Category: Sports

The Westwood volleyball team opened their season on Thursday night.  The Lady Rockets played host to Tullahoma at Joel Vinson Gym.  Both the varsity and JV Lady Rockets fell to the visiting Lady Cats.

In the varsity game, the Lady Rockets fell in straight sets.  Tullahoma grabbed the match by set scores of 18 – 25 and 20 – 25.  Zowee Dillard led the Lady Rockets in serving and spikes. In the JV game, the Lady Rockets won the 1st set 25 to 19.  Tullahoma rallied to capture the final 2 sets, and the match, by set scores of 14-25 and 10-15.  Haley Brown led the JV Lady Rockets in serves.

The Lady Rockets will be back at home on Monday when they play host to South Lincoln.  That match will get underway at 5 PM at Joel Vinson Gym.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.

The Coffee County CHS Lady Raider volleyball team hit the road on Thursday for a varsity/JV scrimmage with Riverdale.  The varsity team rallied from a 2 set deficit to win 3 to 2 over the Lady Warriors.  The JV team dropped their first set before rebounding for a 2 to 1 win.

The Lady Raiders and the Lady Warriors locked horns in an epic battle.  Riverdale grabbed the first 2 sets by identical 25-20 scores.  Coffee County bounced back to capture the next 2 sets 25-16 and 26-24 to set up the decisive 5^th set.  The Lady Raiders fought and clawed their way to a 16 to 14 win in the decisive set.   The JV team dropped their first set 17-25 before rallying to a 25 to 11 win in the 2^nd set to force a deciding game 3.  In the 3^rd set, Coffee County matched their varsity sisters with a 16 to 14 set win to claim the match.

The Lady Raiders will host another scrimmage game next Thursday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Coffee County will take on Fellowship Covenant out of Tullahoma.  The public is invited to attend.

by Jim Wyatt – TitansOnline.com

One preseason game is in the books, and it ended with plenty of things the Titans should feel good about.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota played just one series, but in short time proved he already has nice chemistry with receiver Adam Humphries, who had four quick catches.

Back-up quarterback Ryan Tannehill looked really solid in his Titan debut, throwing two touchdown passes in the first half as the Titans jumped out to the lead over the Eagles. And heck, third-team QB Logan Woodside looked pretty good himself, tossing a pair of touchdown tosses, too.

The Titans saw a pair of tight ends – MyCole Pruitt and Anthony Firkser – catch touchdown passes on a night when veteran Delanie Walker didn’t dress out, and a number of receivers also made some nice plays, including Kalif Raymond, one of the surprising starts of training camp.

All was not positive in the team’s preseason opener – a 27-10 win over the Eagles, however.

Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson got beat deep for a touchdown, receiver Taywan Taylor was guilty of several drops and the Titans saw reserve linebacker Riley Bullough leave with an elbow injury.

But the preseason usually offers plenty of positives and negatives, right?

And on this night, the Titans played without a large number of starters.

In addition to Walker, running back Derrick Henry, linebacker Harold Landry, receiver Corey Davis, guard Rodger Saffold, linebacker Cameron Wake, defensive lineman Jurrell Casey and kicker Ryan Succop did not play, along with four of the team’s draft picks, including defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, receiver A.J. Brown, and guard Nate Davis.

Mariota completed 4-of-8 passes for 24 yards in the game before being replaced by Tannehill at the 7-minute mark of the first quarter. Mariota guided a drive that ended with a fourth-and-seven incompletion at the Philadelphia 23-yard line. Mariota targeted Humphries on six of his eight throws, completing four of them for 24 yards. He sailed a few.

When Tannehill entered the game, he was sharp in his Titan debut. Tannehill completed 12-of-16 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns – a one-yard toss to Pruitt and a 23-yard pass to Firkser – in the game, good for a passer rating of 138.0.

Woodside replaced Tannehill at the end of the second quarter and played the entire second half. Woodside’s 25-yard touchdown pass to receiver Cody Hollister gave the Titans a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter, and he then connected with Tanner McEvoy for a 17-yard touchdown strike to make it 27-10 with 9:37 left. Woodside finished the night 15-of-20 for 138 yards and the two scores.

After getting their first score on a 53-yard field goal by Jake Elliott, the Eagles scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Nate Sudfeld to Marken Michel, who got past a diving Jackson for the score. But the Eagles didn’t score again.

