to 2.

Thursday night’s semifinal schedule(corrected)
5 PM – North Coffee vs. New Union – Girls
6 PM – North Coffee vs. New Union – Boys
7 PM – Westwood vs. East Coffee – Girls
8 PM – College Street vs. Westwood – Boys

The Coffee County Central High School basketball teams made the trek to Sparta on Friday night to tangle with the talented Warrior teams of White County.  In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County was swept in the road doubleheader by White County.  The girls fell on a last-second shot 63 to 62 while turnovers doomed the Red Raiders in a 71 to 55 defeat.

In the girls game, Coffee County fell behind by 10 points with 6:30 to go in the third quarter before battling back to take a three-point lead into the 4^th quarter.  The Lady Raiders were able to stretch the lead to 7 with 4:30 to play but White County went on a run in the final 99 seconds culminated by a three-point basket at the buzzer to get the win.  Bella Vinson led Coffee County in scoring as she had 24 points to be named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Ellie Chumlee finished with 18 points and Jalie Ruehling added 12.  The loss drops Coffee County to a record of 7 and 2 overall

The Red Raiders took a 4 point lead into the second quarter but White County used 6 Coffee County turnovers in the second quarter to take an 11-point lead into the half.  In the third quarter,  White County outscored Coffee County 24 to 5 to seal the outcome.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Shawn Anderson who had 17 points as he was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Trenton Scribner added 10 points and Jaylen Wooten finished with seven.  The loss drops Coffee County to 5 and 3 on the season.

The Red Raiders are back in action on Saturday night when they welcome Marshall County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym for a boys only game.  The JV Red Raiders will play at 6 PM while the varsity game will tip off at 7:30.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the varsity contest.  Our live coverage will begin with the Char-El Apartment and Home Rental Pregame Show at 7:20.  Both Raider teams return to the court on Monday when they travel to Coalmont to take on Grundy County.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM; our live coverage will begin with the Powers Storage pregame show at 5:50.

Download the broadcast at: www.Thunder1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team played host to Marshall County on Saturday night at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.   Looking to break a 2 game losing streak, the Red Raiders jumped out to a huge halftime lead.  Nine different Red Raiders scored on the night as Coffee County blew away Marshall County 61-36.

After surrendering the 1^st basket of the game, Coffee County reeled off 12 straight points to seize a lead they would own for the rest of the game.  Coffee County forced 7 turnovers in the 1^st quarter an 11 point lead into the 2^nd quarter.  The Red Raiders got the first 9 points of the 2^nd quarter and never allowed Marshall County to cut that lead to single digits the rest of the night. 

Coffee County was led in scoring by C.J. Anthony and Jaylon Wooten as each netted 9 points.  Hayden Hullett added 8 points.  Hullett, by virtue of his defense and scoring, was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Jaxon Vaughn finished with 6 points and Connor Shemwell, Kyle Farless and Shawn Anderson all chipped in 5 points. 

The Raider teams return to the court on Monday when they travel to Coalmont to take on Grundy County.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM; our live coverage will begin with the Powers Storage pregame show at 5:50.

Download the broadcast at: www.Thunder1320.com/downloads

Four Coffee County Lady Raider wrestlers traveled to Clarksville on Saturday to compete in the Coyote Classic at West Creek High School  Individually, Coffee County’s grapplers came home with a 1^st place and 2 3^rd place finishes.  Competing against full squads, the 4 Lady Raiders managed to come home with a 16^th place team finish out of 30 teams. 

Alana Coker led the Lady Raiders with a 1^st place finish in the 119 division.  Coker was 4 and 0 on the day as she grabbed 3 pinfall wins and an 8 to 5 decision win.  Coker grabbed the title with a pinfall win on the championship match. 

Mary Wolfrum grabbed a 3^rd place finish in the 125 division.   Wolfrum finished with a 4 and 1 record as she got a 1 to 0 decision in the 3^rd place match.  Wolfrum finished with a bye, 2 decision wins and a pinfall win. 

