Category: Sports

The Westwood basketball teams welcomed Forrest to the Joel Vinson Gym on Monday night.  In a pair of games that you heard here on our Thunder Radio app, the Rocket teams fought to a split on the night.  The Lady Rockets won 32 to 27 in overtime while the Rockets lost 44 to 24.

In the girls’ game, Maddie Sullivan hit 2 free throws with no time on the clock to send the game to overtime.  Anna Johnson finished the game with 18 points, including 9 in the 4^th quarter and overtime.  Allie Sullivan added 5 points while Leonor Moreno and Maddie Sullivan each had 4 points.  Johnson and Maddie Sullivan were named the Crazy Daisies co-players of the game.

Turnovers doomed the Rockets as Forrest rolled to the conference win over Westwood.  After playing Forrest tight in the 1^st quarter, Forrest pulled away in the final 3 quarters.  Westwood trailed by 1 point entering the 2^nd quarter only to be outscored 24 to 7 in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters.  Brayden Dixon led Westwood in scoring with 5 points.   Caiden Warren added 4 points off the bench to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.

Westwood hits the road on Thursday night when they travel to Murfreesboro to tangle with the Cougars of Middle Tennessee Christian.  Lucky Knott will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, the pregame show will begin at 5:50 here on Thunder.

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

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams hit the road to Sparta on Monday night.  Taking on the always tough conference foe White County, the Raider teams rallied for a split in the doubleheader.  The Lady Raiders fell 33 to 15 while the Red Raiders won 48 to 43.

In the girls’ game, Coffee County trailed at the half 11 to 10.  Unfortunately, White County outscored the Lady Raiders 15 to 0 in the 3^rd quarter to race to the conference win.  Coffee Middle was led in scoring by Chloe Gannon who had 6 points.  Olivia Vinson added 4 points in the conference loss.

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders rallied from a 9 point halftime deficit to get the win.  Coffee County outscored the Warriors 33 to 17 in the 2^nd half to capture their 2^nd straight conference win to start the season.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Dayne Crosslin who had 19 points, all of them in the 2^nd half.  Crosslin hit 5 three pointers on the night to spark the comeback.  Jacob Holder added 13 points and Ethan Hargrove chipped in 9 points.

Both Raider teams will travel to Rutherford County on Tuesday night to compete in the Rockvale tournament.  The Lady Raiders will square off against Oakland at 4 PM.  The Red Raiders will also take on Oakland immediately following the girls’ game.  Second round action will take place on Thursday and the finals are scheduled for Saturday.  All the games will be held at Rockvale Middle School.

The Titans showed up on the Monday Night Football stage, and turned in a performance worthy of a bow.

After a shaky start, the Titans took over Monday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

When it was over, the Titans left with a 28-14 victory, which ended a three-game losing streak and started to build some momentum heading into the second half of the season. It came before 90,466 fans at AT&T Stadium.

“This game was of the utmost importance,” Titans cornerback Logan Ryan said. “It was a ‘got to have it,’ it was ‘desperation,’ it was everything. We needed to win this game. It was one of those weeks where we had to do whatever it took to win, and we are happy to get it.

“I said it (coming in). I told the guys: It’s a must win. We put ourselves in that position. We came in here and believed we could win and we played like that.”

The Titans (4-4) face the New England Patriots on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

“I think all the wins in this league are great wins – they are difficult each week, and it’s a great challenge to come in here on the road, in this environment, for us to play, our organization to play, on Monday Night Football and for a lot of guys to contribute to that win,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “Hopefully we can get healthy in a hurry and we can move on to New England very quickly.”

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota played well on center stage, throwing two touchdown passes and running for another. Mariota’s nine-yard touchdown run with 4:38 gave the Titans a two-touchdown lead. Mariota completed 21-of-29 passes for 240 yards in the contest, with touchdown passes to running back Dion Lewis and tight end Jonnu Smith.

On offense, the Titans were 11-of-14 (79 percent) on third down in the contest. Lewis had another big day, rushing for a team-high 62 yards while also catching four passes for 60 yards.

