Category: Sports

The Coffee County Youth Bass Club headed to Percy Priest Lake on Saturday for a region tournament.  147 high school division and 35 junior division teams blasted off from Fate Sanders boat ramp under cold and foggy conditions.  The Raider squad grabbed 3^rd place finishes in both division under incredibly harsh conditions.

In the junior division, the team of Kylan Mantooth and Jonathan Lewis was one of 5 boats to catch a fish.  Their 2.13 pound fish was just 0.98 pounds out of 1^st place.  Saturday’s performance lifted the team to 8^th place in the season standings after 4 tournaments. 

In the high school division, the team of Adam Petty and Jayden Yates landed 3 fish, with one tipping the scale and 3.64 pounds.  That was good enough to lift them to a 3^rd place with a total weight of 8.72 pounds.  Kaden Freeze and Briley Sain grabbed on fish that weighed in at 1.95 pounds to finish in 27^th place.  The brother team of Branson and Dawson Wells finished in 31^st place with a fish weighing 1.52 pounds.  The teams of Logan Floyd/Brent Boeham, Curtis Tudor/Ethan Bell, Jacob Garms/Jase Rice, Tristan Boyd/Reagan Hershman and Colby Thurmond/Paul Zuzich were all shut out in the cold weather. 

After 4 high school division tournaments, the team of Freeze/Sain are in 7^th place in the region out of 233 teams.  The Wells brothers are in 10^th place, Garms/Rice are in 12^th place and Petty/Yates moved up to 23^rd place as the Raiders have 4 boats in the top 25. 

Next up for the Raider anglers is a state trail event on Chickamauga Lake on November 16^th.  That tournament will blast off from the Dayton Boat Ramp and will be the final event of the calendar year.  The Raiders return to region action on February 15^th on Normandy Lake. 

The prep swim season got underway on Friday night as the 3 local squads hosted Tullahoma and Grace Tutorial Homeschool. In team scores, the Coffee County Middle School swept their 2 matchups. The Westwood Middle School girls’ squad led the way as they captured 1 win and 1 loss in their 2 matches. The Coffee County CHS girls’ team won both of their matches, but an injury-plagued boys’ squad dropped both of their matchups.

The Coffee County Middle squad was led in individual competition by:
Brayden Kesling – 3rd place, 200 IM; 3rd place, 100 backstroke;
Christian Bourn – 4th place, 100 butterfly; 4th place, 100 breaststroke;
Emily Snider – 4th place, 100 butterfly; 5th Place, 200 freestyle;
Katelyn Hale – 4th place, 100 freestyle;
Riley Bellomy – 4th place, 100 freestyle;
Cadence Haywood – 5th place, 100 backstroke;

In team relay competition, the Coffee Middle team was led by the girls’ 200 freestyle team of Natalie Warner, Patience Driggers, Katelynn Hale and Emily Snider who captured 4th place.

The Westwood Middle squad was led in individual competition by:
Abby Gilday – 2nd place, 500 freestyle; 4th place, 100 breaststroke;
Elsie Lazalier – 2nd place, 100 breaststroke; 3rd place, 500 freestyle;
Jack Stowe – 3rd place, 100 butterfly; 5th place, 100 breaststroke;

In team relay competition, the Westwood were led by the girls’ 200 freestyle team of Ansley Beachboard, Elsie Lazalier, Cale Hays & Abby Gilday came in 2nd place.

The Coffee County CHS squad was led in individual competition by:
Kaylee Williams – 1st place, 200 IM; 1st place, 500 freestyle;
Emily Williams – 2nd place, 200 freestyle; 3rd place, 100 butterfly;
Taylor Wall – 2nd place, 100 freestyle; 4th place, 100 backstroke;
Kennedy Norman-Young – 2nd place, 50 freestyle;
Elli Masters – 3rd place, 100 backstroke; 5th place, 50 freestyle;
Gavin Benson – 5th place, 50 freestyle; 5th place, 100 freestyle;

In team relay competition, the Coffee Central team was led by a pair of medley race wins. The girls’ 200 medley team of Taylor Wall, Kaylee Williams, Emily Williams and Kennedy Norman-Young who won the 200 medley. The 400 freestyle team of Elli Masters, Kennedy Norman-Young, Emily Williams and Kaylee Williams won the 400 freestyle medley race.