Mary Anne Walker grabbed a 3^rd place finish in the 132 division.  Walker finished the day with a record of 5 and 1.  Walker grabbed a pinfall win in the 3^rd place match in a mere 33 seconds.  Walker finished the day with a win in a bye and 4 pinfall wins.

Lyra Leftwich finished the day with a record of 1 and 2.  Leftwich got a pinfall win in her lone victory in n impressive 50 seconds. 

by Jim Wyatt, TitansOnline.com

The Titans left the Black Hole like a fast-moving object with a lot of momentum.

And the Raiders couldn’t escape their wrath.

On their final visit to Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, the Titans turned in a performance to remember in a 42-21 win over the Raiders.

The team scored over 30 points for the fourth game in a row on a day when quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 391 yards, running back Derrick Henry ran for over 103 yards and receiver A.J. Brown had 153 receiving yards.

It all added up to the team’s fourth win in a row, and sixth win in the past seven games. The Titans improved to 8-5 with the win, and the team is now tied with the Texans for first place in the AFC South.

Tannehill completed 20-of-26 passes for 391 yards in the contest, with three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 140.4.

Titans running back Derrick Henry went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth game in a row. Henry’s 103 yards came on 18 carries on Sunday, along with touchdown runs of 10 and 12 yards.

Henry scored his second touchdown of the day with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter to give the Titans a 28-21 lead. The score capped off a six-play, 89-yard drive for the Titans.

Then came back-to-back touchdowns – including one on defense — as the Titans blew things open.

Tannehill connected with tight end Jonnu Smith for a 17-yard touchdown to make it 35-21 with 14:29 left in the contest.

Barely a minute later, linebacker Jayon Brown picked up a fumble caused by cornerback Tye Smith and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-21 with 13:12 left.

After three quarters, the Titans had already racked up over 500 yards of offense.

It was shootout early.

Tannehill guided the Titans down the field on the team’s first possession, but his tipped pass was intercepted by Raiders defensive lineman Maurice Hurst and returned 55 yards to the Tennessee 21-yard line. Three plays later, Raiders running back DeAndre’ Washington scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to give Oakland a 7-0 lead.

But the Titans quickly responded with an eight-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with the 12-yard touchdown run by Henry. Fullback Khari Blasingame made a nice 24-yard catch on the drive, and a 10-yard catch by Smith preceded the touchdown run by Henry to make it 7-7.

On the team’s next possession, the Titans jumped ahead 14-7 on a 91-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to Brown, who got behind Oakland defender Daryl Worley.

But the Raiders responded with a long touchdown pass of their own – quarterback Derek Carr to receiver Rico Gafford for 49 yards – to make it 14-14 with 10:43 left in the second quarter.

The Titans then surged ahead 21-14 on another long drive, and another Tannehill-to-Brown touchdown. On a third-and-goal from the 16, Brown caught a pass across the middle and made three defenders miss while bouncing into the end zone to cap off an eight-play, 77-yard drive with an exclamation point.

The Raiders had some answers of their own, however. Carr capped off a long time with a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Foster Moreau to make it 21-21 with just 24 seconds left before halftime.

The Titans had a chance to take the lead at the half, but a 42-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Succop hit the left goalpost and the game was tied at halftime.

Tannehill completed 13-of-15 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns and an interception in the first half, with a passer rating of 130.6. By halftime, Brown had four catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Then came the game-deciding second half, when the Titans turned things up, and shut the Raiders down.

The Texans (8-5) and Colts (6-7) both lost on Sunday, creating an opportunity for the Titans in the AFC South.

Now, it’s time for what should be an exciting finish to the season.

The Titans face the Texans next Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Yakov Trenin’s first NHL goal wasn’t the prettiest he’s ever scored, but it still counts just as much.

In his second NHL game, the rookie’s first tally was one of six the Predators potted on Saturday night, as they defeated the New Jersey Devils by a 6-4 final at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville’s 13th victory of the season gives them points in six of their last seven outings and sees them collect a point in their ninth-straight outing against the Devils.