And while Raymond (six catches, 80 yards), Hollister and McEwen proved to be among the success stories of the night, it was an off night for Taylor, despite him making several catches. Taylor dropped a would-be touchdown pass thrown by Tannehill, and he also failed to haul in a few passes he normally catches.

The Titans will look to clean up their mistakes – they were penalized 12 times for 117 yards and missed two extra points – when they return to the practice field on Saturday.

The Titans face the New England Patriots in preseason game No.2 next week after a pair of joint practices during the week.

The Nashville Sounds broke a 6-6 tie with a ninth-inning rally and defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 8-6 on Thursday night at Chukchansi Park. The Sounds had let a 6-1 lead slip away in the bottom of the eighth before recovering to win their second consecutive game in the series.

The Sounds cruised most of the night. They belted four doubles in the first inning against Scott Copeland and led 4-0 right away. Zack Granite, Andy Ibanez and Ronald Guzman had consecutive doubles to start the game, and Christian Lopes smashed a two-run double later in the frame. Then Patrick Wisdom blasted a solo homer in the third to make it 5-0. Wisdom, who also homered twice on Wednesday, has homered in four consecutive games.

Brock Burke, making his Triple-A debut, tossed five innings of one-run ball. He scattered six hits and matched his season-high with eight strikeouts, leaving in line for the win before getting a no-decision following the Fresno rally. The Grizzlies scored five runs in the eighth, four against Joe Barlow and one against David Carpenter, who suffered his first blown save of the season in 20 attempts.

With the game tied 6-6 in the ninth, Eli White delivered a two-out run-scoring single to score Ibanez, and then Guzman scored a run from third on an errant pickoff attempt to first by Dakota Bacus. Carpenter notched the win, and Phillips Valdez recorded his first save with a scoreless ninth.

The three-game series concludes Friday night at 9:05 CT. Joe Palumbo (1-0, 3.94) is scheduled to start for the Sounds against Logan Ondrusek (4-5, 7.82).

Post-Game Notes

Patrick Wisdom has hit 16 homers in his last 36 games, dating back to June 21
Andy Ibanez (8), Eli White (8) and Nick Solak (9) each moved along their hitting streaks
The Sounds are 11-12 against the Pacific Conference this season
Patrick Wisdom played his 11th consecutive game in the outfield, and Nick Solak played outfield for the first time since being acquired by Texas on July 13

3:00 PM – CHS Golf vs. Grundy Co at Sewanee
4:30 PM – WMS Volleyball HOSTS Tullahoma
6:30 PM – WMS Football at Cannon County – 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast on Thunder Radio

The Tennessee Titans (0-0) open their 2019 preseason schedule tonight, traveling to Philadelphia to face the Eagles (0-0). Kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT.

TITANS IN YEAR 2 UNDER VRABEL’S DIRECTION

The Titans enter their second preseason with Mike Vrabel as head coach. In 2018, he directed the club to a 9-7 regular season record and within one game of a playoff berth.

The 2019 Titans defense returns nine of its 11 regular starters from a year ago. Orchestrated by defensive coordinator Dean Pees, the 2018 unit allowed the third fewest points in the league (18.9 per game). The defense also ranked eighth in total defense (333.4 yards per game), sixth in passing defense (216.9) and second in the red zone (44.7 percent touchdown rate).

On the opposite side of the ball, this week marks the preseason debut of Arthur Smith as Titans offensive coordinator. After originally joining the organization in 2011, Smith has worked his way up the coaching ladder under four different head coaches. He served as the tight ends coach for the last three and a half seasons.

Smith and the Titans will look to quarterback Marcus Mariota to captain the offense in his fifth NFL season. The former second-overall draft pick won 27 games as a starter from 2015 through 2018, which was the highest total by any quarterback in his first four seasons with the franchise since George Blanda (34 wins from 1960-63). Mariota also became the fifth quarterback in NFL history with at least 12,000 passing yards (12,004) and 1,200 rushing yards (1,270) in his first four seasons, joining Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Jeff Garcia and Blake Bortles.

This is the first of four preseason games. The Titans return home next week to face the New England Patriots (Aug. 17), followed by a nationally televised Sunday night home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (Aug. 25) and finally a road contest at the Chicago Bears (Aug. 29). The regular season begins Sept. 8 at the Cleveland Browns.

