Category: Sports

Tyana Fenton of CHS volleyball

After struggling with service and hitting errors in the first set, the Coffee County Central High School volleyball team rallied for a 4 set win over Grundy County on Tuesday.  In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders got a 9 point rally in the second set with Tyana Fenton at the service line to level the match at 1 set apiece.  That momentum carried the Lady Raiders to the non-district win on the road in Coalmont.  Coffee County won by set scores of 17-25, 25-14, 25-14 and 25-5.

Fenton and fellow senior Odalis Garcia were spectacular in the service game as each served thru long rallies in the final 3 sets to lead Coffee County to the win.  Garcia finished the match with 8 aces while Fenton had 6.  Keelie Hillis led the Lady Raiders in kills with 11 while Garcia, Sarah West and Alliyah Williams all had 6 kills.  Amanda Mukai led the team in assists with 30 and Fenton led the team in digs with 7.

Coffee County travels to Tullahoma on Wednesday for a 6 PM match with the Lady Cats.  The Lady Raiders are back at home on Saturday when they host the Southern Slam tournament.  Game times and schedule will be announced in Thursday’s sports report.

To download a copy of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast, visit:  http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Kiya Ferrell of CCMS Volleyball

After damage to the court at South Franklin earlier in the year, the Coffee County Middle School volleyball team welcomed the Lady Trojans to the CCMS gym on Tuesday night for a conference doubleheader.  Playing their 4^th and 5^th match in the last 6 days, the Lady Raiders crushed South in a pair of straight set sweeps.  Coffee Middle won the first match by set scores of 25 to 3 and 25 to 11. The Lady Raiders won the second match by set scores of 25 to 8 and 25 to 6.

The Lady Raiders got an amazing 25 aces in the first set led by Lauren Brandt who had 12.  Maddie Sussen added 8.   Kiya Ferrell and Aly Harris each notched a kill.  In the 2^nd match Brandt added another 8 aces while Ferrell added 5 to go with a pair of kills.  Aly Harris also had 2 kills for the Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders are on the road on Thursday for another doubleheader, this time with Warren County.  The first match is set to begin at 4:30 PM at Warren County Middle School.

The Braves helped the Nationals wrap up the National League East on Sunday afternoon, but Atlanta did Washington no favors during an 8-0 thumping Tuesday night at Nationals Park.

