Alontae Taylor in his Under Armour commemorative jersey

Thanking “my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, Alontae Taylor accepted his honorary game jersey at the American Family Insurance Selection Tour for the 2018 Under Armour All-America High School Football Game.  The ceremony was held in front of the student body on Thursday at Central High School.   The 2018 Under Armour All-America Game will be played Jan. 4, 2018 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and practices will be aired on ESPNU.  The event was part of the three-month American Family Insurance Selection Tour for the Under Armour All-America Game.

Alontae is one of more than 80 players selected to compete in the 10-year anniversary game of the annual Under Armour All-America Game presented by American Family Insurance, a nationally televised competition spotlighting the country’s top high school seniors.  Taylor is one of 2 players from Tennessee selected for the game as he joins Jordan Davis of Memphis’ Southwind High School on the team.

When asked if playing in the game was a dream come true, Taylor said “most definitely.”  When asked who he wished to thank, Alontae responded:

Alontae, after re-opening his college recruitment last week, is set to name his college choice in December.  Taylor, a 4-star rated recruit in the 24/7 recruiting composite, will sign with his college of choice during the new Division 1 early signing period.  The early signing period will be from December 20^th to the 22^nd and Taylor is set to sign on December 22^nd.

Alex Nelson of Westwood basketball

The Westwood basketball teams welcomed Eagleville to the Joel Vinson Gym on Thursday night.  In a pair of games brought to you on Thunder Radio as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series, both Westwood teams had great defensive efforts to grab the doubleheader sweep.  The Lady Rockets won 37 to 20 and the Rockets won 55 to 24.

After being tied at 15 at the half, the Lady Rockets went on a 17 to 0 run in the 3^rd quarter to grab the conference win.  Westwood was led in scoring by Alex Nelson who had 11 points.  Elizabeth Brown and Haidyn Campbell added 8 points as the Lady Rockets improved to 6 and 3 on the year.

John Dobson of Westwood basketball

The Rockets used a strong 2^nd quarter to break open a close game and get their 6^th win on the year.  Westwood outscored Eagleville 14 to 6 in the second quarter and 30 to 8 in the second half to grab the win.  The Rockets were led in scoring by John Dobson who had 18 points. Trent Thompson added 12 points and Will Partin chipped in 10.

Westwood will now take off a week for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The Rockets and Lady Rockets return to action on Monday, November 27^th when they play host to Liberty.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

You can download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Marley Perry of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams traveled to Cowan on Thursday night for a conference doubleheader with South.  The Lady Raiders dominated the Lady Trojans in a 53 to 24 win.  The Raiders dropped a 51 to 26 decision.

The Lady Raiders raced out to a 20 to 1 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.  Eight different Lady Raiders scored in the win as Coffee Middle improved to 6 and 1 on the year.   Marley Perry led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 18 points.  Kiya Ferrell added 15 points and Alivia Reel added 5.

Aiden Abellana of CCMS basketball

The Red Raiders had trouble with the pressing defense of South as they fell behind 16 to 2 in the 1^st period.  Foul trouble for Coffee County made a comeback bid nearly impossible for the Raiders in the 2^nd half.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Aiden Abellana who had 10 points.  Dayne Crosslin and Hayden Garr each chipped in 5 points.

Coffee Middle will be back at home on Monday when they play host to East Tullahoma.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

Alex Gloden of Temple Baptist

The Eagles of Temple Baptist welcomed Berean Academy to the E.C. Bailey Gym on Thursday night.  The Temple basketball varsity and junior varsity teams were both in action.  The JV Eagles fell 42 to 19 while the varsity team dropped a 62 to 33 decision.

In the JV game, a slow start saw the Eagles held to 4 points in the first half.  Alex Gloden led Temple in scoring as he had 14 points.  Isaiah Baker added the other 5 for the Eagles.

In the varsity game, a red hot start by the Eagles saw them snatch a 19 to 10 lead heading to the 2^nd quarter.  But Berean held Temple to 2 points in both the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters to seize control of the contest.  Cody Swayze led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points.  Alex Gloden added 9.

The varsity team will travel to Cleveland this weekend for a tournament hosted by Shenandoah Baptist Academy.  The Eagles will take on host Shenandoah at 4:20 PM(EST) and Christ Legacy at 6:40 PM(EST) on Friday.  Their final 2 pool play games will be on Saturday as they play Calvary Baptist at 9 AM(EST) and Rhea County Academy at 11:20 AM(EST).    The consolation and championships will be held on Saturday afternoon.

The Titans didn’t deliver in the spotlight.

Instead, their hopes of a statement win here at Heinz Field flickered out because of turnovers, mistakes and a defense that struggled to slow down Pittsburgh’s playmakers.

The result was an ugly 40-17 loss to the Steelers.

“It’s a disappointing loss obviously,’’ Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. “We made too many mistakes against a good football team. Obviously it caught up to us there in the second half. … The dam kind of broke in the second half because of all the mistakes.”

The Titans saw their four-game winning streak snapped as they fell to 6-4. They’re now a half-game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South.

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 22 of 32 passes for 306 yards in the contest. But he was intercepted four times, and sacked five times. Mariota blamed himself after the contest, but Mariota’s teammates and Mularkey had his back. His targets could have done more, Mularkey said.