In the second half, the Titans defense also turned up the pressure on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, recording five sacks. The Titans also stiffened up while defending running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Titans edge rusher Harold Landry had one of the team’s five sacks. Wesley Woodyard, Brian Orakpo, Austin Johnson and Jayon Brown got in on the action as well.

“They always say: Sacks come in bunches,” Landry said. “I feel like when one dude is eating, everybody starts eating and that’s how it worked out. We were feeding off of one another’s energy.”

Things were bad before it got better for the Titans.

The Cowboys took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a four-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to receiver Amari Cooper, which came just 1:53 after a Titans turnover. The Titans gave the Cowboys good field position after Mariota fumbled while being sacked, and Dallas recovered the football at the Tennessee 15.

After another turnover, the Titans were on the verge of being buried early. That’s when safety Kevin Byard stepped up and made a huge play – an interception in the end zone. He celebrated by running into the middle of the star at AT&T Stadium – reminiscent of a Terrell Owens celebration 18 years ago when he played for the 49ers, against the Cowboys.

“It’s just something I thought about at the hotel, thinking about Monday night in Dallas,” Byard said. “I was thinking, ‘What can I do if I make a play?” And really just to show the team we are not scared. We are here to play ball, and here to win the game. I made the play and I ran straight to the 50-yard line.”

The Titans responded with a beautiful scoring drive that was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run by running back Derrick Henry, which made it 7-7. Henry’s run capped off a 15-play, 80-yard drive that took 8:55 off the clock.

After getting a stop on defense, the Titans put together another nice scoring drive led by Mariota, and it was capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Lewis to give the Titans a 14-7 lead. Mariota connected with receiver Darius Jennings on a beautiful 36-yard completion on the drive, and he also found receiver Cameron Batson on another third down to extend the drive.

But the Cowboys tied the game just before halftime on a 23-yard pass from Prescott to receiver Allen Hurns, who got behind Titans cornerback Malcolm Butler to make it 14-14 at the half.

The Titans got another big play on defense in the third quarter, when Brown sacked Prescott, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Woodyard at the Dallas 40.

The Titans turned the turnover into points, capping a seven-play drive off with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to Smith with 5:44 left in the third quarter, which made it 21-14.

The Titans missed a golden opportunity for more points when kicker Ryan Succop missed a 28-yard field goal with 10:58 remaining, keeping the score 21-14.

But the Titans made the plays to win it late, including Mariota’s touchdown run.

“It is special for sure,” Mariota said. “Growing up, all you can really dream about is playing on Monday night. It was fun to be able to do that – we had a great atmosphere and we had a bunch of Titans fans in town. So it was quite enjoyable.

“And being able to get back to .500 was very important, and we have another one (against the Patriots) coming up.”

The Coffee County and Westwood swim teams opened their season at home on Friday night at the Manchester Recreation Department.  The high school swim teams represented CHS, and a pair of Enrichment Fellowship Homeschool teams from Tullahoma and Warren County.   The Westwood and Coffee County Middle School squads competed against Rockvale and Enrichment Fellowship middle school swimmers.

The Red Raider high school swimmers got wins in both team matches over Enrichment Fellowship of Tullahoma 452 to 110 and Enrichment Fellowship of Warren County 461 to 127.  The Red Raiders outscored Enrichment Fellowship of Tullahoma 231 to 34 and Enrichment Fellowship of Warren County 210 to 90.  The Lady Raiders beat Enrichment Fellowship of Tullahoma 239 to 76 and Enrichment Fellowship of Warren County 251 to 37.

The Westwood swimmers fell in their 3 team matches.  Westwood fell to Enrichment Fellowship Middle 474 to 224, Coffee Middle 302 to 235 and Rockvale 531 to 233.  The boys lost 70 to 40 to Coffee Middle; 247 to 37 to Enrichment Fellowship Middle and 258 to 40 to Rockvale. The girls fell by scores of 273 to 193 to Rockvale; 227 to 187 to Enrichment Fellowship Middle and 232 to 195 to Coffee County Middle.

