The Coffee County Middle School 6th grade basketball teams hit the road to McMinnville on Thursday night for a doubleheader with Warren County. Despite a sluggish start, the Lady Raiders rallied for a 24 to 21 win in overtime. The Red Raiders fell 38 to 22.
In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders trailed 16 to 9 entering the 4th quarter but rallied to force a tie at 20 at the end of regulation. Coffee County held Warren County to only 2 field goals in the 2nd half and overtime in the win. Remi Benjamin was the leading scorer for Coffee County as she had 9 points, including 5 in the 4th quarter. Marissa Medina finished with 6 and Samantha Kirby chipped in 5.
In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders could never make up ground on the Pioneers as Warren County outscored Coffee Middle in every quarter. The Raiders were led in scoring by Cooper Reed who had 12 points. Brendan Sheppard added 7 points for the Raiders.
The 6th grade cagers will close out the season on Friday night in Wartrace as they take on Cascade. The girls’ game will tip-off at 6 PM.
The Coffee County Central High School Lady Raiders will host Siegel on Thursday afternoon for their first scrimmage of the year. The scrimmage is the first of 2 that the Lady Raiders will hold as they welcome Nolensville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Tuesday. Both scrimmages are scheduled to begin at 5 PM.
The Coffee County Red Raider basketball will take part in a scrimmage play day on Saturday in Murfreesboro. The Red Raiders begin the day at noon at Blackman where they will take on Independence. That game will take place in the Blackman auxiliary gym. Coffee County then moves to Riverdale for their second game. The Red Raiders will take on Van Buren County at 3 PM in their final game of the day.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will open the regular season on Tuesday, November 14th in Woodbury as they will take on Cannon County. Continuing our exclusive coverage of Coffee County basketball, Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the contest. Tipoff is set for 6 PM, the Powers Storage Pregame Show will begin at 5:50.
The Coffee County swim teams open the season on Thursday night when they travel to LaVergne for a meet with LaVergne and Middle Tennessee Christian. The gun sounds on the first race at 6 PM at the LaVergne High School natatorium.
The Raider and Lady Raider swimmers are coming off their most successful season in program history as 4 different high school swimmers advanced to the state meet. Additionally, new records were set in all 4 relay races during the 2016-2017 season. At the middle school level, 5 members of the middle school team competed at the MTHSSA Region championships in February.
On the year, Coffee County will compete in 6 meets at LaVergne and one at Sewanee. The regional championships will be held in January in Nashville with the state championship to be held in February in Knoxville. To learn more about Coffee County Swimming, you can follow their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RedRaiderSwimming/
Roman Josi scored the lone goal for the visitors as the Nashville Predators fell 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night at the SAP Center.
The loss puts Nashville’s record at 5-5-2, and although Josi tallied what is arguably Nashville’s prettiest goal of the young season, the Preds were unable to take advantage of their offensive opportunities.
Combine that with eight power-play opportunities for San Jose and Nashville was forced to play down a man for a much larger amount of time than they’d like.
“We’re getting some chances, and I’d really like to see – if we stayed out of the box, seven or eight times, that’s 15, 16 minutes of even strength hockey,” Nashville center Ryan Johansen said. “I’d like to see what our team would be doing. We have to stay out of the box.”
“Once again, we took way too many penalties,” Josi said. “We had some momentum, we scored on the one shift and then we take two, three penalties and it just kills our momentum. We have to be way more disciplined than that.”
Joonas Donskoi gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, and after Joe Pavelski made it 2-0 in the second, Josi dangled his way to the slot where he managed to get off a lethal backhander that beat goaltender Martin Jones over the shoulder to get Nashville on the board.
But Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the two-goal lead back for the home team before the period was out and then Mikkel Boedker put it out of reach late in the third.
“Again, we had opportunities to execute in the offensive zone, but we didn’t capitalize, they did capitalize,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “Not a lot of opportunities or attempts for them, but they made the most of the ones that they did and we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties.”
The Predators will continue their California trip with a back-to-back set this weekend in Anaheim and Los Angeles, and there isn’t any doubt as to where Nashville’s focus will center.
“We just have to score,” Josi said. “If you have a chance, you have to bear down and score. That’s our problem right now, we’re not scoring enough. [Goaltender Pekka Rinne] has been playing great, he’s been keeping us in those games. But we have to find ways to score.”
Notes:
Calle Jarnkrok assisted on Josi’s goal, the 50th helper of his career.