The Braves broke out for 14 hits — nine of which went for extra bases, including seven doubles — as they tagged Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez for five runs on seven hits in five innings. Freddie Freeman collected three hits, including a three-run homer, and second baseman Ozzie Albies added a solo homer among his three hits.
“Gio’s probably been one of the best pitchers in the game this year, so it was nice to be able to get to him,” Freeman said. “We did make him throw a lot of pitches in the first inning, and we were able to capitalize when we got guys on, and I think that’s the name of the game.”
Atlanta also received a strong effort from right-hander Julio Teheran, who threw seven shutout innings. He gave up seven hits and walked a pair, but he was able to pitch out of trouble when necessary to keep the Nationals scoreless. Luke Jackson escaped a jam in the ninth to finish off the shutout.
“Julio’s been pretty good [in D.C.] the last few times,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s got a lot of support. He’s been really good, really efficient. His stuff’s been really good. He’s reaching back and getting a little extra when he needs to.”
The first game after a team clinches a postseason spot is usually difficult to avoid a letdown, even if the Nats had an off-day Monday to let the champagne dry. Regardless of the reason, the newly crowned National League East champs did not look sharp overall.
“[The Braves] didn’t come in here to celebrate with us,” Gonzalez said. “They came in here to do their job.”
Nationals manager Dusty Baker added: “I don’t know if it was a letdown or Teheran. He was sharp.”
Their offense was shut out and Gonzalez surrendered five earned runs for the second time in three starts. However, Gonzalez did collect eight strikeouts and surpassed the 180-innings mark this season, which automatically vested his $12 million option for the 2018 season.
“You get the strikeouts and then all of the sudden the hits came in,” Gonzalez said. “It was just one of those games. You take it for what it was, sweep it under the rug and get ready for tomorrow. It was one of those games you can’t really understand what happened, just pick up what you can and go from there.”
On his 28th birthday, Freeman launched his longest home run of the season in the third inning when he turned a fastball from Gonzalez into a 443-foot, three-run home run into center field. It gave the Braves a 4-0 advantage and continued Freeman’s assault on Nationals pitching. In eight games against the Nats this season, he is batting 14-for-37 (.378) with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
“Boy, he continues to hit us hard,” Baker said.
The Braves also continued to hit Gonzalez hard, even in the midst of the lefty’s strong season. In three starts against Atlanta this year, he owns a 6.48 ERA. More >
Teheran helps his own cause: Teheran, who was dominating on the mound, chipped in at the plate and padded the Braves’ lead in the sixth inning. With Atlanta up 5-0, the 26-year-old righty delivered an RBI single on a line drive to right field to score Dansby Swanson. The hit was the pitcher’s ninth of the year and brought his RBI total to seven — a single-season career high.
“It’s important whenever you get to face the Nationals,” Teheran said. “They’ve been pretty good this year, they qualified to the postseason already. … [I’m] just trying to come here and do whatever I can do to win the game. Good thing that the offense was on point today.”
Atlanta will tap rookie lefty Luiz Gohara (0-1, 13.50 ERA) Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET at Nationals Park. The 21-year-old prospect will look to rebound after a rough MLB debut against the Marlins in which he allowed six runs over just four innings.

With the onset of Tropical Storm Irma in southern middle Tennessee on Monday, the majority of the prep action scheduled had to be postponed.  The lingering affects will also create schedule changes on Tuesday .  As always, follow Thunder Radio on Facebook for up to the minute schedule change announcements.

>>> Tuesday’s Westwood Soccer match at Liberty has been moved to Monday, September 18th.  Kickoff is set for 5 PM.

On Monday, the Coffee County CHS home golf match with Tullahoma was postponed.  That match was scheduled to be Senior Night,  As of press time, that match has not been rescheduled.

Also on Monday, the Coffee County CHS volleyball match at Middle Tennessee Christian was cancelled.  That match has not yet been rescheduled.  Coffee County travels to Grundy County on Tuesday for a 5:30 PM match with the Lady Jackets.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Thunder Radio will begin live coverage at 5:20.

The Coffee County Middle School soccer match at Harris was cancelled on Monday.  It has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 20th.  Kickoff is set for 5:30 PM.

The Coffee County CHS soccer matches for Monday and Tuesday were postponed due to the weather.  Coffee County will make up the road game at Columbia on Monday, September 18th.  The varsity game is set to begin at 7 PM.  Tuesday’s home match with Columbia will be made up this Saturday, September 16th.  The varsity match will kick off at 7 PM.

Tuesday night’s Coffee County Middle School football game at North Franklin has been postponed.  That conference game has been moved to Thursday night in Winchester.  Opening kick is set for 6:30 PM.

To keep track of other Tuesday cancellations and postponements, make sure to check the Thunder Radio Facebook page during the day on Tuesday.

Aly Harris of CCMS volleyball

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team welcomed Harris Middle to their home court on Monday for a conference match.  In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County rallied from a slow start to capture a straight set win.  Coffee Middle won by set scores of 25 to 23 and 25 to 11.

The Lady Raiders got off to a slow start as they fell behind 5 to 1 and 6 to 2.  A rash of service errors saw the visiting Eaglettes to hold off the Lady Raider rallies until Kiya Ferrell served an ace to make it 13 to 12 and give Coffee County their first lead.  The Lady Raiders were able to hold off all Eaglette rallies before they scored the last 2 points of the first set to grab the win.  Coffee County carried that momentum in the second set as they raced out to leads of 11 to 2 and 20 to 5 before finishing off Harris.