THE EAGLES

Like the Titans, the Eagles went 9-7 in 2018. However, their record was good enough to clinch a wild card playoff berth and their second consecutive playoff appearance under head coach Doug Pederson. They survived until a divisional-round loss at New Orleans one year after representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Eagles fourth-year quarterback Carson Wentz has produced singleseason team records in passing touchdowns (33 in 2017) and completion percentage (69.6 percent in 2018) during the last two campaigns. He returns for the preseason after missing the conclusion of 2018 due to a back injury.

Wentz was the second-overall draft choice in 2016, one year after Mariota had the same distinction.

THE BROADCAST

The game will be televised regionally on the Titans Preseason TV Network, including flagship WKRN-News 2 in Nashville. Within the Nashville television market, fans can livestream the WKRN broadcast on their mobile devices at the Titans app and the Titans mobile website (TitansOnline.com). Additionally, local fans can watch on desktop computers at TitansOnline.com.

The Titans Radio Network, including Thunder Radio, will carry the game across the Mid-South with the “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith, analyst Dave McGinnis, sideline reporter Amie Wells and gameday hosts Rhett Bryan and Jonathan Hutton. Thunder Radio will join the Titans broadcast immediately following the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast of Westwood football.

A second half blitz from Nashville Soccer Club led to a 4-0 victory over Hartford Athletic on Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park for Nashville’s fourth straight win. Ken Tribbett, Daniel Ríos, Alan Winn and Ropapa Mensah all scored in an 18-minute span in the second half to lead Nashville to its fourth straight win and boost it to 3rd place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Not only was it the fourth straight clean sheet and an extension of the club’s record winning streak, it marked the 100th career head coaching victory for Nashville SC’s Gary Smith.

Unfortunately, the victory didn’t come without a cost as Nashville captain Michael Reed was stretchered off in the early moments of the match with a leg injury.

After a scoreless first half in which the team had to reset following seeing their captain go down, Smith and his coaching staff changed the look of Nashville and it paid immediate dividends.

Tribbett headed home a corner from Taylor Washington, and with it the lid came off of the match. Five minutes later Ríos doubled the lead for his 15th goal of the season. Winn and Mensah then made it three and four with goals in the 64′ and 69′ minutes to give Nashville a comfortable advantage.

Pickens again stood strong in the net, recording his fourth consecutive clean sheet in net.

Here are three takeaways from the 4-0 win.

1) Reed’s Injury Impacts Match

First Tennessee Park sat quiet, a rare sight, as Michael Reed lay on the field getting treatment just three minutes into the match. It was obvious that fans and players alike were rattled by the sight of the captain having to be stretchered off the field. While the comeback win and the four goals all drew cheers, the loudest cheer might have been when Reed was awarded the Man of the Match by unanimous write in vote to the Twitter poll.

2) Rios and Moloto Continue to Produce

Daniel Ríos and Lebo Moloto each tallied in their respective stat categories. Ríos slotted in his 15th goal of the season in the 56’ minute, putting the Mexican forward into a tie for the league lead and three ahead of the next best in the Eastern Conference. Moloto meanwhile added his ninth assist of the season, which puts the South African in second place in the league rankings and extends his Eastern Conference lead by two.

3) Defense Continues to Shine

New centerbacks Jimmy Ockford and Forrest Lasso have still yet to know the feeling of allowing a goal as the club recorded its fourth consecutive clean sheet and set a club record with 376 straight minutes without allowing a goal. Unlike Nashville’s previous win in which it allowed no shots on target, Pickens was forced into two saves and saw a penalty sent wide to complete the shutout. Pickens now holds eight of Nashville’s 10 clean sheets on the season.

Up Next

Nashville will drive for five straight wins with a home match set for a Saturday night against Bethlehem Steel FC at 7 p.m., presented by Piedmont/Tennessee 8-1-1. Tickets are still available for that match.

The Nashville Sounds opened their California road trip with a 12-3 blowout at Fresno. Zack Granite recorded four hits in the game and Patrick Wisdom hit two two-run home runs.

Granite’s first-of-four hits came in the first at bat of the game when he hit a leadoff triple. Andy Ibanez hit him in on a sacrifice fly to give Nashville a 1-0 lead in the first.