The swim teams will travel to Tullahoma for their next meet on Thursday, November 14th. That meet will be held at the D.W. Wilson Center.

The Coffee County Middle School 6^th grade basketball teams ended their season on Saturday in a tournament at West Tullahoma.  The girls were 2 and 0 on the day while the guys were 1 and 1. 

The girls got wins over West Tullahoma by a score of 40 to 6 and over Warren County 33 to 10.  The girls finished the season with a record of 7 and 2. 

The boys won their first game against Warren County 29 to 17.  Coffee County lost their final game by 12 points.  Alex Kilgore led the Raiders in scoring in both games. 

The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League was in action on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  All 16 teams were in action in 4 girls’ and 4 boys’ games. 

In girls’ games, New Union caged Hillsboro 29 to 10; North Coffee charged past Deerfield 25 to 10; Westwood bounced East Coffee 31 to 19 and College Street grounded Hickerson 12 to 5.  

In boys’ games, New Union bested Hillsboro 21 to 10; North Coffee doubled up Deerfield 28 to 14; Westwood blanked East Coffee 26 to 0 and College Street clawed Hickerson 39 to 2. 

Saturday’s Prep Schedule

Updated League Standings

Juuse Saros made 28 saves, but the Predators only tallied once in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Bridgestone Arena. It’s Nashville’s only regulation defeat in their past seven tries with the first month of the season now in the rearview.

Nashville had their chances, especially as the game went along, but a couple of hit posts in the second period and 32 stops by Rangers netminder Alexandar Georgiev helped lead to the final result.

“We were chasing the game,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I actually thought we were at our best parts of the game defensively and fell down 2-0. Kind of unfortunate the way that happened, and then from there you’re pressing… We missed some opportunities, missed some shots, hit the post a few times and just couldn’t seem to get it to fall tonight. That’s what happens when you’re coming from behind, but like I said, I thought we were fairly tight when we were behind and we were pressing offensively. That’s the way the game went today and the game we had to play.”

“It was a tight game,” Saros said. “Good battle. They scored first, and it would be easier for us to play in the lead, it was a tight one-goal game which could go either way.”

The Rangers had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, courtesy of a goal from Filip Chytil, and they took a 2-0 lead early in the second when Ryan Strome beat Saros top shelf.

But before the middle frame was out, the Predators cashed in on the man advantage. Filip Forsberg fed Viktor Arvidsson a pass in the slot and the winger directed a shot past Georgiev and into the cage to give Nashville life after two periods.

Saros kept his club in the game throughout the afternoon, and Nashville went on the power play three times in the third period, but they were unable to convert before the final horn.

“We’ve got to be better from the start,” Arvidsson said. “We got going in the second and started to play better – we made a push at the end – but I think our power play needs to step up and get one more or two. We had chances and [Saros] played great, but we’ve got to bring it now.”

It was arguably the best game of the season for Saros, who made a number of key stops on defensive lapses from the Preds.

“He stood on his head there,” Arvidsson said of Saros. “In the third [the Rangers had some chances], had some breakaways, in the second too. He played great, and we’ve got to win this one for him.”

A familiar trio was reunited on the day as well when Filip Forsberg was moved to a line with Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen.

“We moved it around a little bit and it seemed to catch some fire with regard to [Johansen and Arvidsson and Forsberg],” Laviolette said. “They got going, and they started moving things pretty well in the offensive zone. They created a lot of chances and a lot of shots. I thought they were pretty good once they got together.”

