The Coffee County CHS freshmen basketball teams opened their season on Monday as they welcomed Warren County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The Lady Raiders dropped a hard fought 37 to 28 decision.   The Red Raiders rallied in the 2^nd half to grab a 42 to 36 win.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders fell behind early as they trailed by 11 points in the 1^st quarter.  Coffee County rallied to tie the game at 23 with 35 seconds left in the half.  In the 2^nd half, the 2 teams traded the lead back and forth before Warren County pulled away in the final 6 minutes.  The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Nia Sheffield who had 9 points.  Maggie Crouch and Holli Hancock each chipped in 5 points for Coffee County. 

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders trailed most of first half but Warren County could not gain any separation.  Coffee County used a 4 point play with 3:35 to go in the game to break a tie at 33 and gain a lead they would not give up.  The Raiders were led in scoring by Hayden Collins who had 12 points.  Dane Crosslin and Jacob Holder each netted 11 points in the win. 

The freshmen teams will be back in action on Monday, December 16^th when they travel to Sparta to take on White County.  The girls’ game tips off at 6 PM. 

Story by MYFL President Lawrence Phillips

After a long delay the three SMTYFA Manchester Red Raiders teams finally got to play for the SMTYFA titles on Saturday at Bobby Ray Elementary in McMinnville.

The 2019 season began with Manchester and nine other SMTYFA member communities Columbia, Liberty, Shelbyville, Franklin County, Giles County, Fayetteville, Marshall Co and Warren County. Manchester took the measure of all but one of those.

The Division 1 (5-6-7 year olds) went not only undefeated but did not allow a single point in the Jamboree, regular season, Playoffs or Super Bowl, wrapping up the season with 12 “Big” wins, average margin of victory 38 points, and the SMTYFA Championship.

In the Super Bowl win on Saturday Karson Wimley and Avery Hodges scored twice each. Kayleb Morris and Hayes Shemwell added a touchdown each. Macc Chappin and Morris added two extra points each as the Manchester Red Raiders defeated the Franklin County Rebels.

Manchester 40 Franklin County 0

The Division 1 Red Raiders will be guests on the Coffee Coaches Show on Saturday, November 30th. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

The Division 2 (8-9 year olds) went into the Super Bowl on Saturday with a 10-1 record including Jamboree and Playoff wins with the lone loss being to Shelbyville.

Levi Scott lead the team with two touchdowns and an extra point. However the championship slipped from the Raiders hands as the Shelbyville Golden Eagles broke two big runs late in the game to take the victory.

Manchester 13 Shelbyville 24

The undefeated Division 3 (10-12 year olds) took their 11-0 record including Jamboree and Playoff wins into the Super Bowl against the one loss Shelbyville Golden Eagles, that loss coming at the hands of the Raiders back in week two of the season. Shelbyville took the 21-14 loss hard and followed it up by obliterating every team they faced by an average of 56 points with no further points allowed. Meanwhile, the Raiders in similar fashion, averaging a scoring margin of 43 points per game only allowed an additional 7 points to Fayetteville.

Manchester 11-0 and Shelbyville 10-1 both having allowed only 21 points for the season rematched in the Championship game on Saturday. Manchester began the scoring with a big run by Caiden Martin which set up goal to go. Kaysen Lowery then passed to Tyler Martin for the score. The extra point was unsuccessful. Raiders lead 6-0. Shelbyville scored on a breakaway by Robert Lentz. The extra point was no good. Manchester 6 Shelbyville 6. Lentz scored again and again the extra point was stopped by the Raiders. Shelbyville 12 Manchester 6. The Raiders Caiden Martin punched in another score right before the end of the first half to make it a 12-12 tie at halftime. The Raiders kicked off to start the second half and the kick was fielded by Lentz who retuned the ball 65 yards for the go ahead score. The extra point failed. Eagles 18 Manchester 12. The defenses for both sides stiffened for the rest of the game which ended late in the 4th with another Caiden Martin touchdown. Raiders 18 Eagles 18. The Eagles then mounted a drive that appeared as though they would steal the game from the Raiders by punching in the late score but the Raiders defense rose to the occasion and caused a fumble which Raiders Jett Trussler recovered. The following series was unsuccessful and the Raiders had to give the Eagles one more chance on offense. Again the Raiders defense saved the day by stopping the Eagles short as time expired and they headed into Overtime tied at 18-18. Shelbyville took the ball on the 10 yard line to start overtime. The Raiders received an offsides penalty to move the ball to the 5 and Shelbyville put the ball in the hands of their big scorer Lentz. The Raiders swarmed Lentz on next three plays driving the Eagles backwards. On the fourth down play the Raiders brought out an all out blitz and stopped the Eagles in their tracks. With the unsuccessful attempt it was now the Raiders chance to pull out the win. Raiders quarterback Lowery tossed the ball over his shoulder to Caiden Martin who would not be denied breaking through the Shelbyville defense and into the end zone for the win.