The Coffee County Middle School swimmers were 1 and 2 on the night.  The Raider swimmers lost to Enrichment Fellowship Middle 470 to 289 and lost to Rockvale 518 to 305.  The boys lost 251 to 62 to Enrichment Fellowship Middle and 227 to 70 to Rockvale.  The girls lost 261 to 235 to Rockvale and defeated Enrichment Fellowship Middle 227 to 219.

The swimmers are back in the water on Thursday, November 15^th at Franklin County.  That meet will get underway at 5:15 PM.

The Lady Raider basketball team of Coffee County CHS traveled to Rhea County on Saturday for a tripleheader of scrimmage games.  In their first action of the preseason, the Lady Raiders got 3 wins on the day.  When asked for his opinion on the day, Coach Joe Pat Cope said “we gotta rebound better but it was a great start.”

The Lady Raiders opened up the day with a 57 to 24 win over Midway.  Abby Morgan led Coffee County in scoring as she had 17 points.  Jacey Vaughn finished with 9 points, Kiya Ferrell chipped in 8 points and Emma Fulks added 7 points.

In the 2^nd game, Coffee County routed Van Buren County 54 to 24.  Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 14 points.  Keelie Hillis had 7 points while Abby Morgan, Jenna Garretson, Emma Fulks and Morgan Jones all finished with 5 points.

In the final game against East Hamilton, the Lady Raiders entered the 4^th quarter trailing by 10 points before rallying for a 54 to 53 win.  Abby Morgan led the way with 19 points for Coffee County.  Bella Vinson and Jacey Vaughn each had 10 points.  Kiya Ferrell added 9 points for the Lady Raiders.

Coffee County opens the season on November 16^th when they host 2 days of Hall of Champions games at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.

Happy birthday, Peks.

Pekka Rinne stopped all 26 shots he faced, and the Nashville Predators shut out the Boston Bruins by a 1-0 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The victory is the 11th of the season for the Preds, good enough to maintain their lead atop the NHL standings.

From the signing of a new two-year deal that morning, complete with a song and “cake action” from his teammates, until the final horn sounded shortly before 10 p.m., it was a classic Rinne performance that has played out 52 times previously in his career.

And while the blanking of an Eastern Conference powerhouse is undoubtedly a team effort, the night belonged to No. 35.

“It was a pretty cool day,” Rinne said. “I came in this morning and signed a two-year extension, it’s my birthday and we got a huge win. I’m very happy, and so proud that I can stay with this organization. They gave me a chance a long time ago, and I’m very fortunate to still be able to chase my dreams.”

“It’s a pretty good day when it’s your birthday, you sign a contract and get secured in the place you want to be,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of Rinne. “He committed to play the sport he loves and then gets a shutout… Everyone in the room was happy for him and happy that he is back.”

Roman Josi scored the lone goal on the evening when he tallied in the latter portion of the opening period on a slick drive to the net. The goal was Josi’s 300th career point and his second marker in as many games.

From there, elite goaltending was on display at both ends of the ice with Rinne and Jaroslav Halak turning aside every other chance that came their way. But in the end, Josi’s strike held up to give Rinne the win on his 36th birthday, just about as good as it gets.

“It was a big day for him,” defenseman Ryan Ellis said of Rinne. “That was one of our better games this year. We didn’t give too much up, and when we did, he made the big saves.”

“He was great once again – same as last game,” Josi said of Rinne. “Unbelievable. It’s been a couple good days for him.”

The Birthday Boy:

Seven years ago to the day, Pekka Rinne signed a seven-year deal on his 29th birthday before proceeding to shut out the Arizona Coyotes.

Seven years later, he pitched an encore.

Just hours after inking a two-year, $10 million deal to remain with the only NHL club he’s ever played for through the 2020-21 season, Rinne turned aside all 26 Boston chances to collect his 316th victory and 53rd career shutout.

Sometimes, the stories just write themselves.

“We heard about it this morning and guys were so excited and just smiling,” Josi said of the contract. “Peks is such a huge part of this locker room, and he’s our leader. He’s been here for so long. He’s such a great guy, and he’s the best goaltender in the League. To keep a guy like him around, it’s awesome for us.”