With a home-heavy October schedule complete and another three-game homestand finished, the Predators now must head on the road for a four-game trip that will take them across the continent over the course of 10 days – and there will be plenty of challenges along the way.

“We’ve got to tighten up defensively, play better,” Arvidsson said. “But we have a good record, we have a pretty good homestand. We have to go on the road here and get after it.”

Notes:

Saturday marked career game No. 1,100 for Preds defenseman Dan Hamhuis, just the seventh active player and third blueliner to reach the milestone.

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Predators revealed the jersey they’ll wear at the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day in Dallas. Click here for more information and to see the fresh attire.

With the homestand now complete, the Preds will head on the road for a four-game trip, beginning Monday night in Detroit against the Red Wings. Nashville will then make stops in Colorado, San Jose and Vancouver before returning to Tennessee in mid-November.

Story by Jim Wyant – TitansOnline.com

In a town known for car racing, the Titans were slow at the start.

By the time they got revved up, it was too late.

A game filled with backfires and a sputtering engine ended with a flat – and a 30-20 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

“It hurts, especially how it went down,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “We didn’t execute, we didn’t play well in the first half and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot, and when you do that it is tough to swallow.

“When you come out and play clean football and you get beat, losing is always tough. But whenever you shoot yourselves in the foot, it hurts a lot worse.”

It wasn’t the start to the second half of the season anyone had in mind, as the Titans dropped to 4-5.

It killed the mood, and a two-game winning streak.

With seven games remaining, the Titans find themselves in catch-up mode in the AFC South, and in the race for a playoff spot. The Texans (6-3) now lead the division, with the Colts (5-3) right behind them.

Sunday’s performance was yet another reminder the team needs to improve if things are going to be interesting in December.

“We need to find a way to get on a run, we need to find a way to play well for four quarters in all three phases of the game, and we haven’t done that yet,” safety Kevin Byard said. “We have to figure out how to get this thing turned around. We have to play better.”

Tannehill completed 27-of-39 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for a score. But he was sacked four times and intercepted twice on a day with the Titans made things tough on themselves with mistakes.

The Titans committed 11 penalties for 99 yards in the game, which killed momentum and field position. There were dropped passes, and missed field goals. The team also got burned on a fake punt.

Running back Derrick Henry ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, but he was quiet – and not utilized much – in the first half.

Trailing 17-0 at the half, the Titans scored on an eight-yard run by Henry on their first possession of the second half to cut the lead to 17-7. Henry carried the ball seven times on the drive after getting just two carries in the first half.

After the Panthers answered back with a one-yard run by Christian McCaffrey to make it 24-7, the Titans responded again, this time with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to Henry, which made it 24-14 early in the fourth quarter.

But it was too little, too late, as the Panthers took control of the game again on a 58-yard run by McCaffrey to make it 30-14.

A 10-yard touchdown run by Tannehill with 2:49 left made it 30-20, but kicker Ryan Succop missed his third field goal of the game in the closing minute, which killed any chances of a miracle rally.

“I had a good week of practice, and felt like things were really progressing nicely,” said Succop, who was added to the roster on Saturday. “I obviously just didn’t get it done today and that’s tough – that’s on me.”

The first quarter ended with a scoreless tie, but not without some Titans mistakes.

It was a sign of things to come.

Succop was wide left on a 43-yard field goal on the team’s first possession, and the Titans were flagged for three penalties on the offensive line (two on left tackle Taylor Lewan, one on right guard Nate Davis) to derail the team’s second possession. A fumble by running back Dion Lewis ended the team’s third possession in the second quarter, and the Titans would begin falling into a hole.

“Negative plays can’t happen,” Lewan said. “I take full responsibility. We have to be better, and I have to be better. … Our defense played their (butts) off for us, and as an offense we have to figure out a way to get started faster. I know it is redundant, and I know it is annoying to hear. If I was a fan I’d be frustrated, too. As a player I am frustrated and I need to find out a way to be better.”

