The young Raider wrestling team of Coffee County Central High School took their lumps on Monday night.  Coffee County lost all 3 of their matches in the 4-way match held at Tullahoma.  Coffee County dropped team decisions to Franklin County, Shelbyville and Tullahoma.

Against Shelbyville, Coffee County lost a 42 to 28 decision.  Andrew Lawson(at 170 pounds) captured the lone pin fall win for Coffee County.  Hunter Massey fought to a 17 to 7 major decision win in the 106 pound weight class.  Josh Fourneir(145), Mary Wolfrum(120) and Mary Anne Walker(126) each earned forfeit wins.

Against Tullahoma, Evan Jaynes(145) and Hunter Massey(106) got pinfall wins. Mary Wolfrum(120) and Mary Anne Walker(126) each earned forfeit wins.  Coffee County fell by a final score of 54 to 24.

Against Franklin County, Evan Jaynes(145), Andrew Lawson(170) and Josh Fourneir(145) all got pinfall victories.  Mary Wolfrum(120) and Mary Anne Walker(126) each earned forfeit wins.  The Raiders fell by a final score of 54 to 30.

Coffee County hits the mat again on Friday night when they travel to McMinnville to take on Warren County and LaVergne in a tri-match.  First match is set to get underway at 6 PM.

The search for the next Titans head coach is under way.

Titans general manager Jon Robinson said during a press conference on Monday the team “will begin the search immediately” to replace head coach Mike Mularkey, but he gave no timetable on when a hire might be made.

Earlier on Monday, Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk announced the team had decided to part ways with Mularkey.

“Our goal remains the same: We are committed to our fans, to bring a championship home to this great city and state,” Robinson said. “These decisions are never easy, yet Amy and I remain steadfast and the most important thing is the team, and putting our players in position to maximize their ability in all three phases of the game. I am very proud of the success we have had over the last two seasons and look forward to working with our new head coach and moving us closer to and ultimately winning a championship.

“I am looking forward to working with whoever the next head coach is and building upon what we have going here, and going forward with it. We are going into (the process) when no preconceived notions. We have a vision for what we want the next head coach to look like, and we are looking forward to talking to candidates and seeing if they fit that bill.”

Robinson said the decision was made on Monday morning, when Mularkey was informed of the team’s decision. He said a “lot of factors” went into the organization’s decision to go in a different direction. Robinson said “it was not an easy decision” or “a gratifying decision for me.”

Robinson said the Titans have already started the process of identifying candidates. He expects to have a strong input on who the next head coach will be, but reminded Strunk owns the team and she’ll make the final call. Titans president/CEO Steve Underwood will also take part in the interviews, Robinson said, and he was with Robinson when Mularkey was informed of the decision this morning.

“Leader of men, obviously the things that are stamped out there in those pillars – team first, detailed, tough, dependable, and one that is going to maximize the abilities of the players in all three phases of the game,” Robinson said when asked about the qualities he’s looking for in a head coach.

Mularkey was named head coach of the Titans on January 16, 2016. He served as interim coach for the final five games of the 2015 season.

The Titans went 9-7 in back-to-back seasons, and made it to the playoffs in 2017. The Titans lost in the AFC divisional playoffs on Saturday to the Patriots.

Questions about the development of quarterback Marcus Mariota and the team’s inconsistent offense were persistent throughout the course of the season, however.

“I think we’ve done a lot of good things here over the last two years. I just felt like we needed to go a different direction and maximize the skill sets of the players. I think this boils down to doing what we think is best for the football team moving forward, and taking the next step,” Robinson said. “At the end of the day, we felt like we needed to go down a different path to move forward.”

Robinson said the Titans have a talented roster, and he’s optimistic about the future.

“I love our fans, and I think I made that abundantly clear in my opening statement when I was sitting here less than two years ago (when I was hired) about what this team means to me, what this city means to me and what this state means to me,” Robinson said. “There is nothing more that I want for our fans than to bring a championship here, and I feel like it is my charge to put the team in the best position to do that.”

Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators

Juuse Saros stopped all 43 shots he faced and the Nashville Predators defeated the Vegas Golden Knights by a 1-0 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. It’s Nashville’s third consecutive win overall and their first victory in franchise history against the expansion club from Vegas.

Nashville’s lone goal on the night came from Kevin Fiala exactly eight minutes into the third period, as Saros put forth quite possibly his best NHL effort to date to registers his fifth win of the season and third shutout in his last five starts.

