Category: Sports

Thursday  night will be busy for area prep teams. Coming off a 32-0 win over Grundy County on Tuesday, the Westwood Rockets football team will open its home slate of games at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Dyer-Bouldin Field.

Also on Thursday, the CHS Lady Raider volleyball team looks to improve to 3-0 when it hosts Riverdale – junior varsity at 5 p.m. and varsity at 6 p.m.

The CHS Lady Raider soccer team is traveling to Rockvale for a 6 p.m. non-district match, and the CMS volleyball team is hoping to remain undefeated with a conference trip to North Franklin at 5 p.m. The Lady Raiders are currently 4-0.

And in a match you will hear on Thunder Radio as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series, the CMS Lady Raider soccer team will host Tullahoma at 4:30 p.m. CMS is 1-0 on the year, having beat Warren County 2-1 behind goals from Jasmine Norris and Lilly Matherne. You can hear the broadcast at 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM or stream it on the Manchester GO app or at www.thunder1320.com.

Thunder Radio’s 63^rd year of covering Red Raider football begins Friday night – Aug. 21 when Coffee County hosts Franklin County in a non-region tilt. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Carden-Jarrell Field.

Thunder Radio will be on hand for every Red Raider game – home and away – to bring all the action back to your radio, computer and streaming devices (smart phones and Amazon Alexa).

The Friday Night Thunder pregame show (delivered by Riddle Trucking), will begin the festivities at 6 p.m.. This is the 12^th year for Friday Night Thunder, and a new host will in the studio – Court Steere.

Following Friday Night Thunder, the game broadcast will be handled by Peterson and Dustin Murray – both are former athletes at Coffee County Central, graduates of the school, Manchester natives and veteran broadcasters. Jonathan Oliver returns for his second season as the sideline reporter. Peterson moves from the Friday Night Thunder studio to the play-by-play booth to replace Dennis Weaver, the longtime voice of Coffee County athletics, who tragically passed away on July 24^th.

“Weave was extremely excited to start this season and, in typical fashion, was already bombarding me with preparation and ideas,” explained Peterson. “We are going to miss having him on the call, and miss the excitement that he got from celebrating our athletes, teams and coaches. There is no ‘replacing’ Dennis Weaver. We are going to carry on his enthusiasm and his passion and we are going to focus all of our energy here at Thunder Radio on highlighting, promoting and celebrating our athletes and teams at Coffee County Central. We are proud to do it for them, and for him.”

Following each game, the Friday Night Thunder Postgame show – hosted by Steere – will allow for call-ins and a region-wide scoreboard rundown, as well as play highlights from the game.

Every pregame show, game and postgame show can be heard live on Thunder Radio- 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM, streaming at www.thunder1320.com, streaming on the Manchester Go smartphone app and streaming on Amazon Alexa.

Tickets for the season opener against Franklin County should be purchased at the school prior to arrival – no tickets will be sold at the gate. You can purchase tickets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. and CHS- 100 Red Raider Dr.

Coffee County Middle School used big plays from Cole Pippenger and a stingy defense to roll past visiting Tullahoma 34-12 Tuesday night at Carden-Jarrell Field.

In a game you heard on Thunder Radio, the Raider defense only gave up one score, in the final seconds with the game well in hand. Tullahoma’s other score came courtesy of a kickoff return.

Offensively for the Raiders, Pippenger put CMS on the board early with a touchdown run, then later connected with Caiden Martin on a short pass for a 32-yard pitch and catch.

Pippenger later scored from 12 yards out, and Martin was able to score again from 8-yards out. Pippenger capped the scoring for the Raiders with a 3-yard quarterback sneak. Pippenger accounted for over 200 yards for the Raiders on the ground and through the air.

The win improves the Raiders to 1-0 on the season. CMS will travel to Harris Middle for another conference game Tuesday, Aug. 25.

Two nights in a row and two sweeps for the Central High School Lady Raider volleyball team to start the 2020 season.

