Kiya Ferrell of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider basketball team completed a 2 and 1 record in the Rockvale tournament on Saturday.  The Lady Raiders defeated Stewarts Creek Middle in the consolation game by a final score of 49 to 32 to capture a 3^rd place finish.  Kiya Ferrell was named to the All-Tournament team.

A fast start gave Coffee Middle a 14 to 6 lead after the 1^st quarter.  The Lady Raiders led by 11 points at the half and 13 points entering the 3^rd quarter.  Ferrell finished the contest with 16 points.  Marley Perry had 12 points and Alyssa McClannahan tallied 11 points.

The Raiders and Lady Raiders return home on Monday night for a conference doubleheader with Warren County.  Lucky Knott will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Tipoff is at 6 PM, the pregame show will begin at 5:50 here on Thunder Radio.

The Coffee County elementary basketball league was in action on Saturday with a slate of 12 games. The season has crossed the halfway point as 3 weeks remain in the regular season. Six schools were in action as Hillsboro had the week off.

Girls’ Results
New Union beat College Street – 21 to 6
North Coffee got past Deerfield – 31 to 6
East Coffee edged Westwood – 16 to 10

Boys’ Results
College Street raced past New Union – 33 to 12
Deerfield stopped North Coffee 26 to 9
Westwood dropped East Coffee – 29 to 2

Saturday’s Schedule – 18November2017

Unofficial Standings(thru Nov 11)

Eight boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club competed Saturday at the Tennessee Bass Nation Trail Series event at Percy Priest.  The tournament also served as a regional meet for the Raider anglers.  Thirty two degree weather at the launch greeted more than 115 boats competing in the Veteran Day tournament.

The brother team of Colby and Braeden Thurmond were the top finishers for Coffee County in 35^th place.  They landed 2 fish weighing 3.51 pounds.  Joseph White and Christopher Wise came in 53^rd place with a total of 1.52 pounds.  The team of Isaiah Owens and Garrett Davis landed a 1.28 pound fish to finish in 63^rd place.

The tournament was the final region and state trail tournament in 2017.  Both series will take off until 2018 when the season will resume in February.  The Raider anglers will compete in a South Central Region tournament on February 17^th at Times Ford Lake.

The Titans pulled out a wild one at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, as they beat the Bengals 24-20 by scoring a touchdown in the final moments.

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 25-of-44 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown in the contest.

Mariota connected with running back DeMarco Murray on a seven-yard touchdown pass with just 36 seconds left to give the Titans a 24-20 lead. It capped off a 12-play, 73-yard drive that took 4:27 off the clock.

The Bengals took a 20-17 lead on a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to receiver A.J. Green with 5:03 left in the contest.

A “Hail Mary” pass by the Bengals fell incomplete on the final play of the game.

The Titans (6-3) have now won four straight.

After the Titans defensed forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, the offense went to work.

The Titans put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive on their first drive, capping it off with a two-yard touchdown run by Murray.

It was an impressive start for the Titans, who picked up 28 yards on a Mariota run, and a pair of 20-yard catches from receivers Rishard Matthews and Taywan Taylor along the way.

But the Bengals answered back, making it 7-6 on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to receiver Brandon Lafell.

The Titans defense made a big play — and set up another score — in the second quarter.

Brian Orakpo sacked Dalton, and linebacker Derrick Morgan dove on the loose ball at the Cincinnati 27-yard line. Morgan later recovered another fumble.

Murray scored on a one-yard run to cap off a 5-play, 27-yard drive, and it gave the Titans a 14-6 lead. Earlier, the Titans missed a golden opportunity to score, as Matthews dropped a would-be touchdown and kicker Ryan Succop missed a 48-yard field goal.

The Bengals cut the lead to 14-13 with 1:42 left before halftime on a three-yard run by Joe Mixon, which was set up by a Mariota interception.

A 44-yard field goal by Succop on the final play of the half gave the Titans a 17-13 lead at the break.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Titans had a chance to take control early in the fourth quarter. But after a long drive, receiver Corey Davis fumbled as he headed toward the end zone. Instead of a touchdown, the ball went into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback, which gave the ball back to the Bengals.