Coffee County was led in aces and kills by Ferrell who had 9 kills and 5 aces.  Aly Harris added 6 kills and Hannah Richardson added 4 aces.  Lauren Brandt and Maddy Sussen each had 6 assists to lead the Lady Raiders.

The win improves the Lady Raiders record to 4 and 2 on the year.  The Lady Raiders are back at home on Tuesday as they host South Franklin in a conference doubleheader.  The first match is set to get underway at 5 PM.

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

Motlow State freshman Tyler Feaster prepares to shoot during the Lady Bucks’ contest with Itawamba Community College on Saturday. Feaster, a striker from Cowan, scored Motlow’s lone goal at the 75 minute mark, but Itawamba went on to win 3-1. Motlow will travel to Memphis to face Southwest Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 15. [Photo by Jeff Reed Photography]

Motlow (0-2-1) is coming off a hard-fought 3-1 loss to Itawamba (Miss.) Community College on Saturday. The Lady Bucks were scheduled to host the Martin Methodist College JV squad Monday at the Johnson Lane Complex in Tullahoma, but the match was postponed due to inclement weather.

The Lady Bucks and Southwest Tennessee are the only two community colleges in Tennessee that have women’s soccer programs. They do not play as conference opponents though, as Motlow plays on the Division I level while Southwest Tennessee competes in Division III.

Saturday in front of a large crowd at Franklin County High School in Winchester, the visiting Indians from Itawamba controlled much of the action in the early going, getting on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 19 minute mark. Each team had opportunities throughout the half but neither could convert and the half ended with Itawamba on top 1-0.

Motlow began to turn the tide early in the second half, forcing the action on offense and getting multiple saves from goalkeeper Lena Alakabi. The Lady Bucks tied the score at 1-1 when freshman Megan Blumhoefer made a beautiful pass to classmate Tyler Feaster, who drilled the ball into the back of the goal at the 75 minute mark.

The match appeared to be headed toward overtime, but Itawamba capitalized on an opportunity and broke the tie at the 88 minute mark. The visitors closed the door on their win with a third goal in the final minute.

Motlow had nine shots on goal, while the Indians had 15. Alakabi ended the day with 12 saves, and each team collected four fouls.

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.

Emily St.John of CHS cross country

In a rare, but delightful, scheduling convergence, the Coffee County and Westwood cross country teams all took part in the St. Andrews-Sewanee Meet on Thursday.  With races for high school and middle school boys and girls, the day featured an opportunity for the local harriers to compete against one another and other area rivals.  Each team facing a course that was both challenging and diverse in its terrain.

Middle School Meet

After competing at less than full strength in years past, the Coffee County Middle School Raiders fielded a complete roster of runners on Thursday to compete for their first ever boys team title.  Not only did the Raider harriers compete, they won!  Eighth graders Jacob Rutledge and Ethan Welch blistered the 1.55 mile course to finish first and second respectively.  Rutledge posted a time of 8:41 while Welch clocked in at 9:06.   Westwood posted the 3^rd and 4^th place finishers as Louie Frazier and Bodey Todd were the top runners for the Rockets respectively.  Coffee County’s Ethan Beaty was 6^th and the Westwood duo of Brady Nugent(8^th place) and Luke Beachboard(10^th) gave the Manchester runners a lion’s share of Top 10 finishes.

Ethan Welch(left) and Jacob Rutledge(right) of CCMS cross country

In team scoring, Coffee County came in first place overall a mere 8 points ahead of Westwood.  South Middle came in 3^rd place.  Also capturing strong finishers for the locals were Connor Cravens(17^th), John Dobson(21^st), Keiton Sherrill(30^th and Jon Askins(31^st) for Westwood.  For Coffee Middle, Bradley Escue finished in 12^th, Breyton Anderson was 123th and Clayton Bryant was 24^th.