Manchester 24 Shelbyville 18

The Division 3 Red Raiders will be guests on the Coffee Coaches Show on Saturday, November 23rd. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

MYFL would like to give a big Thanks to Thunder Radio for allowing us the use of this medium and also for the radio appearances on the Coffee Coaches show to share our stories with it’s followers.

The coaches, players and parents of the MYFL teams of the SMTYFA and TCYFL associations really appreciate Thunder’s acknowledgement of their contributions to youth football and cheerleading.

After a change of heart late in his recruitment, Coffee County CHS baseball player Hayden Skipper publicly celebrated his signing with Lipscomb University on Friday.  The senior pitcher/center fielder celebrated his commitment to the Bisons’ baseball team in a ceremony at the CHS library on Friday.   Skipper signed his National Letter of Intent and returned the paperwork on Wednesday, which was the first day of NCAA’s Early Signing Period. 

Hayden was named to the 2019 District 8AAA All-District team and was selected as the Red Raiders’ Most Valuable Player.  Skipper is being recruited as a dual player meaning they expect him to pitch and play in the outfield.  “I love the coaching staff and the campus vibe” said Skipper.  He went on to say that “the facilities are as nice as you can find and the city of Nashville is a fun place.” 

Coffee County CHS head coach David Martin was effusive in his praise for Skipper.  “(Hayden) has the ability to go in right away and win his teammates over because he has the ability to develop relationships with his teammates after they see how genuine he is. First thing is first, you have to have the ability to play at that level which he clearly does. But his parents have done an amazing job instilling work ethic and character that he is able to bring to their program. He is everything you want your program to represent and you want him to be the face of your program. His will to compete brings an energy to his teammates that elevates everyone’s game. He is truly a coach on the field but holds himself accountable as he does his teammates. He is one of those players that has set a standard in our program and his legacy will be remembered for many years because of the way he carried himself every day. No matter what this kid does, success will follow him and the people around him.”

Lipscomb University is a private, Christian liberal arts university in Nashville.  The Bisons are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) Division 1 and competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference.  Lipscomb is coached by Jeff Forehand who is in his 14^th year as head coach for the Bisons. 

The Coffee County CHS, Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School swim teams traveled to Tullahoma on Thursday for a meet with Tullahoma, Warren County and Grace Academy.  In team competition, the CHS team was 1 and 2 on the night. The CCMS team was 0 and 2 on the night and Westwood was 2 and 0. 

For Westwood, the girls’ 200 medley relay team and the 200 freestyle relay teams each grabbed best middle school finishes on the night.  Each team was made up of Elsie Lazalier, Ansley Beachboard, Abby Gilday and Cale Hays.  Individual Top 3 finishes were captured by: Elsie Lazalier in the 200 IM(with a time of 2:59.57) and 100 breaststroke(1:32.91); and  Jack Stowe in the 200 IM(2:54.98) and 100 backstroke(1:21.84);

For Coffee County Middle School, they captured 2^nd best relay finishes in the girls’ 200 medley and the girls’ 200 freestyle.   The medley team was made up of Natalie Wanner, Katelynn Hale, Emily Snider and Patience Driggers.   The freestyle team was made up of Natalie Wanner, Katelynn Hale, Emily Snider and Eva Rigney.   An individual Top 3 finish was captured by Brayden Kesling in the 100 butterfly(1:23.36). 