Kyle Turris(left) of the Predators celebrates with teammate Calle Jarnkrok(right) [Photo courtesy of Nashville Predators]

A back-and-forth contest had a bit of everything – goals, saves and the animosity one might expect between two clubs that fought for the Stanley Cup last spring. In the end, it was Nashville who converted in the shootout, and if it weren’t for the contributions of their new star, they wouldn’t have even had the opportunity.

“It felt great,” Turris said of his first game in Nashville. “The crowd was awesome and it was a lot of fun being out there.”

“We all knew the opponent, we all knew what happened last year,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “There is nothing that is going to change from last year. You move forward from that, but we certainly know they’re two-time Stanley Cup champions in the last two years… We were coming off three games on the road where we were able to be successful, and we wanted to keep that going in the right direction. I was happy with the way we played.”

After Pittsburgh carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Predators exploded for three goals in the first six minutes of the second period. Turris started it off, followed up by power-play goals from P.K. Subban and Craig Smith.

But before the second period was out, Phil Kessel brought Pittsburgh to within one, and then Jake Guentzel tied the game early in the third on a breakaway.

Shortly after that, Turris found Calle Jarnkrok in the slot, and the Swede performed a beautiful toe drag and went top shelf on Tristan Jarry to regain the lead once more. It didn’t last long, as Brian Dumoulin scored the final goal of regulation to send the game to overtime tied 4-4.

After the extra session solved nothing, Kevin Fiala and Filip Forsberg scored in the shootout and Pekka Rinne turned aside Kris Letang to end it and give Nashville the win.

And although the victory may have meant a little extra to the Smashville faithful, as far as the Preds are concerned, it was just another two points on their quest for something greater.

“Last year’s in the past and we’re moving forward,” Smith said. “We’re creating something new, something special again so, it only adds to it. It’s points and we’re doing something in the right direction.”

Welcome to Smashville:

If first impressions are everything, then Kyle Turris did a number with his new club on Saturday night.

Turris tallied his first as a Pred just over two minutes into the second period, helped by a slick pass from Miikka Salomaki to find the newly acquired centerman all alone in the slot. He then added a primary assist on Calle Jarnkrok’s goal, and although his attempt in the shootout missed high, it did nothing to damper the evening.

“It’s nice to get the nerves out of the way,” Turris said on scoring his first goal with the Preds. “It was a lot of fun. The crowd was loud and there was a lot of energy in the building. It was an exciting game.”

“I think it is going to take some time for him to get used to everything,” Filip Forsberg said of Turris, “but if he played this well in the first game, I’m excited to see what else he’s got.”

And it wasn’t just the goal from Turris that impressed coaches and teammates alike in his debut. Just as Laviolette predicted earlier in the week: Turris made those around him better as well.

The line of Turris with Craig Smith and Kevin Fiala was all over the ice with the two wingers having arguably their best games of the season.

“I think it just shows his versatility to be able to score goals or be able to make plays,” Laviolette said of Turris. “The play that he made to set up the goal was nice as well. Sometimes it is difficult to jump in on a new team. You get here with new teammates, a new system, you’re playing in front of your home crowd for the first time, and sometimes that can be overwhelming. I thought he was excellent. I also thought it might’ve been Craig Smith’s best game of the year, and I thought Kevin Fiala played really well.”

While every night may not go as well as the first one did, Turris appears to be capable of delivering just what General Manager David Poile and his staff had hoped – wins.

“[I’m] just playing hockey; not thinking too much and getting comfortable with my linemates,” Turris said. “Just playing.”

Notes:

Kyle Turris became the first Preds player to score in his debut since Cody McLeod did so last season. Scott Hartnell also scored in his “second” Nashville debut when he tallied on Opening Night this season.

Hartnell left Saturday’s game in the first period and did not return. Laviolette did not have an update on Hartnell’s status postgame.

Prior to Saturday’s game, forward Frederick Gaudreau was assigned to Milwaukee of the AHL, while Pontus Aberg was sent on a conditioning assignment.

The Predators will host former head coach Barry Trotz and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena before heading to Minnesota on Thursday for a one-game trip.