“Every day, he is and continues to be the backbone of this organization and team,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “He has probably had the biggest impact on this organization… It’s a good day for us.”

For Rinne, it was simply about doing exactly what many of his teammates have already done – signing a deal that enables Predators General Manager David Poile and his staff the best opportunity to keep this group together and compete for the ultimate prize.

“Hopefully, this helps in a way that makes this team stay together moving forward,” Rinne said. “We have an opportunity to keep this same team. I love this group, and I really think we have a chance this year and years to come.”

The first goaltender in NHL history to record multiple regular-season shutouts while celebrating a birthday, Rinne had expressed many times in recent weeks and months his desire to remain with the Predators through the end of his career. On Saturday morning, he got a whole lot closer to making that desire reality with the stroke of a pen.

“We both had the same goal,” Rinne said. “[We all] knew that I wanted to stay here. This is my home. I’m very happy we were able to make this deal.”

Notes:

Pekka Rinne is now 3-1-1 in his career on his birthday with two shutouts.

At 316 career wins, he sits 28th in NHL history and is three away from tying Miikka Kiprusoff (319) for the most by a Finnish-born goaltender in NHL history.

With his 53rd career shutout, Rinne is now just one shutout shy of tying Bernie Parent and Ed Giacomin for 21stt all-time in NHL history.

With 10 shots on goal, Roman Josi tied the franchise record for shots by a defenseman in a single game.

The Predators will next face game action on Wednesday night in Colorado to kick off a five-game road trip that will also take them to Texas, California and Arizona over the next two weeks. Nashville will then return home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 17.

The Westwood basketball teams welcomed Liberty to the Joel Vinson Gym on Thursday night. In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Westwood cagers captured a conference sweep.  The Lady Rockets pulled away in the 2^nd half to claim a 47 to 19 win and the Rockets used a strong 4^th quarter to capture a 24 to 18 win.

In the girls’ game, Westwood built an 11 to 4 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 5 point scoring explosion in the final 30 seconds of the period.  Liberty tied the game at 14 headed to the half and hit a 3 pointer to start the 2^nd half to take their only lead of the game.  The Lady Rocket pressure defense gave the Lady Patriots fits in the 2^nd half as they outscored Liberty 31 to 2 in the final 11 and a half minutes of the game to get the win.  Bryleigh Gray and Leonor Moreno led Westwood in scoring with 10 points apiece.  Anna Johnson finished with 9 points and Allie Sullivan had 8 points off the bench.  Moreno captured the Crazy Daisies player of the game award.

The Rockets and Patriots squared off in a hard fought, physical contest.  Neither team could get more than a 2 point lead in the back and forth affair until the 4^th quarter.  In the final frame, Jayden Carter exploded for 8 points as the Rockets pulled away for their first win of the year.  Carter finished with a team high 15 points to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Brayden Dixon added 3 points in the conference win.

Westwood is back at home on Monday when they play host to Forrest.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the streaming broadcast of that game as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Tipoff is set for 6 PM and you can hear Lucky Knott on the call on the Thunder Radio app or streaming at WMSRradio.com.

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

The Coffee County Middle School 6^th grade basketball team closed out their season on Thursday night with a road trip to Warren County.  The Lady Raiders rolled to a 43 to 9 win over the Lady Pioneers.  The Red Raiders were not so fortunate as they fell by a final score of 41 to 21.

The Lady Raiders dominated Warren County to earn their 11^th win of the year as they finish the year with a record of 11 and 0.  Coffee Middle Was led in scoring by Olivia Vinson who had 10 points.  Sophie McIntruff added 9 points for the Lady Raiders.

The Red Raiders saw Warren County explode for 18 points in the opening period and could never catch up.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Evan Kirby who had 10 points.  Carter Conry added 7 points off the bench in the 4^th quarter.

If it was a Stanley Cup Final preview, the Nashville Predators are A-OK with the result.

