It was a tough day for all four of the MYFL Red Raider age groups as they faced the Franklin County Rebels.  The Manchester Raiders took on the teams from Franklin County at Dyer-Bouldin Field at Westwood Middle School on Homecoming.  .

In the Pee Wee Division Kayleb Morris led the team with three touchdown runs of 40 yards and one for 30 yards and an extra point and Hayes Shemwell added a 30 yard touchdown run as the Red Raiders fell to Franklin County Rebels 36-31.

In Division 1 Gavin Smith, Will Barlow and Jacoba Fells led the defense with most of the stops but came up short as Franklin County won 35-0.

In Division 2 Gabriel Hambly carried for 55 yards and a touchdown. QB Logan McClanahan hit Tyler Martin for a 45 yard touchdown pass and then ran for the extra point but in the end lost a close one to the Rebels 18-13.

In Division three Jacob Barlow ran for 83 all purpose yards and Isaiah Rippy contributed with two runs totaling 30 yards. JT “Joker” Foster had a 25 yard reception but it was all Franklin County as the Raiders fell 33-0.

The Raiders are back at home on Saturday as the MYFL welcomes Warren County to Dyer-Bouldin Field.  The Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 Raiders will have games beginning at 10 AM as the Pee Wee team will have the week off.

Thanks to Lawrence Phillips of Manchester Youth Football League for his help in writing this story

A fistfight turned into a shootout on Sunday at Nissan Stadium, and the Titans had more bullets.

A strong second half lifted the Titans to a 33-27 win over the Seahawks, and a 2-1 record.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 20-of-32 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Running back DeMarco Murray ran for 115 yards and a touchdown – a 75-yard run.

After a defensive battle in the first half, the Titans provided a bunch of fireworks in the second half.

It started with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to receiver Rishard Matthews, who picked up a key block from tackle Taylor Lewan close to the line of scrimmage and then a clearing block from tight end Phillip Supernaw – on two Seahawks — downfield.

On the team’s next possession, rookie tight end Jonnu Smith scored his second touchdown in as many weeks by catching a pass from Mariota and racing 24 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-14.

Then came the big run from Murray, who raced 75 yards to his left and then downfield for a touchdown to make it 30-14 with 1:34 left in the third quarter.

After a touchdown pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson to tight end Luke Willson trimmed the lead to 30-20, Titans kicker Ryan Succop made his fourth field goal of the lead to give the Titans a 33-20 lead in the fourth quarter. A touchdown pass from Wilson to Paul Richardson made it 33-27 with 1:50 left.

The Titans scored 24 points in the second half of this one. The Titans scored 31 of their 37 points in the second half last week in a win at Jacksonville.

The two teams exchanged punches in the first half.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 24-yard field goal by Succop, which capped off an 11-play, 61-yard drive. Receiver Eric Decker’s 17-yard catch on third-and-15 kept the drive alive, but a pair of penalties on Decker caused the drive to stall near the goalline.

Decker was called for holding on what would have been a 14-yard touchdown run by Mariota.

The Titans stretched the lead to 6-0 on another Succop field goal, this one from 37 yards. On the drive, a scrum erupted on the Tians sideline after Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman hit Mariota late and out of bounds, which resulted in several players being penalized.

The Seahawks took the lead late in the first half, scoring on a four-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to receiver Doug Baldwin to take a 7-6 lead.

But the Titans quickly drove down the field, and Succop made his third field goal of the game, from 47 yards, to give the Titans a 9-7 lead on the final play of the half.

An 80-yard punt return for a touchdown by Adoree’ Jackson was called back because of an illegal block by running back David Fluellen.

The Titans travel to Houston next Sunday to face the Texans.

Highlighted by Kevin Fiala’s magnificent tally, the Nashville Predators finished their road preseason schedule with a 5-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon.

Filip Forsberg, Miikka Salomaki and Pontus Aberg also scored for the Preds before Fiala added an empty netter to give them their second victory of the exhibition slate, while goaltender Anders Lindback turned aside 23 shots through two periods before Juuse Saros finished things out.

“I thought as the game went on, the second period and third period, I thought we were able to play a better game and generate more offense,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We got going and lots of guys played good hockey. It’s never easy to fly in and play right away, but I thought the guys played a good game and got better as it went on.”

Forsberg took advantage of a 2-on-1 midway through the first period, keeping it himself and wiring a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for a 1-0 advantage. Then, just over four minutes later, Miikka Salomaki collected a loose puck in the slot before walking in and snapping home his third of the preseason for a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Cam Atkinson cut the Nashville lead in half when he scored for Columbus on the man advantage, but before the middle frame was out, Fiala made a statement. Working with a 3-on-2, Fiala handled everything, turning a Jackets defender around and then deking past an outstretched Bobrovsky for a dandy of a goal.

“It was great,” Forsberg said of Fiala’s marker. “That’s just the things that he can do. He’s just so skilled and it was a beautiful goal.”

A point shot from Zach Werenski early in the third cut the lead to one again, but a power play chance saw Saros leave the puck for Emil Pettersson, who then found Aberg to capitalize on a wrister and a two-goal Nashville lead once more. Columbus then added a third before Fiala iced it into an empty cage.

With the preseason now two-thirds complete, Laviolette and his staff will start to see more of their regulars come into the lineup as the final roster begins to take shape, something the bench boss will look to work on in the coming days.

“When we get [the NHL regulars] back here and get them in the lineup, that’s when we can really start to work on things,” Laviolette said. “Practice will be good coming up. We have some decisions we have to make here shortly, so practice coming up will be really good, then an opportunity to play a couple more games and get ready for the opener.

