Closing out their 3 day trip to Tampa on Saturday morning, the Lady Raider basketball team squared off Spruce Creek out of Port Orange, Florida.  Tied at the half, the Lady Raiders saw the Lady Hawks erupt for 48 second half points as Coffee County fell 68 to 55.  The loss ends the tournament for the Lady Raiders.

In a low scoring first half, Coffee County and Spruce Creek were tied at 20 entering intermission.  The Lady Hawks opened up the second half red hot as they drilled 8 shots from behind the 3 point arc in the final half to build some separation.  Trailing by 7 points entering the 4^th quarter, Coffee County could not overcome the pressure defense of Spruce Creek in the 4^th quarter as they dropped their 3^rd straight contest.

The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Abby Morgan who had 17 points.  Bella Vinson added 16 points and Jacey Vaughn chipped in 15.

Coffee County returns to the court on Thursday in a non-district battle with the rival Pioneers of Warren County.  That doubleheader will take place in McMinnville and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  Our live coverage begins with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 5:50.  Tipoff is set for 6 PM at Warren County High School.

The Coffee County wrestling team hit the road on Friday traveling to Huntsville to compete in the Battlefield Duals at Lee High School.  After going 0 and 2 in pool play on Saturday morning, the Raiders battled to a 2 and 1 record in the Silver Division Bracket to finish with a runner-up finish.

Opening against Sparkman High School, the Raider grapplers fell 48 to 28.  Coffee County got pinfall wins from Brett Francis(128 pounds), Gavin Prater(140), Dakota Chalker(162), Jacob Phillips(172) and Christopher Speagle(222).

In the second pool match, Coffee County faced off against Wilson Central who entered the tournament as the #7 team in the state of Tennessee.  Coffee County suffered a crushing 77 to 6 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats.  Reynaldo Reyes had the only win for the Raiders in the 197 pound class as he got a pinfall win.

Opening up in the silver bracket, Coffee County opened up with a 66 to 6 thrashing of Hazel Green.   The Raiders got pinfall wins from Hunter Massey(122), Gavin Prater(140), Dakota Chalker(162), Jacob Phillips(172), Reynaldo Reyes(197) and Christopher Speagle(222).  Coffee County also grabbed forfeit wins by Gabriel Westbrook(108), Brett Francis(128), Hunter Waring(134), Devin Judge(154) and Carden Stump(287).

The Raiders next took on Decatur, AL in what turned out to be the Silver Bracket championship match.  Coffee County was edged by Decatur 42 to 36.  The Red Raiders gained pinfall wins from Brett Francis(132), Gavin Prater(140), Devin Judge(154), Dakota Chalker(162), and Reynaldo Reyes(197).  The Raiders also captured a forfeit win at 122 pounds by Hunter Massey.

Coffee County closed out the day taking on region rival Columbia.  The Raiders closed out the day with a 39 to 16 win over the Lions.  The Raiders got forfeit wins by Gavin Prater(140), Gabriel Westbrook(108), Christopher Speagle(222), Devin Judge(154) and Zach Bush(147).  Brett Francis(128) claimed a pinfall win and Cardin Stump(287) grabbed an 8 to 4 decision win.

The Raiders return home on Thursday when they welcome Columbia and Whitwell to their home mat at the Coffee County Raider Academy.  The first match will get underway at 6 PM.

A pair of Coffee County CHS golfers have been honored with end of the year honors by a pair of middle Tennessee newspapers.  On Sunday, the Tennessean named its prestigious All-Midstate team and senior Austin Farris was included on the team.  Farris completed the TSSAA state tournament with an even par round of 72 to finish in third place as an individual.  Austin’s 3^rd place finish is the highest medalist finish for a Red Raider golfer in the history of the state tournament. Farris’ score helped lead his team to a 3^rd place team finish which is also the highest team finish for the Red Raiders in school history.

 

Teammate and fellow senior Samuel Prater was selected by the Manchester Times as the Coffee County Male athlete of the year.  Prater helped lead the Red Raiders to a match record of 80 and 7 on the year which set a new school record.  Prater, who was named the District 8AAA Golfer of the Year,  was among the low scorers for Coffee County all season long and placed 16^th in the state tournament in September.  Prater is the first male golfer for Coffee County to play in 3 state tournaments.  Samuel has signed to play college golf at Milligan.

The Titans weren’t able to make good on their win-and-in playoff opportunity.

Instead, the Titans lost 33-17 to the Colts in front of a lively, sold out Nissan Stadium, ending their 2018 season.

Blaine Gabbert started at quarterback in place of Marcus Mariota, who was among the team’s inactives. Mariota was limited in practices leading up to the contest with elbow/foot injuries, and the team held him out.

The Titans (9-7) forced a win-and-in playoff scenario by winning four straight games in December, but they fell short of making the playoffs.

Titans running back Derrick Henry ran for 93 yards, and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the contest. But it wasn’t enough, as the Titans fell behind early and couldn’t catch up.