Pekka Rinne returned from injury to make 42 saves as the Preds defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, at Amalie Arena. The result keeps Nashville perfect on the road to start the season with six consecutive victories away from Bridgestone Arena.

In fact, Nashville’s 6-0-0 road record with three-plus goals scored in each of those outings is now tied for the second-longest such streak to start a season in NHL history. They also set a franchise record for the fewest games (13) required to reach 10 wins.

“It was a big game, and we responded,” Rinne said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game in their building, and we just battled and battled and got it done.”

It was Kyle Turris who gave the Predators the evening’s first goal on a masterful deflection. Off-balance and turned around at the right side of the net, the Nashville centerman somehow had the wherewithal to locate Mattias Ekholm’s point shot and direct it past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

And then, before the opening period was out, Ryan Johansen took a turn on the highlight reel.

Without question, it’s the best pass you’ll see all month. Maybe all season.

With seconds remaining in the first, Johansen – at least as far as the results indicate – used a second set of eyes in the back of his head. Along the half wall, Johansen flung a two-handed, spinning backhand pass to the side of the net that Roman Josi powered into the goal.

It wasn’t just that the pass was right in Josi’s wheelhouse, it’s also that it somehow evaded Filip Forsberg and a Bolts’ defender to go from Johansen’s tape to Josi. 2-0 Nashville at the end of the first looked a lot better in its making and its result.

His goaltender is certain is was all intentional too:

“Oh yeah, if you look at the replay, he takes a little peek and makes that spin-o-rama pass,” Rinne said of Johansen’s wizardry. “It was pretty unreal, beautiful goal, I wasn’t surprised, but it was pretty cool to see in a game.”

The shot total tilted heavily toward the home team in the second, as the Bolts steered 17 shots on goal compared to the Preds’ four. Nashville’s defense limited the quality of most of the Lightning’s chances, however, and Tampa Bay was only able to beat Rinne a single time in the 20-minute span. The middle frame concluded, 2-1, Nashville.

Tampa Bay continued to press in the third period, but Rinne kept turning them aside, making save after save to keep his club in the lead. Then, with less than four minutes to play, Johansen dished again to collect his 12th assist in his last nine games, this time to Calle Jarnkrok on a 2-on-1. Jarnkrok roofed his second such goal in as many contests, and later, Miikka Salomaki iced it with an empty-netter to make Nashville the first team to hit double-digit wins this season.

Nashville’s bench boss had one of the best seats in the house to a pair of dynamic performances, first from Johansen…

“They were beauties,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of Johansen’s assists. “That’s who he is. There are no easy ones for him. The two assists he made tonight were just incredible vision, incredible skill level, but it doesn’t surprise me the majority of his assists are first assists.”

…and then from Rinne.

“He was unbelievable,” Laviolette said of his netminder. “He looked really sharp to me… He was brilliant, and he needed to be.”

In a skirmish between the League’s top two teams, according to the standings, the Predators found a way to win in what was arguably their toughest test of the young season.

And arguably the top reason for that success is a goaltender who has been doing just that for years and years.

“Unbelievable,” Johansen said of Rinne. “To come back in and do his thing like he did, that’s what we expect from him and that’s what he expects from himself. He brings it for us every night.”

Notes:

Both Zac Rinaldo and Viktor Arvidsson missed the game with lower-body injuries. Arvidsson participated in Thursday’s morning skate, while Rinaldo did not make the trip to Tampa.

The contest was the 1,100th of Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette’s career. He is the seventh active head coach to reach the mark.

Pekka Rinne’s 42 saves were a season high and his third highest total since the start of the 2011-12 season.

The Predators improved to 11-1-2 in their last 14 meetings with the Lightning, including a 4-0-1 mark in the last five at Amalie Arena.

Anthony Bitetto was the lone healthy scratch for Nashville, while Rocco Grimaldi and Frederick Gaudreau returned to the Preds’ lineup.

Up next, the Predators will host the Bruins on Saturday evening for Hockey Fights Cancer Night. More information, including how you can donate to the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund presented by Twice Daily, will be available in the game’s preview.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report