Category: Sports

James Neal notched his first goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough as the Nashville Predators dropped a 4-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at SAP Center.

Down two goals in the third period, Nashville pushed hard to put the puck in the net, but Martin Jones and the Sharks ultimately staved off the pressure to hand the Preds their third defeat in as many games.

“We felt like we were coming and doing some pretty good things defensively, starting to get more offense and get some shots through, but we just couldn’t find it,” Captain Mike Fisher said. “Jones made some good saves late, and we just didn’t get those breaks. We’ve just got to find a way… It’s not going for us right now, but we have to just keep plugging away.”

After the Sharks took a 3-0 lead early in the second period, Neal gave the Preds life with less than a minute remaining in the middle frame, tipping in a Ryan Ellis shot. The Preds had their chances in the third, registering a significant amount of sustained offensive zone pressure, but couldn’t break through.

 

Nashville liked the way they responded in the latter portions of the game, but as Head Coach Peter Laviolette echoed, it’s never easy to try and come from behind.

“We have to find a way to come out in these games and score the first goal and get a lead and try and build off of it from there, as opposed to always trying to chase the game from behind and never having that comfort of being up a goal,” Laviolette said. “I thought we fought in the third period, but it’s tough coming down from 3-0. [Neal’s] goal was a big goal at the time, there wasn’t much time left on the clock, but falling into those holes like that is not helping.”

After falling in all three games on the current trip, the Preds have no choice but to keep playing, starting Tuesday in Colorado.

“We feel like we’re just not playing up to our potential right now,” Fisher said. “You know you’re a better team, and when you’re not getting results, it’s frustrating. But at the same time, we’ve gone through this before and it’s how you come out of it, how you learn, how you become a team. We’re going to do that, look back in a few weeks, and we’ll pull it together.”

Puck drop on Tuesday night is at 8 PM CDT and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action as part of the Nashville Predators Radio Network

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Westwood Middle School hosted a “Pink-Out Game” on Thursday night as Moore County visited the Joel Vinson Gym. The Lady Rockets fell to the visitors from Lynchburg 36 to 15. The Rockets held off Moore County to get a 33 to 30 win.
In the girls’ game, it was a tough defense from Moore County which limited Westwood to a pair of points in both the 1st and 4th quarters. Anna Johnson came off the bench to lead Westwood in scoring with 5 points. Clarissa Barrera chipped in 4 points for the Lady Rockets in the loss.
The Rockets hit just enough free throws in the 4th quarter to hold off Moore County for the conference win. Westwood was able to hold Moore County to 4 points in the 3rd quarter as they opened up a 7 point lead entering the final 6 minutes. Trent Thompson once again led Westwood in scoring as he netted 17 points. Will Partin added 5 points as the Rockets improved their record to 4 and 2 on the year.
Westwood is back in action on Monday when they travel to Wartrace to take on Cascade. The doubleheader gets underway at 6 PM beginning with the girls’ game.

Playing in their last home games of the season, the Coffee County Middle School 6th Grade basketball teams captured a pair of wins on Thursday over North Franklin. The Lady Raiders avenged a loss from 2 weeks ago with a 22 to 19 win. The Red Raiders raced past the Gators 39 to 4.
The Lady Raiders built an 8 point lead in the 1st quarter and never looked back against the Lady Gators. Alivia Reel led Coffee County in scoring with 7 points. Nikki Graham added 6 points and Abby Mahaffey added 4.

The Red Raiders held the visiting Gators to single buckets in each half as they raced past North to complete the season sweep. Coffee County was able to play every player who dressed as they ran their record to 7 and 1 on the year. Dayne Crosslin led the Raiders in scoring with 12 points. Jordan Smith added 7 points in the 4th quarter and Isiah Campbell chipped in 6 points.
The 6th grade teams will conclude their season next Thursday night when they travel to Sparta to take on White County. The girls’ game will get underway at 6.

What a Rush.

The Titans turned in a dominating performance on Thursday Night Football, beating the Jaguars 36-22 in an impressive all-around effort at Nissan Stadium. Decked out on their light blue Color Rush uniforms, the Titans turned the Jaguars black and blue before a national television audience.

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was sharp. He completed 18-of-22 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns, with a passer rating of 148.1, before being relieved by back-up Matt Cassel late in the contest.