Titans outside linebacker Harold Landry intercepted Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen to end one Carolina possession, but the Panthers took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter on a 35-yard field goal by kicker Joey Slye.

The Panthers extended their lead to 10-0 on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Allen to McCaffrey on a fourth-and-two play. The score was set up by an interception thrown by Tannehill that went off the hands of Titans receiver A.J. Brown.

The Panthers stretched their lead to 17-0 at the half on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Curtis Samuel, with cornerback Malcolm Butler defending on the play. Butler was injured when he landed and did not return.

Succop was short on a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and the Titans trailed 17-0.

While the Titans showed more signs of life in the second half of Sunday’s game, it didn’t change the end result.

McCaffrey ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, while Allen threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers.

The Titans face the Chiefs next Sunday at Nissan Stadium

“Every game is critical, and that’s why we’re going to get back to work and understand that we put ourselves in position to play meaningful games in November,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “Unfortunately today we didn’t take the step that we needed to. But there’s a lot of good things that showed up there in the second half that we have to try and build on.”

Nashville SC’s run in the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday night at First Tennessee Park as it fell to Indy Eleven 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Indy’s goal came midway through the second half when forward Tyler Pasher ran onto a ball over the top of Nashville defense and redirected it to the far side of the goal for the match-winner.

Following the goal, Nashville SC pressed for an equalizer throughout the last 30 minutes, and looked to find it in the 89’ minute when defender Justin Davis sent a ball into the net. However, the linesman had the flag up for offside, and the goal was disallowed. Unfortunately there was no stoppage time magic for Nashville as Indy’s defense locked down the final minutes of the match to maintain the victory.

For Nashville, the loss ends an incredibly successful two-year run in the USL Championship that saw the club earn playoff berths in each season, set a season ticket holder record and showcase soccer in Nashville for over 300,000 fans at home matches throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Nashville SC now enters an offseason in which it will gear up for Major League Soccer in 2020. Next on the calendar for the club will be the MLS Expansion Draft on November 19. Season Ticket Memberships for the 2020 season are now on sale and start at just $25 a match.

Friday Prep Schedule
5:15 PM – CHS/CCMS/Westwood Swim HOSTS Tullahoma & Grace Tutorial Homeschool at Manchester Recreation Center
6:00 PM – CCMS Basketball vs. North Franklin at Franklin County High School
7:00 PM – CHS Football at Riverdale – Thunder Radio broadcast

Saturday Prep Schedule
6:00 AM – CHS Bass Club in Central TN Region Tournament at Percy Priest Lake
9:00 AM – CCMS 6th Grade Basketball in 6th Grade Tournament at West Tullahoma
10:00 AM – CHS Claybusters in AIM Team Shoot at Big Springs
12:00 PM – WMS 6th Grade Basketball(Girls only) at Community

Saturday Manchester Youth Football Playoffs at Franklin County
10:30 AM – Division 1 vs. Fayetteville
12:30 PM – Division 2 vs. Giles County
4:30 PM – Division 3 vs. Liberty

Saturday’s Coffee County Elementary Basketball League Schedule at Coffee County CHS
9 AM – Hillsboro vs. New Union- Girls (Boys @ 10)
11 AM – Deerfield vs. North Coffee – Girls (Boys @ 12)
1 PM – East Coffee vs. Westwood – Girls(Boys @ 2)
3 PM – College Street vs. Hickerson – Girls(Boys @ 2)

Coming up on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show, we will interview Tori Taylor of the Coffee County Middle School girls’ basketball team.  She will talk about the Lady Raiders fast start and give everyone a review of their first week of action.  We will also talk to Brock Freeze, the head coach for the Coffee County freshman football team.  Coach Freeze will talk about the Red Raiders season that concluded on Tuesday in the Tullahoma Lion’s Bowl.  We will also talk to Coffee County CHS wrestling coach Roger Barlow.  Coach Barlow will give us a preview of the Raiders and Lady Raiders upcoming season.  We will also talk about last season.

