Celebrating Homecoming on Friday night, the Coffee County CHS football team welcomed Cookeville to Carden-Jarrell Field.  Looking to build on the momentum of last Friday’s win at Siegel, the Red Raiders squared off against a big and talented Cavalier squad. Giving up around 50 pounds per player in the offensive and defensive lines, Coffee County could not stop the Cookeville offense as they fell 41 to 14.

Cookeville got on the board first with 2:09 left in the 1^st quarter as they returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown.  A pair of long touchdown runs in the 2^nd quarter gave Cookeville a 21 to 0 lead before the Red Raiders scored with 3 seconds to go in the half.  Matthew Pittman hit C.J. Anthony with a 16 yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders some momentum going into the half down 21 to 7.  But Cookeville scored touchdowns on their first 3 drives of the 2^nd half to stretch the lead to 41 to 7.  Coffee County got a hard fought 1 yard touchdown run from Marshall Haney with 4:44 left in the game for the final score.  Felix Salinas finished with a pair of point after kicks.

Pittman finished the game as the leading rusher and passer as he rushed 17 times for 71 yards and was 7 of 16 through the air for 101 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.  Haney finished with 16 carries for 41 yards and a score.  Conner Shemwell was 8 of 17 passing for 84 yards and an interception and C.J. Anthony was the leading receiver as he caught 5 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown to be named the Mid-Tenn Turf Most Valuable Player for the game.

The Raiders are back at home on Friday night when they play host to Rockvale.  Thunder Radio is your exclusive home for Coffee County football game and we will have the broadcast beginning at 6 PM with the Friday Night Thunder Pregame Show, maintained by Premier Lawn Care.  Kick-off is at 7 PM and you will hear it all right here on Thunder.

Download the broadcast at: www.thunder1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County Middle School cross country team traveled to Murfreesboro on Saturday to compete in the TMSAA Middle Sectional meet at Riverdale.  Four Lady Raider and 7 Red Raider runners represented Coffee Middle in qualifier for the state meet.  At the end of the day, Sophie McInturff earned a berth in the state meet coming up on Saturday.

McInturff ran the 2 mile race in a time of 13:41.52 to finish in 7^th place overall as she will be the lone Coffee County representative at the race.  Bailey Kitts finished in 88^th place with a time of 17:04.48.  Ella Arnold finished with a time of 17:50.15 and Mary Lynn Colter posted a time of 22:45.32.

For the Red Raiders, Samuel Medina was the top finisher as ran a time of 13:20.48 which was good enough for 40^th place.  Bradley Escue came in 63^rd place as he posted a time of 13:55.28.  Lucas Beaty was right on his heels in 63^rd place with a time of 13:57.74.  Hunter Chapman posted a time of 14:26.15, Zander Gomez finished with a time of 14:37.49, Skylar Releford came in at 18:15.06 and Cole Bryan broke the tape at 18:32.19.  The Red Raiders finished in 12^th place in the team standings out of 23 teams.

The TMSAA State Cross Country championship will take place on Saturday in Clarksville.  The 2 mile event will take place at the South Nine in Clarksville, TN.  The venue entrance to the South Nine is at the intersection of Sango Road and Clubhouse Lane, across the street from the Eastland Green Golf Course at 550 Clubhouse Lane in Clarksville.  The girls’ race is scheduled to begin at 11:20 AM.

The Westwood Middle School cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee.  Both the Rockets and Lady Rockets dominated in the 4 team meet.  Westwood got 3 of the top 6 finishers in both the boys and girls races as they easily won both team titles.

Rylea McNamara led the Lady Rockets as she won the girls’ race with a time of 16:06 for the 2 mile course.  Jennifer Sanchez came in 4^th place as she crossed the line in 18:17.  Raygan Dubler finished 5^th with a time of 18:28 to earn a 5^th place finish.  Kimberly Garcia was 9^th at 20:19, Melisa Garcia came in 10^th at 21:36 and Alexandra Rivas Garcia was 13^th in a time of 27:09.

For the Rockets, Nico Sanfilippo won the boys’ race with a time of 14:27.  Caleb Cargile came in 4^th with a time of 15:47 and Jaime Barrera grabbed 6^th place with a time of 16:01.  Lane Fann came in 7^th place with a time of 16:07, Hunter Crosslin was 14^th with a time of 17:17, Neyland Grant came in 15^th with a time of 17:42 and Eduardo Rojas Chavez finished in 16^th place with a time of 18:01.  Thompson Lowe(with a time of 19:53) came in 18^th place, Joel Baker(also at 19:53) came in 19^th place and Tavion King(30:12) was 21^st.