Notes:

Defensemen Jack Dougherty and Matt Irwin registered a pair of helpers on the afternoon while Vladislav Kamenev, Anthony Bitetto, Pettersson and Saros all collected one assist for Nashville.

After an off day on Monday, the Predators will return to the ice on Tuesday at Centennial Sportsplex for an 11 a.m. (CT) practice before hosting their final two games of the preseason later in the week. Columbus comes to town on Thursday evening before Nashville rounds out the exhibition slate by hosting Tampa Bay at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.

As they neared the end of their respective rookie seasons on Sunday afternoon at SunTrust Park, Nick Pivetta and Luiz Gohara staged a pitchers’ duel that was decided by a Maikel Franco homer. His fifth-inning moonshot propelled the Phillies to a 2-0 win over the Braves.

Franco turned on a first-pitch changeup and deposited it over the left-field wall to begin the fifth. His 21st homer of the season provided sufficient support for Pivetta, who scattered five hits over six scoreless innings. The Phillies’ right-hander avoided damage after Ender Inciarte began the bottom of the first and sixth innings with singles.
Gohara continued to show his tremendous potential, recording nine strikeouts and scattering five hits as he completed seven innings in his fourth Major League start. The 6-foot-3 left-hander benefited from two outfield assists from Nick Markakis, but he and the Braves’ offense were unable to overcome Pivetta and the Phillies’ bullpen.
Inciarte capped his three-hit game with a two-out single in the eighth inning. The Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder is three hits away from notching the seventh 200-hit season in Atlanta Braves history.
After Inciarte singled to begin the bottom of the sixth, Pivetta induced three consecutive groundouts against the heart of the Braves’ order. After Johan Camargo grounded out to Pivetta and moved Inciarte to second, Freddie Freeman, who missed Saturday’s game due to illness, moved Inciarte to third base. Markakis then ended the threat when his grounder found first baseman Tommy Joseph’s glove.
After surrendering Franco’s homer, Gohara ended the fifth inning with three straight strikeouts. The young lefty, who has drawn comparisons to CC Sabathia, responded to Cesar Hernandez’s sixth-inning leadoff single by inducing Aaron Altherr’s double-play grounder.

Jenna Garretson of CHS soccer

Lady Raider soccer team of CHS traveled to Murfreesboro to take on Central Magnet.  After allowing an early Lady Tiger goal on a penalty kick, Coffee County roared back to capture the non-district win.  The Lady Raiders won by a final score of 4 to 1.

Central scored on a penalty kick in the 18^th minute.  Interestingly enough, that shot was one of only 2 shots the Lady Tigers could get on frame in the match.  Coffee County tied the match in the 24^th minute on an unassisted goal by Jenna Garretson.  Allie Amado gave Coffee County the lead in the 36^th minute on an unassisted goal to give the Lady Raiders a 2 to 1 lead at the half.  Emilee Roberson made the score 3 to 1 in the 54^th minute off a pass from Amado.  Garretson added her second goal in the 78^th minute off an assist from Morgan Henley.

The Lady Raiders outshot Central Magnet 11 to 5.  Coffee County returns home on Monday for a crucial district contest with Lincoln County.  That match is set to get underway at 7 PM at the Raider Soccer Field.

Keelie Hillis of CHS volleyball

The Coffee County CHS volleyball team welcomed Columbia to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Thursday looking for a season sweep over the Lady Lions.  A win would also guarantee a regular season district title and a number 1 seed in the district tournament.   For the second match in a row, the Lady Raiders dropped a 5 set match after holding a lead.

On Thursday night, Coffee County led 2 sets to none after capturing the first and second set by scores of 25 to 22 and 25 to 18.  Columbia roared back to grab the last 3 sets 10-25, 16-25 and 12-15.  Keelie Hillis led the Lady Raiders in kills with 13 while adding a block.  Odalis Garcia led in aces with 4 while adding 9 kills.  Amada Mukai led Coffee County in assists with 40 while Tyana Fenton had the team lead in digs with 21.

The Lady Raiders are back at home on Monday for Senior Night as they welcome Tullahoma to The Patch.  That match is set to get underway at 6 PM with Senior Night activities to precede the match.

Coffee County coach Andrew Taylor will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast LIVE each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln and is heard exclusively here on Thunder Radio.

Patricia Barrera of Westwood XC

WMS Cross Country teams closed out their season on Tuesday in Fayetteville at Don Davidson Park.  The Rocket and Lady Rocket harriers ended the year on a high note as they each captured high individual finishes and strong team finishes.  Lady Rocket Patricia Barrera won the girls’ race while Bodey Todd had a 2^nd place finish for the Rockets.

The Westwood Rockets won the team championship outdistancing 2^nd place Culleoka.  Todd’s ran a time of 9:55 to capture 2^nd place a mere 4 seconds off the race winner.  Louie Frazier(with a time of 10:04) finished in 3^rd place followed by Brady Nugent(10:26) in 4^th place.  Other Rocket runners were: Luke Beachboard(10:42) in 7^th place; Connor Cravens(11:10) in 11^th place; John Dobson(11:12) in 12^th place; Keiton Sherrill(13:02) in 25^th place and Jon Askins(13:14) in 27^th place.

The Lady Rockets came in 2^nd place behind Forrest.  Barrera paced the Lady Rockets with a time of 10:48 for the individual race win.  Rylea McNamara (12:23) finished in 9^th place while Lizbeth Martinez(13:07) came in 17^th place.  Other Lady Rocket runners were: Kailee Rossman(13:10) in 18^th place; Mattalyn Goney(12:21) in 22^nd place; Marisol Moreno(14:21) in 27^th place; Leonor Moreno Rivera(14:35) in 28^th place and Brookelyn George(14:40) in 31^st place.