The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively here on Thunder Radio. 

Austin Watson and Calle Jarnkrok each tallied twice, but it wasn’t enough as the Calgary Flames came back to beat the Nashville Predators in overtime, 6-5, on Halloween at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds a point in the standings but ends their winning streak at four games.

Nashville had a 4-1 lead entering the third period, but the Flames scored three to tie things up with less than four minutes to play in regulation. It looked as though the Preds would escape defeat when Watson tallied his second of the night with just over a minute remaining in the third, but Calgary evened the score with 39 seconds left. Matthew Tkachuk won it with two seconds left in overtime.

“We played a good first and then went downhill from there,” Preds Associate Captain Ryan Ellis said. “We got comfortable and kind of quit playing once when we got up. They’re a resilient team, that’s not the first time they’ve done that to us, when they climb back with a two- or three-goal lead. We knew it was coming, but we didn’t pick up our end of it.”

“They were quicker than us and played a game that put the puck behind us for a lot of the second period,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “In the third period, they did the same thing. We were good in the first period because we got the puck behind them and we went to work in the offensive zone. You spend that much time in the defensive zone, they’ve got some players on that team that can really hurt you, and they did.”

Watson did his best to give the Preds a chance, and he added two assists for the first four-point game of his career. Plus, the Predators announced a three-year contract for Watson during the second period of the contest to keep him in Nashville through the 2022-23 season.

“It’s a special day for me and my family,” Watson said. “At points last year I wasn’t really quite sure of where my career was going or if it was going to continue. To have some job security here, just super grateful for the organization, the guys. I’ve been through a lot and they’ve been through a lot with me. This is definitely a good day.”

Nick Bonino continued his reign as Nashville’s leading goal scorer when he potted his fourth-consecutive marker after Tuesday’s hat trick – and seventh overall – to give the Preds a 1-0 lead in the first. Watson’s first came five minutes later, and although the Flames got one before the period ended, the home team took advantage on the penalty kill in the second.

Watson’s quick one-timer
00:56 • October 31, 2019

Jarnkrok’s first of the evening came while the Preds were shorthanded at 4:36 of the middle frame, and then he did it again before the period was out with an almost identical tally, also down by a man. The Swede became just the second player in franchise history to score two shorthanded goals in the same game, joining Predators Director of Player Development and Milwaukee Admirals General Manager Scott Nichol.

“He’s been great this year shooting the puck,” Ellis said of Jarnkrok. “He’s got a heck of a shot and he put those right upstairs, they were great.”

But in the third, the Flames scored four, and Watson’s second wasn’t enough to hold them off before Tkachuk tied the game and then won it.

“It’s a game that we put ourselves in a great position to win,” Ellis said. “The last three or four games that we’ve really started to play the brand of hockey we wanted, and tonight was a step back, but we’ll address the issues and move on.”

Nashville will get back to work on Friday in preparation for a chance to erase the fruition when they host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon (at 1 p.m. CT).

“We can’t sit on our heels in the third period when we have a lead,” Watson said. “It’s probably not the first time we’ve talked about it and hopefully it’s the last, but I doubt it will be. It happens. It’s not fun. It’s not very exciting right now the way that game ended, but we will learn from it and we will move forward.”

Notes:

Filip Forsberg returned to the lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury.

Pekka Rinne extended his season-opening point streak to nine games tonight (7-0-2 record) to pass Tomas Vokoun (7-0-1 in 2005-06) for the Preds franchise record.

Nashville’s three-game homestand concludes on Saturday afternoon when the New York Rangers come to town for Hockey Fights Cancer Day.

Prior to Saturday’s game on the Fifth & Broad building across the street from the Bridgestone Arena Plaza, the Predators will reveal their jersey for the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic to be played against the Dallas Stars at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day. A 60-foot by 80-foot banner will be hung on the building between 10-11 a.m.