The Rockets return to racing on Tuesday when they travel to Unionville to compete at Community.  That meet is scheduled to get underway at 4 PM.

The Coffee County CHS cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee.  Competing against 11 teams, the Red Raiders captured individual and team titles in the meet.  The Lady Raiders sent only 3 runners but still finished with a top 6 finish.

Jacob Rutledge led Red Raiders has he won the boys’ race with a time of 18:43.  The top 5 Raider runners finished in the top 11 as Garrett Masters came in 4^th place with a time of 20:41.  Ethan Welch came in 8^th with a time of 21:10.  Bodey Todd finished in 10^th place with a time of 21:30 just an eyelash ahead of Jacob Slabaugh who was 11^th with a time of 21:31.  Also running for the Red Raiders were Christian Alvarez(with a time of 23:02), Ethan Beaty(23:24), Aiden Dubler(24:07) and Holden Snow(25:15).

The Lady Raiders were led by Patricia Barrera who came in 6^th place with a time of 25:00 for the 5K race.  Nayeli Cano came in 14^th place with a time of 27:09.  Zoe Mills broke the tape in 18^th place with a time of 29:07.

The Raider thinclads will be back in action on October 12^th when they compete in the MSCCA Midstate Chapionships Dickson.  Racing is set to begin at 10 AM at the Buckner City Park.

Story compiled by MYFL President Lawrence Phillips

MYFL (Manchester Youth Football League) was back in action on Saturday with the Tri County Youth Football League teams of MYFL traveling to Jackson County.

Flag Division (5-6-7 year olds)
report submitted by Danny Strickland:
Jackson County only had 8 players so to ensure equal playing time we played the B group (younger/smaller) the 1st & 3rd quarter, A group (Older/bigger) 2nd fourth quarter. Limiting A group with B group to situational substitutions.
Q1: 40 yard TD by Ethan Proctor
Q2: 2 – 40 yard TD’s by Tripp Trussler. TD and 2 XP’s by Walker Lovelace.
Q3: 35 yard TD by Walker Lovelace
XP by Ethan Proctor
Q4: The Linemen get a shot at Running back (Big Guys) seal the deal with a 20 yard TD run by Tight End Liam Gallagher and XP tacked on by Center Cayden Strickland.
Defense was played well by both groups. Hard effort and hustle limited Jackson County to only 3 scores, but none were made easy.
Final score: Manchester 41 Jackson County 20

Junior Division (8-9 year olds)
Report written by Ashley Delaney Whitman.
The first quarter started off with a bang as the Raiders immediately took charge and put a firm hold on all four downs that Jackson County attempted. AJ Whitman had the first two tackles followed by Jax Nash and then a whole host of raiders to finish them off on the fourth down.
Whitman took the ball on the Raiders first turn on offense and carried it all the way in for their first touchdown. Ty Stevens caught the pass for the two point conversion making the score Raiders 8 Jackson County 0.
Kelden Jolly made the first tackle on Jackson County’s second possession. On 2nd and 4 Eli Baker deflected a pass and almost came away with an interception. Jackson County was able to make a first down but Rance Stafford took them down for a loss of 5 during the last few seconds of the quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, Jolly and Gavin Smith made several big plays on defense. Whitman, Stevens and Huck Damon led the offense but
were unable to add to the score. Raiders 8 Jackson County 0 at the half.
The Raiders returned from the halftime break refreshed and ready to do battle in the 2nd half. Whitman lead off with a “quarterback keeper”. Several more carries by Whitman,Stevens and Damon racked up yardage but no scoring. On 1st and 10 the clock expired. At the end of the 3rd Raiders 8 Jackson County 0.
In the 4th quarter with a chance to strengthen their lead, Whitman carries but to Jackson County’s surprise handed the ball to Damon on the reverse and Damon found the field to be wide open and raced for the Red Raiders second touchdown. The extra point pass attempt was no good but Manchester increased their lead to 14-0.
The Raiders defense did their part to protect the lead with Audie Nicoll, Ethan Hamby, Stevens, Smith and baker tackling their way to the buzzer.
Final Score: Manchester 14 Jackson County 0

Senior Division(10-12 year olds)
Report written by Lawrence Phillips
The Raiders put their offense and defense on display on Saturday. Kaden Jones had three touchdowns. Carlos Martinez had a touchdown and also added three extra point scores. Isaiah Deadman had a touchdown and added an extra point as well. The defense played solid denying Jackson County entry into the Red Raiders end zone securing the shutout. Raiders pick up their first victory of the 2019 season. Final Score: Manchester 34 Jackson County 0

Next Saturday October 5th all six of the MYFL Red Raiders teams will be back in action with the TCYFL teams making a road trip to Celina to take on Clay County. Flag division play begins at 10:00 am.

