Family and coaches surround Keishaun Creel as he signs a football scholarship to Mesa Community College. Front Row(left to right) Hunner Creel, sister; Shasta Creel, mother; Keishaun Creel; Keith Baker, father; Wayne Creel, grandfather. Back Row(left to right) Matt Mueller, CHS defensive coordinator; Ryan Sulkowski, CHS head coach; Brandon McWhorter, CHS offensive coordinator

Looking for the opportunity to develop his skill set and give himself the best opportunity to earn a Division 1 football scholarship, Keishaun Creel signed a football scholarship to attend Mesa Community College in Arizona on Thursday.  Creel signed his letter of intent surrounded by family, coaches and teammates at a ceremony at Coffee County Central High School.  Creel becomes the 2^nd Red Raider of the Class of 2018 to sign a football scholarship.

Creel was impressed by the success that the Thunderbird program has been able to achieve advancing football players to the next level.  In 2016, 40 former Mesa players were signed to play football with 26 of those being to NCAA Division 1 schools.  Mesa finished the 2017 season with a record of 6 and 5 culminating in a loss in the Valley of the Sun Bowl.  Mesa is coached by Ryan Felker and plays in the Arizona Community College Athletic Association.  Creel will be the second Tennessee player on the Thunderbird roster joining Andrew Banks of Chattanooga’s Notre Dame High School.

Despite being so far from home, Creel liked his interactions with the coaches saying “they always kept it real with me.”  Creel was also fond of the large campus and student population as Mesa has an enrollment of 27,000 students.  When asked what he will miss most about his time at Coffee County, Creel was quick to say that besides his family and friends, he will miss “coming out from under the bleachers at and running onto the (Carden-Jarrell) Field.  But my favorite memory will be winning the Coffee Pot during my junior year.”

Coach Ryan Sulkowski expects Keishaun to excel at the college level because “he is driven to succeed.”  He went on the say that “Keishaun is a solid student and has a good head on his shoulders” which Sulkowski is confident will make the transition to college easier for Creel.  Creel, who transferred to Coffee County before his junior year from Decatur, Alabama, played defensive back for the Red Raider football team.  Sulkowski sees the opportunity to play in Arizona as a positive in terms of exposure.  “Keishaun will get the opportunity to experience different coaching and develop in front of a new set of college coaches for the future”

C.J. Anthony of CHS basketball

The Coffee County CHS freshmen boys’ basketball team hosted Warren County on Thursday night in their final game of the season.  Hoping to run their record to 7 and 0, the Red Raiders hosted the Pioneers in a makeup game from January 4^th.  Coffee County captured the thrilling 52 to 50 win

The Red Raiders fell behind early as they trailed 20 to 9 after one period.  Coffee County cranked up the defensive pressure in the second quarter to hold the visiting Pioneers to 4 points in the 2^nd frame.  This allowed the Raiders to take a 30 to 24 lead into wild and exciting 2nd half.

Coffee County was led in scoring by C.J. Anthony who finished with 20 points, including 13 in the critical 2^nd quarter rally.  Kyle Farless tacked on 11 points while Jaxon Vaughn added 9 and Hayden Hullett finished with 8.

P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators [Photo by nhl.com]

The result sees the Preds go 0-0-2 in their back-to-back set in Toronto and Ottawa, with Nashville battling back to salvage at least a point for the third consecutive game after entering the third period down by a goal in both games. The Predators have earned an impressive mark of points in 13 of their last 14 outings.

The Predators tied the game late in regulation on Subban’s second of the night, but the Senators managed to spoil Kyle Turris’s return to Ottawa, including a second period that saw Nashville register just four shots, while giving up two goals to the home team.

“We were average in the first [period], we were way, way, way below average in the second, maybe one of the worst of the year,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “The guys pushed in the third period to try and win a hockey game, but we shot ourselves in the foot in the second period.”

Subban threw a puck at the net and got a friendly bounce just 34 seconds into Thursday’s contest for his 14th of the season and a 1-0 lead, and after Ottawa tied the game, Calle Jarnkrok potted his 13th before the period was out to give Nashville the advantage after 20 minutes.

The second period saw Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi give Ottawa their first lead of the night with the Predators unable to generate chances and match the Senators compete level in the frame.

“It was probably the worst period of our year so far,” Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm said of the second. “I felt like we could’ve done a better job, especially in the second and maybe not put ourselves in a position being down going into the third. It’s a big point, but we needed two tonight.”

Nashville rallied in the third, putting 21 shots on goaltender Craig Anderson, and Subban’s shot with 4:18 remaining in regulation found a way to the back of the net, allowing Subban to tie his career-high with his 15th goal of the season.

But in overtime, Mike Hoffman’s speed was too much and he beat Juuse Saros to hand Nashville their second loss past regulation in as many nights.

“We’re not here to get points, we’re here to win hockey games,” Laviolette said. “I think the second period is going to leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouth. They competed really hard in the third period and pushed the gas pedal down to try and get a win, salvage points, but it’s hard to look by the second period. We have to be better than that.”

Notes:

Filip Forsberg served the final game of his three-game suspension on Thursday. Forsberg is eligible to return to the lineup when the Predators face the Canadiens on Saturday.

Nashville’s four-game trip will conclude Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montréal before returning home to host four straight at Bridgestone Arena, beginning on Tuesday night against St. Louis.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report