Two more runs scored in the third inning for the Sounds. Granite hit his second triple of the game and was knocked in again by Ibanez on a single. He would later score on a Nick Solak single to push Nashville’s lead to 3-0.

Fresno scored their only two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Yadiel Hernandez hit his 23rd homerun of the season to trail the Sounds 3-4.

Nashville would score nine runs over the next four innings, including a four-spot in the fourth inning. Granite had an RBI bunt single that scored Wisdom. Ibanez followed Granite with an RBI double and Ronald Guzman hammered to plate the third and fourth run of the inning.

Wisdom would hit his first two-run home run in the fifth inning. During the next at bat, Grizzlies pitcher Ronald Pena would be ejected for throwing near batter Jett Bandy’s head. His manager Randy Knorr was also ejected in an effort to defend Pena.

Guzman would hit an RBI double in the seventh inning and Wisdom hit a second two-run home run in the eighth to give the Sounds the eventual 12-2 win.

Game two of the series is Thursday at 9:05 p.m., where left-hander Brock Burke will make his Triple-A debut for Nashwille. Right-hander Scott Copeland (4-5, 6.62) will make the start for Fresno.

Post-Game Notes

– With Wednesday’s 12-2 win, the Sounds increase to 48-65 in 2019.

– The 18 hits tied for the most hits the Sounds recorded this season. They last had 18 hits on June 25 at Memphis.

– The nine-run win was the biggest run differential won by the Sounds this season. Their largest wins were seven-run victories versus Oklahoma City on June 30 (13-6) and at New Orleans on June 22 (10-3).

– Patrick Wisdom hit his 21st and 22nd home runs of the season tonight. He has 16 home runs in his last 37 games (since June 18, game 2). That ranks second in the Pacific Coast League in that span (Salt Lake’s Jared Walsh, 18).

– Jake Petricka, Kyle Bird and Shane Carle combined for three shutout innings, allowing just one unearned run and recorded five strikeouts.

The Coffee County Middle School football team kicked off their season on Tuesday night in Watertown.  In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, a furious 4^th quarter comeback came up short for Coffee Middle.  The Red Raiders fell by a final score of 16 to 14.

Watertown used a pair of Red Raider penalties to march 69 yards in 8 plays to take an early 8 to 0 lead over Coffee County with 7:50 left in the half.  Coffee County answered with their own 8 play drive covering 59 yards capped off by a 12 yard touchdown run by Cole Pippenger.  The 2 point conversion attempt was no good and Watertown led 8 to 6 at the half.

In the 2^nd half, a bad snap resulted in a 20 yard touchdown run for the Purple Tigers after the fumble recovery to make the score 16 to 6 with a little more than 11 minutes left in the game.  After a 2^nd turnover by Coffee Middle, it looked like Watertown had seized control of the game.  But the Raiders capitalized on a bad snap on a punt attempt to start their next drive at the 21 yard line of Watertown.  Pippenger ran for his 2^nd touchdown on an 11 yard scamper to cut the deficit to 16 to 12.  The Raider defense stopped Watertown twice in the 4^th quarter, including a safety by Jacob Barlow, to give them one final possession with 28 seconds remaining.  Watertown’s defense held to escape with the win.

Pippenger finished the game with 110 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.  Quarterback Jackson Shemwell was 3 of 7 passing for 33 yards and Ethan Hargrove caught 2 of those tosses to finish with 23 yards receiving.

The Red Raiders will return to the gridiron on Monday when they travel to Tullahoma.  That game will kick off at 6:30 PM at Wilkins Stadium at Tullahoma High School.

Download the broadcast at: https://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Coffee County CHS golf team hit the road on Tuesday for an 18 hole dual meet at Cookeville.  Pairing off against the always tough Cavaliers of Cookeville High School, the Red Raiders came up short by a final score of 364 to 335.  The Lady Raiders lost their first match of the year as they fell 226 to 172.

Logan Hale had the low round for the Red Raiders as he carded an 83.  The Lady Raiders were led by Maggie Crouch  who shot a 105.

The Raiders are back on the road on Thursday when they travel to Sewanee to take on Grundy County in a 9 hole match.  That match gets underway at 3 PM.  The Raider linksters will host their first home match on Thursday, August 15^th.