In the girls’ race, the Lady Rockets continued their team dominance as captured the team title easily outdistancing South Franklin who finished in 2^nd place.  Rylea McNamara was the top finisher for Westwood as she broke the tape in 3^rd place.  Kailee Rossman finished 5^th, Lizabeth Martinez was 7^th, Mattalyn Goney came in 8^th, Marisol Moreno was 12^th, Lenor Moreno Rivera was 13^th and Brookelyn George came in 14^th.  The Lady Raiders of Coffee Middle fielded only 1 runner, Haley Koren (HK) Sherrill, who finished in 11^th place.

In the high school races, the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders each captured Top 3 finishes.  With the absence of senior runners Byanka Woods and Sarah Pearson, the Lady Raiders were paced by senior Emily St. John who finished in 2^nd place which helped lift Coffee County to a 3^rd place finish.  Lady Raider freshmen runners Zoe Mills, Jasie Willis, Shelby Watkins and Kara Mueller rounded out the top 5 finishers for Coffee County in the girls’ race.

The Red Raiders were once again paced by senior Bradley Kishpaugh who captured 2^nd place in the boys’ race.  Fellow senior, Neil Slone, was the second runner across the line for the Raiders. Andres Cavalie, Renato Garcia and Rueben Chaput rounded out the top five for the team. Larson Meltzer and Jacob Melton finished off the varsity team.  Christian Alvarez and Eric French both ran strong races for the JV team.   As a team, the Raiders finished 2nd, only five points behind Franklin County.

All three programs, and all 6 teams, will be in action on Tuesday as they will run in Manchester at the newly reopened Old Stove Fort Golf Course.  The meet, hosted by Coffee County, will feature races for middle school and high school teams and the first race will get underway at 4 PM.  A huge contingent of runners and spectators is expected and fans are encouraged to carpool and get their early.  Special thanks to Tink and Judy Driver and the Old Stone Fort Golf Club for hosting the meet.

The Coffee County Youth Bass Club opened the 2017 season on Saturday at Nickajack Lake.  With the growth of high school bass clubs in the State, the Tennessee BASS Nation divided up prep teams into regions for 2017.  The Raider angler squad fielded 9 boats and 17 anglers in the inaugural South Central Tennessee Region BASS Nation High School tournament.

Competing against a field of 77 boats, Coffee County fared extremely well as they placed 4 boats in the top 22 spots for the day.  The Raider anglers were led by the boat of Garrett Davis and Isaiah Owens who finished in 3^rd place.  David & Owens caught 5 fish weighing in at 8.03 pounds.  Hunter Sanders and Blake Mangrum finished in 15^th place as they caught 2 fish weighing in at 3.62 pounds.  The team of Shannah Frame and Ceygan Thomas finished 21^st with a 2 fish stringer weighing in at 2.93 and Colby and Braeden Thurmond were 22^nd with 2 fish weighing in at 2.85 pounds.  The team of Hunter Haley and Garrett Fellars came in 27^th with a 1.97 pound fish while Issac Turner and Cameron Rutledge finished in 32^nd place with a 1.66 pound fish.

The Coffee County anglers will be back at Nickajack on September 23^rd for a Tennessee Bass Nation Trail Event.  Boats will put in at the Shellmound boat ramp and fishing will commence around 6 AM.

Lauren Brandt of CCMS volleyball

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team traveled to Sparta on Friday for a conference match with White County.  Facing the Warriorettes for the second time in the last 2 weeks, Coffee County was looking to capture the upset on the road.  After dropping the first set, the Lady Raiders roared back to capture the 3 set win.  Coffee County won by set scores of 22-25, 25-22, 15-11.

Coffee County got 13 service aces in the match to go a long way to scoring the revenge win.  Lauren Brandt led the way as she served 8.  Kiya Ferrell and Hannah Richardson each added 2 aces.  Ferrell led the team in kills with 6 while Richardson added a block.  Maddy Sussen led in assists with 4 and finished with an ace.  Brandt added 3 assists.