The SMTYFA teams play host to Giles County. Division 1 play is set to begin at 2:00 pm at Carden-Jarrell Field.

One boat from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club made the long trek to Byrdstown on Saturday to compete in the 1^st Tennessee Bass Nation High School/Youth state trail event of the season.  Competing against 207 other boats from across the state, the Coffee County team fared pretty well on the waters of Dale Hollow Lake.  At the end of the day, the Raider anglers landed a pair of keepers and all important points in the season standings.

The Wells brothers team of Dawson and Branson represented the red and black on the day as they finished with a 2 fish total of 3.19 pounds.  That total was good enough for 41^st place in the crowded field.

The Coffee County Youth Bass Club will return to the water on Saturday when they visit the friendly waters of Tims Ford for a Region tournament.  That event will have their “blast off” at first light from the Winchester City Park.

Nashville Soccer Club climbed into first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in the club’s two-year history after blanking Loudoun United FC 2-0 on the road on Saturday night. Daniel Ríos and Ropapa Mensah led the night’s offensive efforts while Matt Pickens and his backline secured the clean sheet.

A goal and an assist from forward Ropapa Mensah sealed one more road victory in the 2019 USL Championship regular season for Nashville SC as Nashville beat Loudoun United FC 2-0 in Virginia on Saturday night. Mensah assisted on Daniel Ríos’ 50th career goal in the first half and scored himself in the second to propel Nashville to the three points and into first place in the USL Eastern Conference.

With a draw between Tampa Bay Rowdies and Louisville City FC in addition to a Indy Eleven loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday night, Nashville moved into the top position in the Eastern Conference with three matches to play in the regular season. It is the first time Nashville SC has held sole possession of first place in the conference in its two-year USL Championship history.

Nashville SC scored its goals in the 19’ and 55’ minutes in its second 2-0 win over Loudoun United this season. For keeper Matt Pickens, it was the 12th clean sheet of the season and 14th for Nashville SC overall this season. With 14 clean sheets, Nashville is currently tied with Pittsburgh and Phoenix Rising FC for the most clean sheets in the USL Championship this season.

Pickens leads the USL Championship Golden Glove race with 0.68 goal against average, allowing 15 goals in 23 appearances. Tonight, the veteran keeper made two saves in the shutout.

Here are three takeaways from the victory.

1) Nashville Jumps Into First

With the three points and the necessary help, Nashville SC jumped into first place in the East. It was a massive win as Nashville is back into control of its own destiny for a home playoff match. It has been one of the biggest club goals in 2019 to host a USL Championship Playoff match and now it looks more likely than ever as Nashville SC sits atop the Eastern Conference. With three home matches remaining in the regular season, Nashville would have the inside track to a top two seed in the East and two potential home matches in the playoffs.

2) Ríos Is Back

Daniel Ríos has spent the last month recovering from a groin injury, and got back on the scoresheet tonight, slotting in the first goal of the match. It was Ríos first goal since he scored on August 17 in a 3-1 win over Charlotte Independence. While the USL Championship Golden Boot looks out of reach for the star forward, Ríos’ goal is a welcome sign for NSC and head coach Gary Smith. For a deep playoff run, Nashville will need Ríos in top form in October and beyond.

3) Ropapa Shines

Fan-favorite forward Ropapa Mensah was the key man for Nashville SC in the win with an impact on both NSC goals on the evening. Mensah assisted on the first goal and scored the second. It was the sixth goal and fourth assist for the Ghanaian forward in all competitions Mensah has been a fire-starter throughout his two years in gold including scoring the first goal in club history in Nashville SC’s preseason match against Atlanta United FC back in February of 2018. Like Ríos, Mensah has been and will be a key piece in Nashville’s run to the postseason.

Up Next

Nashville will have a 10-day break between matches as it will scoreboard watch for the next week. It will take the field again on October 8th at First Tennessee Park against Louisville City FC at 7 p.m. CT. That match will be of extreme importance as Louisville City is just seven points behind Nashville in the Eastern standings.