Anthony Bitetto, Yannick Weber and Pontus Aberg were healthy scratches against the Sharks.
Center Nick Bonino joined the Preds for the morning skate in San Jose but remains on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury.
Nashville will be back on the ice on Friday night at 9 p.m. CT in Anaheim as they face the Ducks for the first time since last spring’s meeting in the Western Conference Final. Then it’ll be up to Los Angeles to take on the Kings on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m.
Players, cheerleaders and coaches from the Manchester Youth Football League at the MTSU game on October 20th [Photo provided]
Friday, October 20 the Manchester Red Raiders (players and cheerleaders) attended the MTSU vs. Marshal “Blackout” Game. This was the 5th year in a row the Raiders have attended a MTSU game where the league participates in a youth football night. Before the game, there was live music and bounce houses for all to enjoy. At halftime the Red Raiders were allowed onto the field the be part of a high five tunnel to welcome the Blue Raiders back from halftime. In the post game press conference, Coach Stockstill was asked what it meant for him and the Blue Raiders to have youth football leagues at their games. Coach replied, “I appreciate them being here. It’s an opportunity for us (MTSU) to show the little leaguers what college football is all about. Maybe, one day, their dream of playing college football [will come true] because of what they saw.”
The Motlow State Lady Bucks recently completed the first season of women’s soccer in school history by winning six of their final eight contests and finishing with an 8-7-1 record. First row, from left: Kinsli Houck, Anastasia Wellington, Alex Ragan-Laye, Ali Shelton, Tyler Feaster, Angela Molina and Megan Blumhoefer. Second row from left: Bailee Walls, Calli Simmons, Natalie Feaster, Lena Alakabi, Kayla Moultry, Shelby Grow and Bethany Porter. Back row from left: Hannah Feaster, Zach Crownover, assistant coach; Rebekah Duross, Emily Bryant, Keely Smith, Andy Lyon, head coach; and Paige Loveless. [Motlow State Photo]
The Motlow Lady Bucks soccer team wrapped up the 2017 regular season, the first in program history, by winning five of their final six matches, including a 4-0 victory over the Martin Methodist JV in Pulaski Wednesday night.
Motlow (8-7-1) outscored the opposition in those final six contests by a combined 26-3. After a 2-5-1 start to the season, the Lady Bucks went 6-2 over their final eight games, with both of the losses coming by a single point to established junior college programs.
The finale, played on a cold night at Martin Methodist College, was the second meeting between the Lady Bucks and the RedHawks in the past five days, with Motlow winning the first game 6-0.
The Lady Bucks controlled the action for much of the contest Wednesday, with freshman Tyler Feaster scoring the first goal at the 32-minute mark. Motlow’s offense was stymied somewhat in the first half, which ended with that 1-0 advantage.
The two teams continued to play solid defense through the first 30 minutes of the second half before Motlow’s offense began breaking down the RedHawk defense. Anastasia Wellington scored at the 75-minute mark to increase the lead to 2-0, Bailee Walls added a goal at 79 minutes to up the lead to 3-0, and Angela Molina capped off the scoring at the 88-minute mark.
Because Motlow is the only Tennessee Community College Athletic Association member that plays Division I soccer, there is no conference or Region VII tournament. The Lady Bucks had certain criteria they had to meet in order to qualify for the postseason, where they would have joined teams from Mississippi and Florida, but did not meet those criteria.
The Lady Bucks will now go into their offseason program, which lasts until Feb. 1, 2018, when they can begin working together again as a team. The National Junior College Athletic Association allows four scrimmage dates in the spring, and teams can work together until April 30.
Motlow only has two sophomores on its roster, Wellington and Ali Shelton, although both have another year of soccer eligibility at the junior college level.
Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at MotlowSports.com for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics on social media at MotlowSports.
The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams opened the 2017-2018 season on Monday night in Tullahoma. In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series, the Raiders and Lady fought to a spilt with West Tullahoma. The Lady Raiders captured a 30 to 12 win while the Red Raiders fell by a score of 56 to 35.
The Lady Raiders outscored West 12 to 1 in the 2nd period to put the game out of reach by halftime. Coach George Pearson was able to empty his bench in the 2nd half in the dominating conference win. Marley Perry led all scorers as she had 14 points, including a pair of 3 pointers in the decisive 2nd period. Kiya Ferrell chipped in 7 points.