The Preds scored twice in each of the game’s three periods, and from Daniel Carr’s first in Gold only 46 seconds into the contest to Rocco Grimaldi’s exclamation point on the breakaway, it was a satisfying Saturday in Smashville.

“The offense was good. I didn’t like the way the game unfolded a little bit… but I do like the fact as they pushed back, because they do have a lot of skill in their lineup, as they pushed back there was always a response and we were able to grow the lead,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I did like the way the game played out with regard to that. Defensively, I don’t think we gave up a whole bunch, but we made a couple of mistakes and [Pekka Rinne] made a couple of big saves as well.”

“There’s always things you can improve on, but I like the way the guys battled through the little things,” Preds defenseman Dante Fabbro, who record his first-career, multi-point game, said. “You don’t want to give up a lead like that [in the first four minutes], but we found a way to get back on top and finish the job.”

The game’s first four minutes brought the first four goals of the night, and it was the home team that got it going. To start, Carr redirected a Dan Hamhuis point shot for his first as a member of the Preds and a 1-0 lead. Moments later, Fabbro made it 2-0 when he deposited a feed from Nick Bonino past Devils goaltender Louis Domingue and into the twine.

But it wasn’t long before the Devils responded, and in a matter of minutes, Jesper Bratt and Travis Zajac had tied the game at the 3:59 mark. The offensive outburst marked just the 14th instance in NHL history of two teams combining for at least four goals in the opening four minutes of a game.

In the second stanza, the Preds got their lead back, and it was Trenin, who saw the puck deflect off his leg and into the cage for his first in the NHL.

“It feels incredible,” Trenin said of scoring the first of his career. “I didn’t see how the puck went in, I just saw the red light behind the net and I started celebrating. I felt it hit me and I was hoping and said, ‘go, go in the net!'”

“It was awesome,” Grimaldi said of Trenin’s goal. “I played with him a little bit last year [in Milwaukee], and I played a lot on the power play with him and he’s always in front of the net. I remember that from last year, so I was just trying to put a shot on the net and hit him and went in. Just seeing the excitement on his face was awesome, so it was really fun.”

A few minutes later, Filip Forsberg pounced on a loose puck in the blue paint and tallied his team-leading 11th of the season to put the Preds up by two.

New Jersey cut the lead to one before the middle frame was out, but Nick Bonino made a slick move and went top shelf for Nashville’s fifth of the night to tie Forsberg’s 11 on the season. The Devils made it interesting again when Taylor Hall scored midway through the third, but Grimaldi’s patented breakaway move worked once more, as he went to the forehand to finish off the evening.

With a goal and an assist on the night, Grimaldi set a career high with his 14th point of the season.

In the case of Carr and Trenin, who have both led the Milwaukee Admirals in scoring at separate times this season, their first goals with the Preds came as a result of hard work going to the net, and Laviolette was pleased to see the two players capitalize.

“Yak has had such a good year, a strong year,” Laviolette said of Trenin. “In Milwaukee, he was tearing it up offensively… so it was nice to see him get rewarded.

“[Carr], for me, has been extremely hard working the whole time that he’s been up here… He’s playing with the right players to produce, and I think he’s working really hard and he’s gotten some chances, so it is nice to see him get rewarded.”

The Predators would have preferred to not give up four goals, and they pointed to some defensive lapses they’d like to correct. However, it has also been a while since the high-powered offense had put six in that back of the net, and that final tally was something to be proud of.

“It’s a big confidence boost for our team,” Fabbro said. “If we just continue to work hard and pursue offense, it’s going to keep coming. We’ve got a talented group here; we just have to keep working hard.”

Notes:

Daniel Carr’s first-period goal was his first in Nashville, as he became the 183rd player in franchise history to score a goal.

Yakov Trenin then followed to become the 184th in club history to find the back of the net.

Mikael Granlund missed his second-straight game with a lower-body injury.

Nashville’s three-game homestand concludes on Tuesday night (at 7 p.m. CT) when the San Jose Sharks come to town. The first 8,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Roman Josi bobblehead.