CHS spanked Shelbyville 25-11, 25-18 and 25-19 for a 3-0 sweep Tuesday night on the road. It was the second sweep in consecutive nights for the Lady Raiders, who dropped Warren County in their home opener Monday.

For the second night in a row, Lauren Brandt led the way for CHS at the service line with nine service aces. Brandt also picked up 15 assists on the night to lead CHS in setting. Maddy Sussen and Keri Munn each added three aces at the service line. Lexi Bryan dominated at the net for CHS, putting down 12 kills. Kiya Ferrell added six kills for CHS.

The Lady Raiders look to remain perfect when they host Riverdale for a non-district match Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Westwood Middle School defense smothered Grundy County and the Rockets rolled to a 32-0 win to open the season on the road Tuesday night.

Westwood forced turnovers on each of Grundy County’s first two possessions and followed up with touchdowns by Caiden Warren and Jaiden Carter to take a quick 16-0 lead. Skylar Stinson was also able to add a touchdown for Westwood and the Rockets scored through the air when Carter connected with Vaughn Parker.

Westwood has a short turnaround, as the Rockets will be in action again Thursday when theyhost Fayetteville at Dyer-Bouldin Field. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

The Central High School Lady Raider soccer team attacked Lincoln County early and often and left Fayetteville with a 6-3 District 8-AAA win Tuesday night.

CHS led 3-2 at halftime and pulled away late. Maddy Jones scored a pair of goals and added two assists for the Lady Raiders, along with a goal and an assist from Jorja Waggoner and Jayda Wright, who scored on a free kick. Katie Cotten also added a goal and an assist for the Lady Raiders on the night. Britny Hernandez also found the back of the net for CHS.

Lucy Riddle finished with 10 saves in goal for the Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders will return to action Thursday when they travel to Rockvale for a non district match.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team is now 4-0 to start the season after another impressive win, dropping Warren County in a road match.

Coffee Middle swept the best-of-three match 25-16 and 25-18. The JV also won, dropping the Lady Pioneers 2-1.

It was a dominating performance Monday night at Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium for the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider volleyball team.

In a match you heard on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders dominated in a three sets to none win. CHS won 25-7, 25-10 and 25-20.

A strong service game set the tone early for the Lady Raiders, who finished with 13 aces and only seven service errors for the entire match. Junior Lauren Brandt led the way at the service line with six aces. Kiya Ferrell and Keri Munn each added two aces.

Lexi Bryan and Munn dominated around the net for CHS with eight kills and seven kills, respectively. Outside hitters Maddie Husted and Maddy Sussen each added four kills.

Kiya Ferrell led the Lady Raiders with 12 assists. The win completed a clean sweep on the afternoon for CHS, as the freshman team won 2-0 and the junior varsity won 2-0.

Listen to the broadcast of Monday’s win by clicking here

Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider volleyball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a  thrilling three set win over Harris Middle on the road, taking a 2-1 win.

The Lady Raiders won the first set 25-17 before dropping the second set 25-17. In the third and final set of the best of five, CMS won 20-18.

The JV Lady Raiders also won 2-1.

Logan Hale carded a seven-over par 79 to lead the Coffee County Red Raider golf team to a win over Lincoln County on Monday afternoon at WillowBrook Golf Course.

Zack Tidwell shot an 84, David O’Connor 96 and Blake Perry 99 to total the CHS score of 358, which was good enough to outpace Lincoln County by a comfortable 36 strokes.

However, Tullahoma’s Wildcat golfers scored 339 to outpace both Coffee and Lincoln Counties. Franklin County did not have enough golfers to offer a qualifying score.

Meanwhile, Lady Raider golfers Araya Hughes and Maggy Crough combined to shoot 217 and take third place out of four teams Monday afternoon. Tullahoma won the match with a 154, Lincoln County came in second with a 181 and Franklin County fourth with 238.

The CHS golfers will be back in action Wednesday, Aug. 19 when they travel to Riverbend to take on Shelbyville and Marshall County.