The Titans also hurt themselves with a dropped touchdown pass, a slow start, and an inability to get key stops on defense.

“If you throw four interceptions it is tough to win,” Mariota said. “A lot of credit to Pittsburgh, they made a bunch of plays and got the best of us tonight.

“(The interceptions) are on me. When it comes down to it, I am the one that makes the decision to throw, and just bad decisions. I have to do a better job if it’s not there to either tuck it away, or throw it out of bounds.”

Things looked good at the start of the second half, as the Titans scored on the first play. A 75-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to receiver Rishard Matthews, who eluded two defenders after catching the ball deep downfield, cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 16-14. It was the longest touchdown pass of Mariota’s career.

But the Steelers answered back with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, which was capped off with a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to receiver Antonio Brown. It extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 23-14 with 10:01 left in the third quarter.

And the Steelers kept coming, and they kept scoring.

“Give credit to them,” linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. “They kicked our butts in the second half. … Any time you give up 40 points it falls back on the defense. We just have to be a better second half team and learn from this.”

The Titans had their moments. But the team lost momentum despite getting a 44-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Succop, which made it 23-17 with 5:44 left in the third quarter. That’s because the usually sure-handed Delanie Walker dropped a would-be touchdown pass while standing in the end zone late in the drive.

“I have to catch that ball,” Walker said. “That hurt the team, and I feel terrible about that.”

After that, the Steelers put together two long drives to extend their lead. A one-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to tight end Jesse James capped off a 12-play, 75-yard drive, and made it 30-17. The Steelers added another touchdown drive – and capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown catch by Brown – to take a 37-17 lead with 12:12 left in the contest.

Roethlisberger completed 30 of 45 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns in the contest. The Titans had a hard time defending Brown, who finished the game with 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

Matthews finished the game with five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown for the Titans.

The Titans got off to a bad a start on both sides of the football.

The Steelers scored a touchdown on their first possession on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Brown, which capped a six-play, 75-yard drive. When the Titans got the ball, Mariota sailed a ball over the head of Matthews, and the Steelers cashed it in for three points to take a 10-0 lead barely five minutes into the contest.

But the Titans fought back, as Mariota engineered an 11-play, 68-yard touchdown drive he capped off with a seven-yard run to cut the lead to 10-7. Mariota connected with Matthews on a pair of completions, and running back Derrick Henry produced a nice 13-yard run. Rookie Corey Davis also made a nice sideline grab. Mariota showed some speed and some spunk with his run, and head-first dive into the end zone.

After a nice drive, the Titans had a chance to tie the game on a 48-yard field goal by Succop, but it was blocked by Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt.

The Steelers got points just before halftime after cornerback Coty Sensabaugh intercepted Mariota and returned it to the Tennessee 20. Kicker Chris Boswell’s second field goal of the night made it 13-7 with 1:37 left before halftime.

Another Boswell field goal, this one from 50 yards, made it 16-7 at the half. Then came an action-packed second half that saw the Steelers take control. With the win, the Steelers improved to 8-2.

The Titans return to action on November 26 against the Colts in Indianapolis.

“It’s a marathon, man,” cornerback Logan Ryan said. “I remember we lost two straight, and people thought the sky was falling. And then we won four straight. So it is a marathon. This was a tough game – someone had to win it and we didn’t.

“But we get a chance to rest up before a division game. We have to get ready to play and be ready to bounce back.”

The Minnesota Wild scored four unanswered goals and came back to defeat the Nashville Predators by a 6-4 final on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy center. The result ends Nashville’s win streak at five, only their second loss in the month of November.

In a game that saw the Preds hold a 3-0 lead in the second period, Minnesota stormed back to win their fourth straight and leave Nashville searching for answers as to what went wrong.

“We weren’t good,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We stopped playing after 20 minutes.”

“You can’t sit back,” Captain Roman Josi said. “Teams are too good, and if you sit back, they’re going to make you pay.”

Ryan Johansen tallied his first goal of the season just 49 seconds into the game, the only marker of the first period. Josi gave his mates a 2-0 lead in the second, followed by a shorthanded strike from defenseman Mattias Ekholm to go up by three. But Minnesota scored two of their own before the period was out, cutting the lead to one after 40 minutes.

As the final stanza began, Viktor Arvidsson took a slick feed from Johansen and deposited the puck into the cage for a two-goal lead once more. But once again, Minnesota came back with goals from Ryan Suter and Eric Staal to tie the game at 4-4. Then, it was Jason Zucker who gave the Wild their first lead of the night with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, before Minnesota added an empty netter.

“We just got too comfortable,” Johansen said. “We had a great first period, and we had to continue playing like that. We let off the gas, and you can’t do that in this League.”

Nashville will return home to host Colorado on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena, a chance to start a new streak and erase the memory of the loss in St. Paul.

“You have to be as consistent as possible,” Johansen said. “We’ve been doing a good job of finding ways to get wins, and tonight, we just have to learn from it and move on.”

Notes:

Prior to the contest, the Predators switched goaltenders; sending Juuse Saros to the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) and recalling Anders Lindback.

Mattias Ekholm recorded back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career.

Nashville will now start their first true home stand of the season, a three-game stretch that features visits from the Colorado Avalanche (Saturday), Winnipeg Jets (Monday) and Montreal Canadiens (Wednesday).