“[Saros] was unbelievable tonight,” Predators forward Austin Watson said. “We had some penalty kills there at the end of the second period that really could have changed the game in the wrong direction for us, and we were really able to shut the door with him backstopping it. It was a really good two points.”

The first 40 minutes of the contest were scoreless, but that wouldn’t have been the case if it weren’t for the stellar play of Saros, who stopped 30 Vegas shots through the opening two periods.

Then, midway through the third, P.K. Subban’s shot bounced off the pads of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and right to Fiala, who had a wide-open cage with which to work. Fiala’s shot snuck in under the bar to give Nashville the one and only lead they’d need. The regulation loss was just Vegas’ third since Dec. 1.

“Right now, the second-half is very important to us, to the whole team, to every line,” Fiala said. “We just need to go in and build more chemistry, win more games, and build more confidence.”

The victory also came without the services of three of Nashville’s top players. Forward Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson were absent from the start due to injury, and center Ryan Johansen was forced to leave after taking a hit late in the second period.

But even without most of their aces up front, the Predators found a way, and encouraging sign at the unofficial start of the second half of the campaign.

“It’s what you have to do,” Watson said. “We’re confident. It’s kind of what we talked about all last year during the playoffs. Whoever’s playing, whoever gets the minutes, we’re confident in everybody in this room and we’re going to get the job done. When you’re missing those guys, they’re spectacular and create a lot of offense for us, but we have a lot of good hockey players in here to step up and take those minutes.”

On the coldest night of the winter in Nashville, the goaltending performance in the Preds crease was anything but.

After a shaky start to the season as Pekka Rinne’s backup, Preds goaltender Juuse Saros has posted a 4-0-3 mark in his last seven outings, more than enough to reinstate his confidence and give the Preds a formidable one-two punch in net.

As the bye week arrived last Tuesday, instead of heading off on vacation like the rest of his teammates, Saros made the journey back to Milwaukee to play three more games for the Admirals, with the plan – as Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette explained – of keeping Saros sharp and ready to face the top team in the Western Conference come Tuesday.

It worked out just fine.

“He’s been good for a while now,” Laviolette said of Saros. “He’s been solid, he’s gone down to Milwaukee, he’s played games, he’s been solid down there. Every opportunity he’s gotten in the net he’s looked great. Tonight was just another example of that.”

“Unbelievable,” Fiala said of Saros. “Not just today, he’s been unreal this whole season, Pekka too. They save us games. It’s just great to have and great to know that we have such great goaltenders.”

Saros has blanked the opposition in four of his last six appearances, including three shutouts, but as Saros will tell you, it’s nothing to fuss over.

“I’m just trying to play my own game,” Saros said. “[I’m trying not to] think too much and to go out there, have fun and do the best I can.”

Notes:

Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Preds placed forward Viktor Arvidsson on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled forward Frederick Gaudreau from AHL Milwaukee.

Preds center Ryan Johansen took a high hit late in the second period and did not return to the game. There was no update on Johansen’s status immediately following the contest.

The 43-save performance tonight from Saros is just three saves off of his career high for a single game.

Nashville’s five-game home stand continues on Thursday night when the Arizona Coyotes come to town, followed by Florida on Saturday night before concluding next Tuesday with Tampa Bay.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

If you want to see the Motlow Lady Bucks play softball early this season you are going to have to travel, as the Lady Bucks will spend the first month of the 2018 campaign on the road.

Practice officially began Jan. 10 for the Lady Bucks under third-year Head Coach Janice Morey. The season opens Tuesday, Feb. 6, with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Northeast Mississippi in Booneville. Motlow’s first 18 games will be played on the road, including trips to Decatur, Ala., and Meridian, Miss. The Lady Bucks will open conference play on the road at defending TCCAA champion Chattanooga State March 2.

The Lady Bucks will finally play in front of their home crowd on Tuesday, March 6, when Calhoun visits for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Including the Calhoun date, 24 of Motlow’s final 36 games are scheduled to be played at Lady Bucks Field on the Moore County campus.

Motlow will play nine TCCAA conference series, with five at home and four on the road. Each conference series consists of a doubleheader on both Friday and Saturday. The first home conference series is March 9-10, with Cleveland State visiting.

The Lady Bucks have 10 consecutive games scheduled at home from March 20-31. The following two weekends they are on the road before finishing the regular season with back-to-back home series against Walters State and Southwest Tennessee, with the final play date scheduled for April 28. This year’s conference tournament will begin May 6 at Chattanooga State.

The complete schedule can be found at: http://www.motlowsports.com/softballschedule.aspx