Running back DeMarco Murray ran with authority, and finished the game with 123 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. It was Murray’s fourth 100-yard effort in the past six games. Running back Derrick Henry also contributed to the attack, with 60 rushing yards and his first career NFL touchdown.

The Titans improved to 4-4 with the win, and matched Houston (4-3) for the most wins in the AFC South in the process. At the season’s midway point, the Titans eclipsed their win total (3) from last season.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 32-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Succop, which capped an 11-play, 54-yard drive.

Then the Titans really got rolling.

The Titans stretched the lead to 10-0 when Mariota connected with receiver Kendall Wright on a 36-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.

Less than five minutes later, the Titans made it 17-0 on a six-yard touchdown run Henry. Henry’s first career touchdown capped an 8-play, 69-yard drive.

But the Titans weren’t done yet.

A 15-yard touchdown run by Murray made it 24-0. Then, on the final play of the first half, Succop made a 22-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 27-0 at the half.

The Titans outgained the Jaguars 354 to 60 yards in the first half.

The Titans played suffocating defense in the first half, and held the Jaguars in check throughout. Linebackers Derrick Morgan and Avery Williamson had sacks for the Titans.

The Jaguars did finally break through and score on their opening possession of the second half, driving 75 yards on 11 plays and scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Bortles to tight end Julius Thomas. The ensuring two-point conversion made it 27-8.

But the Titans quickly answered back. A 47-yard pass from Mariota to tight end Delanie Walker put the Titans deep in Jacksonville territory, and moments later Mariota connected with receiver Rishard Matthews on a four-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-8. The Jaguars added two late scores when Bortles connected with Allen Hurns for a five-yard touchdown, and Brian Walters for a seven-yard score with one second remaining.

The Titans have scored 26-plus points in four straight games for the first time since 2003.

The Titans return to action on November 6 against the Chargers, in San Diego.

The Anaheim Ducks scored three times on the power play and twice more shorthanded on their way to a 6-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night at Honda Center.

Jakob Silfverberg tallied twice in the middle frame for the Ducks, once with Anaheim a man down and the other with them a skater up, as the Preds struggled on special teams for the first time this season.

“We have to be tougher to play against, just generally speaking,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “[Even-strength] play wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Specialty teams just swung the pendulum tonight in the wrong direction, the shorthanded goals and the power-play goals were too much for any team. We have to do a better job just being harder to play against, defending our goaltender and defending our end better – we gave up too many chances.”

Anaheim carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission courtesy of a power-play goal off the stick of Nick Ritchie, and Silfverberg added two more in the second period to give Anaheim a 3-0 advantage. Corey Perry made it 4-0 for the Ducks, which spelled the end of goaltender Pekka Rinne’s night, and the Ducks added two more before the period was out for a 6-0 lead after two.

Colin Wilson ended John Gibson’s shutout bid at 7:43 of the third with a power-play goal, Nashville’s 10th tally with the man advantage this season, but that was all the Preds could muster on the scoreboard.

“This game is a huge wake up call for us,” defenseman P.K. Subban said. “You have to give them credit, they capitalized… but we can’t expect [our goalies] to steal every game for us. We have to give them a chance.”

The Preds get a chance to turn it around less than 24 hours more now against the Los Angeles Kings, a game that could be a determining factor in the rest of the trip.

“This is a reality check,” Subban said. “In the last period, we wanted to come out and try to build some momentum into tomorrow’s game, but tomorrow we’re going to need a much better effort than that. IIf we want to make this a solid road trip, we can do that by starting tomorrow.”

Notes:

Forward Harry Zolnierczyk and defenseman Matt Irwin were Nashville’s healthy scratches on the night.

The Preds are back on the ice Thursday night in Los Angeles to face the Kings on the second half of the back-to-back with a 9:30 p.m. (CT) puck drop. The game can be heard here on Thunder Radio, following the Titans game, as we bring you the action on the Predators Radio Network.