The Colts took a 7-0 lead early, scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Luck to receiver Dontrelle Inman to cap a 92-yard drive on the first possession.

Earlier, the Titans electrified the crowd with a reverse on the opening kickoff, as Dane Cruikshank took it across midfield after taking a handoff from Darius Jennings. But the Titans went three-and-out on their first possession.

The Colts stretched the lead to 14-0 on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Luck to tight end Eric Ebron, which capped a 90-yard drive that took 9:58 off the clock.

Then, linebacker Jayon Brown stepped up and made a pair of mammoth plays for the Titans.

First, Brown intercepted Luck as he was being harassed by linebacker Kamalei Correa, and returned it for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.

After Adoree’ Jackson mishandled a punt by the Colts, which was recovered at the Tennessee nine-yard line, Brown did it again. Brown forced a fumble, and then recovered it to give the Titans the ball once again.

The back-to-back defensive plays reenergized the crowd at Nissan Stadium, and it was 17-10 Colts over the Titans at the half following field goals for each team – a 53-yard kick by Adam Vinatieri with 39 seconds left before the half, and then a 38-yard kick by Ryan Succop at the halftime horn.

The Colts stretched the lead back to 24-10 on their first possession of the second half, however, on a one-yard touchdown pass from Luck to tight end Ryan Hewitt.

The Titans answered with a quick drove in the third quarter.

After a 33-yard run by Henry, Gabbert connected with tight end Luke Stocker for a 22-yard touchdown that made it 24-17 late in the third quarter.

The Titans had the ball with a chance to tie with just under 10 minutes left, but Gabbert was intercepted. The Colts turned it into another Vinatieri field goal to make it 27-17 with 3:55 left.

A late touchdown run by Marlon Mack made it 33-17 with 2:24 left.

The Titans ended the year with a 9-7 record, giving the franchise three straight winning seasons for the first time in the “Titans era.” Unfortunately, the season ended with disappointment, however, as the Titans fell short of their goal to make the playoffs.

Nick Bonino scored twice, but it wasn’t enough as the Nashville Predators fell to the New York Rangers, 4-3, on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result is Nashville’s sixth consecutive loss, seeing them fall to 0-5-1 during that span.

The Preds entered the third period with a 3-2 lead, thanks in part to Bonino’s two tallies, as well as the first three-point night of Kevin Fiala’s career, but the Rangers scored twice in the final frame to earn the victory.

After the fact, there was frustration and disappointment in the Nashville locker room, but also the belief that the group is close to breaking out of the slump, something they desperately want to accomplish.

“[The losses] are mounting, and we have to put an end to it,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We did enough good things through the course of the game, we got ourselves a lead going into the third, and I think that’s what makes it a tough one to swallow is because, typically we’re good in that situation where we have a lead. We go out, we close it down or get the next goal and it didn’t happen.”

“We can’t lose six in a row, not in this League and not in this division, not with the parity there is,” Bonino said. “We’ve just got to get better.”

New York took a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest on a power-play goal, but the Preds struck back with a man-advantage marker of their own, courtesy of a tip from Bonino off a Mattias Ekholm point shot.

The 1-1 draw held after 20 minutes, and after the Rangers took the lead once more early in the second, Fiala converted off a 2-on-1 by beating Henrik Lundqvist for his seventh of the season. Then, on the power play once more, Bonino deposited a rebound in front for his second of the contest and first multi-goal game as a member of the Preds.

In the third, Marc Staal evened the score at three, and Jesper Fast’s second of the evening with 12:25 left proved to be the game-winner.

“It’s not good enough for us, and we need to be better,” Fiala said. “We want to be the top team in the League, and we know that we can be that, we just have to do better.”

From here, the Preds will jet off to Washington D.C., for a date with the defending Stanley Cup champions as they’ll not only look to bust their overall streak, but also the road skid of 10-straight defeats.

The team will have their mothers along for the trip, something that they hope – combined with building off the positives of the last two outings – will help them get back on the right side of the ledger.

“We find ourselves losing a bunch in a row, and at times, that’s going to happen throughout the year,” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We’re going to have ups and downs; the injury bug or whatever it is. But, we’re not here to make excuses. We’re going to prepare the same way and work hard. We know it will turn eventually, and when it does, we’ll come out a better team because of it.”

Notes:

Preds forward Kyle Turris was absent from Saturday’s game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Forward Filip Forsberg joined the Preds for their morning skate prior to Saturday’s game, the first time he’s skated with the team since suffering an upper-body injury earlier this month.

Zac Rinaldo and Anthony Bitetto re-entered the Nashville lineup on Saturday night.

The Preds will play their final game of the 2018 calendar year on Monday when they pay a visit to the Nation’s Capital to face the Capitals at 11:30 a.m. (CT). Nashville will then return home to host the Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day, a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.  Thunder Radio will bring you BOTH contests as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.  Predators hockey is brought to you locally by the law offices of Burch and Lockhart