Connor Shemwell of CCMS basketball
First half foul trouble, punctuated by a pair of 3 point plays by West in the opening minute of the 2d period but Coffee Middle in a deep hole in the boys’ game at the half. A rally to begin the 2nd half saw the Raiders cut the deficit from 17 points to 12. But West was able to force several Raider turnovers down the stretch to grab the win. The Raiders were led in scoring by Connor Shemwell who finished with 9 points. Jacob Holder added 7 points and Aiden Abellana chipped in 6 points.
Coffee Middle is back in action next week when they take part in the Rockvale Tournament in Rutherford County. The tournament opens up on Monday, the Raiders and Lady Raiders first round opponents and game times will be announced later this week.
The Westwood Rocket and Lady Rocket basketball teams hit the road for the first time this season as they traveled to Franklin County to take on Huntland. In a pair of close contests, Westwood captured the conference sweep over the Hornets. The Lady Rockets won 40 to 36 while the Rockets rallied to capture a 45 to 43 win.
Despite going 6 of 12 at the free throw line for the game, the Lady Rockets were 4 of 7 in the 4th quarter at the line and got a huge offensive rebound by Haidyn Campbell off a missed free throw. That rebound helped hold off a furious 4th quarter rally by the Lady Hornets. Westwood was led in scoring by Kasen Holt who had 10 points, including a pair of 3’s. Elizabeth Brown finished with 8 and Campbell netted 7, with 6 of those coming in the 2nd half. The win levels the Lady Rockets’ record at 2 and 2.
Will Partin of Westwood basketball
Trailing 34 to 32 entering the 4th quarter, the Rockets outscored the Hornets 13 to 9 in the final 6 minutes to capture the win. After leading at the half, Westwood saw Huntland score 17 points in the 3rd quarter to take that short-lived lead into the final stanza. The Rockets were led in scoring by Will Partin who had 13 points. John Dobson finished with 11, including 7 in the final period. Trent Thompson chipped in 8 points for the Rockets who improved to 3 and 1 on the season.
Westwood is back in action on Thursday when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Liberty. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.
The Coffee County Middle School 6th grade basketball teams hosted their final home game of the year on Monday as they welcomed Warren County to the CCMS gym. The Lady Raiders saw a first half lead disappear in a 24 to 23 loss to the Lady Pioneers. The Red Raiders saw Warren County lead from wire to wire in a 30 to 17 loss to the Pioneers.
In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders carried a 3 point lead into the 4th quarter of a low scoring game. Despite going 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the 4th quarter, Coffee County did not score a field goal in the final period as Warren County completed the comeback. The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Marisa Medina who had 9 points. Remi Benjamin and Samantha Kirby each finished with 4 points.
Cooper Reed of CCMS basketball
After being held to a single field goal in the first half, the Red Raiders saw themselves in a 13 to 7 hole at intermission. Warren County outscored 11 to 5 in the final period to hold off the Raiders. Cooper Reed led Coffee Middle in scoring with 5 points. Jackson Shemwell finished with 3 points.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders hit the road to close out the season on Thursday and Friday night. Coffee County travels to McMinnville on Thursday to take on Warren County. Coffee Middle closes out the season on Friday in Wartrace when they visit Cascade. Both doubleheaders get underway at 6 PM.
Ending the season on a high note, the Coffee County Red Raider football team crushed White County on Friday night in Sparta. Coffee County rolled up 455 yards of total offense in the 63 to 6 win. The win gives the Red Raiders a final record of 3 and 7.
Coffee County wasted no time in jumping on White County as Hayden Skipper intercepted a White County pass on the second play from scrimmage and returned it to the 1 yard line. Alontae Taylor scored on the next play on a quarterback keeper to make the score 6 to 0 with 53 seconds elapsed in the game. After White County tied the game, Coffee County scored the next 57 points for the dominating win. Taylor, a senior playing his final high school game, ended the night with 6 rushing touchdowns and returned the opening kick of the 2nd half back for a score for a 7 touchdown performance on the game. Cameron West and Matthew Pittman also had touchdowns for the Red Raiders.
Taylor finished the night with 302 yards rushing on 13 carries to go with his 6 rushing scores as he was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Taylor had touchdown runs of 1, 53, 55, 35, 67 and 16 yards. West finished the night with 51 yards on 6 carries. Andrew Mahaffey had 43 yards on 5 carries and Deaaron Rozier finished with 34 yards on 2 carries. Rozier also had the only pass reception for 10 yards.