The Lady Raiders are back at home on Monday when they play host to Harris.  Thunder Radio will bring you that match as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  That match will also begin at 5 PM.  Thunder Radio’s live coverage begins at 4:50.

Titans tight end Delanie Walker didn’t dig too deep when searching for the biggest takeaway from the season opener.

In his mind, it was plain and simple.

“We lost the game,” Walker said after the team’s 26-16 loss to the Raiders. “That’s the biggest takeaway. We lost the game, and that is all that matters. They made more plays than us, and they won the game.”

Walker said the team’s mentality heading into Week 2 should be just as clear.

“We should have a sense of urgency,” Walker said. “But that should always be our mindset. If you don’t have a sense of urgency, we don’t want you on this team. So we have to come back, fight back, and try and win next week.”

What happened on Sunday wasn’t what the Titans had in mind to kick off the 2017 season.

The Titans had their moments, but in the end they only felt the disappointment of a season-opening loss. On offense, the Titans didn’t make enough plays in the red zone. On defense, the Titans allowed Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his receivers to make too many plays on them. Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch also did too much damage.

“It’s very difficult,” linebacker Brian Orakpo said. “I am disappointed, but I know what kind of team we have. We have a lot of football to play, this is one game. We have 15 games to play.”

Titans coach Mike Mularkey gave credit to Oakland.

“(They) put us in our place and beat us,” Mularkey said. “To me that’s two good football teams that played today. I thought it was going to be a close game; it was a close game.

“… We’ve got to do some things better in some areas, but there were some good things we can build off of, and obviously there were some things we can clean up.”

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 25-of-41 passes for 256 yards in the game, and he scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Carr, meanwhile, completed 22-of-32 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with receivers Michael Crabtree (6 catches, 83 yards) and Amari Cooper (five catches, 62 yards) throughout the day, and also threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to receiver Seth Roberts. Lynch ran for 76 yards tough yards against the Titans.

There was action right out of the gate in this one.

After the Titans failed to recover their onside kick on the opening kickoff, the Raiders scored on an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Carr to Cooper, which capped off a four-play, 50-yard drive.

But the Titans immediately responded, in impressive fashion.

Mariota guided a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown run to his left. He picked up a key block from Walker on the way to the end zone.

The Titans converted three third-down chances on the drive, with a pair of catches from receiver Rishard Matthews, and then an impressive grab from rookie Corey Davis, who went up high to take the ball away from Raiders defender David Amerson. It was 7-7 with 6:58 left in the first quarter.

The teams traded field goals to close out the first half, and Oakland led 13-10. The Raiders stretched the lead to 16-10 on a 52-yard field goal by kicker Giorgio Tavecchio.

The Titans then cut the score to 16-13 on a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop on the final play of the third quarter, but there was frustration. It marked the second time the Titans had to settle for a field goal after a long drive.

“That was critical,” Mariota said. “We couldn’t score touchdowns in there.”

The Raiders stretched the lead to 23-13 on the touchdown pass from Carr to Roberts, who caught the ball in between cornerbacks Logan Ryan and Brice McCain in the end zone.

Succop’s third field goal of the game, a 52-yarder with 4:49 left, cut the lead to 23-16, but another field goal by Tavecchio, this one from 43 yards out with 1:14 left, clinched it.

Davis caught six passes for 69 yards in his NFL debut, and rookie cornerback Adoree’ Jackson also started for the Titans.

The Titans are scheduled to face the Jaguars next Sunday in Jacksonville.

“It’s stupid tough (to lose the opener), especially at home, knowing that we want to control home field advantage as much as possible and make sure no one comes in here and put any points on that board,” Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said.

“It’s definitely a shot to the heart and a shot to my pride to let someone come in here and run up and down on us like that. We just have to come back stronger and make sure we bounce back for the next 15 (games).”