For the Coffee County CHS team, the girls’ 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams captured victories.  Manning both teams were Taylor Wall, Kaylee Williams, Emily Williams and Kennedy Young-Norman.   Getting individual race wins were: Kaylee Williams in the 200 freestyle(2:12.90) and 100 breaststroke(1:10.64);  Kennedy Norman-Young in the 50 freestyle(27.69); Nick Bogle in the 50 freestyle(24.97) and Emily Williams in the 500 freestyle(5:52.75);

The swim teams returns to the pool on Friday, December 13^th when they host a 5 team meet at the Manchester Recreation Center.  The night will also be Senior Night as the Coffee County CHS seniors will be recognized. 

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team closed out their preseason scrimmage work on Saturday with a play day in Spring Hill.  Coffee County competed in a tripleheader at Summit High School.  The Lady Raiders were 2 and 1 on the day as they captured wins over East Hickman and Eagleville.  Coffee County dropped a 2 point decision to Beech. 

The Lady Raiders will open the regular season on Friday and Saturday as they co-host 2 days of Hall of Champions games at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The Lady Raiders will play games at 4:00 and 6:30 PM on Friday taking on Valor Academy and Siegel respectively.  On Saturday, the Lady Raiders will tangle with Baylor at 11:30 AM and Huntland at 5:45 PM.  The Red Raiders will play Valor Academy at 7:45 PM on Friday followed by Saturday games against Cannon County on 2:00 PM and Huntland at 7:00 PM. 

Thunder Radio continues to be the exclusive radio home of Coffee County athletics.  We begin our 2019-2020 coverage on Friday night as we will cover the Lady Raiders’ game with Siegel.  We will follow that up with the Red Raiders’ game with Valor.  Our live coverage on Friday begins with the pregame show at 6:20. 

The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League was in action on Saturday with 8 games.  Saturday’s games were the next to the last games of the regular season.  The league will hold the final games of the regular season on Saturday, November 30^th. 

In girls’ games on Saturday, North Coffee topped East Coffee, College Street rolled over Hillsboro, Westwood shot down Deerfield and New Union dropped Hickerson.  In boys’ game, North Coffee charged past East Coffee, College Street doubled up Hillsboro, Westwood shut out Deerfield and New Union grounded Hickerson. 

Updated Season Standings

The Temple Baptist Christian School varsity basketball team completed play in the Shenandoah Baptist Academy Tournament in Cleveland, Tennessee on Saturday.  The Eagles lost both games on Friday to qualify for the 5^th place game on Saturday morning.  Temple grabbed a win on Saturday morning to finish the tournament with a 3 and 2 record a 5^th place finish. 

On Friday, Temple opened the day with a battle against their rival from Shelbyville the Patriots of Victory Baptist.  The Eagles struggled to get their offense going as they fell 52 to 12.  Alex Gloden led Temple with 6 points.  Isaiah Bakker finished with 5 points.  In the nightcap, Temple fell to Philadelphia Christian out of Georgia by a final score of 35 to 29.  Alex Gloden was the leading scorer as he had 10 points.  Sam Floyd led the Eagles in rebounds with 9 and added 9 points.  David Tran chipped in 6 points.

On Saturday, the Eagles jumped out to a fast start to grab a first half lead that carried them to a 29 to 22 win.  Alex Gloden led the Eagles in points, steals and rebounds.  Alex finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals.  Mich Gloden added 10 points. 

Temple travels to Shelbyville on Tuesday night to take on Victory Baptist Academy.  That JV/varsity doubleheader will get underway at 5 PM.  Temple will host its first home game on December 12^th. 

The Coffee County Youth Bass Club closed out the 2019 portion of their schedule with a state trail event on Chickamauga Lake.  One Raider boat joined the field of 262 boats.  The boat of Tristan Boyd and Reagan Hershman ended up in 80^th place as they caught a 2.16 fish. 

The Raider anglers will return to the water in February with a region meet on Normandy Lake.  That meet will take place on February 15^th and be held at Barton Springs.