The Westwood Rockets and Lady Rockets both fell in a conference basketball doubleheader with Eagleville on Tuesday night in a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio. Both teams saw 2nd half rallies come up short in the losses. The Lady Rockets fell 38 to 25 while the Rockets fell 30 to 27.
The Lady Rockets cut a 13 point halftime deficit to 5 points entering the 4th quarter behind the hot outside shooting of Allie Roberts. Roberts had three 3 point baskets in the 3rd quarter to get the Lady Rockets to within 2 possessions to start the final 6 minutes. Eagleville answered with 6 straight points to begin the 4th quarter to ice the victory. Roberts led Westwood in scoring with 12 points. Kasen Holt and Haidyn Campbell each added 4 points.

After trailing by as many as 5 points late in the 3rd quarter, the Rockets rallied to tie the game with 1:40 left only to see Eagleville convert a 3 point play to capture the win. Trenton Thompson was the leading scorer for Westwood as he had 11 points, which included a steal and layup to tie the game in the 4th quarter. Brady Nugent added 4 points for the Rockets.
Westwood will be back at home on Thursday when they host Moore County. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM at the Joel Vinson Gym.
You can download the broadcasts at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams opened play in the Woodbury Border Wars Tournament with impressive wins on Tuesday night. The Lady Raiders dispatched Boyd Christian School 33 to 20. The Red Raiders opened against Woodbury Grammar School capturing a 55 to 21 win.
The Red Raiders exploded for 18 first quarter points behind a set of three 3 pointers in the first 6 minutes to cruise to the easy win. Kyle Farless led the Raiders in scoring with 16 points as 10 different Red Raiders scored on the night. Hayden Hullett had 9 points while Griffin Meeker added 8 points, including a pair of 3 point baskets. The win improves the Raiders to 2 and 0 on the season.

The Lady Raiders built a 20 point halftime lead due in large part to holding the Lady Broncos of Boyd scoreless in the 2nd quarter. A night after suffering scoring woes at West, the Lady Raiders exploded for 17 first quarter points in the win. Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 23 points. Keri Munn added 8 points for Coffee County as they level their record at 1 and 1 on the young season.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will continue play in the Woodbury Border Wars tournament on Saturday at Woodbury Grammar School. The girls’ game will tip off at 2:30 with the boys to follow. A win by either team on Saturday afternoon would advance Coffee County to the finals. The girls’ title game is set for 5 and the boys’ title tilt is set to begin at 6:15.

The Coffee County Middle School 6th grade basketball teams split a pair of games with West Tullahoma on Tuesday night. The Lady Raiders dropped a 30 to 22 decision to the Lady Bobcats. The Red Raiders came out on top 33 to 29.
For the Lady Raiders, a cold 3rd quarter saw West extend a one point halftime lead to 6 entering the final period. Callie Garrett, Nikki Graham and Maggie Crouch each had 6 points to lead the Lady Raiders in scoring. Abby Mahaffey added 4 points for Coffee County.
The Red Raiders used a 12 point 2nd quarter to build a 7 point halftime lead to hold off the Bobcats in the nightcap.

Dayne Crosslin led the Raiders in scoring with 13 points while Hayden Garr added 10 points for Coffee County. Jack Anderson chipped in 7 points for the Raiders as Coffee improves to 6 and 1 on the season.
The 6th grade teams are back in action at home on Thursday when they play host to North Franklin. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 with the boys to follow.

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams opened their season on Monday at West Middle School in Tullahoma. In a doubleheader that you heard on Thunder Radio as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown sports series; the girls lost an overtime heart-breaker while the boys powered out to a big win.
In a girls’ game marked by missed shots, it was a West Tullahoma 3 pointer in overtime which dropped Coffee County 22 to 21 to the Lady Bobcats. The Lady Raiders had 2 excellent opportunities in the final minute but could not get a 16 footer to fall at the buzzer in the loss. Bella Vinson hit every Coffee County field goal as she finished with 18 points. Kylie Phillips finished with 2 free throws and Keri Munn added a free throw.

The Red Raiders fell behind by 7 points in the 1st half after a 7-0 Bobcat run but held West to 2 points in the second half in the 28 to 18 win. Kyle Farless led Coffee County in scoring with 16 points. Trenton Scrivnor added 8 points for the Red Raiders.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will open play in the Woodbury Border Wars tournament on Tuesday night at Woodbury Grammar School. The girls’ game will tip off at 7 with the boys to follow.
You can download the broadcasts at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/