Westwood Rocket football dropped its season opener Monday night, a 20-12 thriller against visiting Grundy County.
Grundy County’s Kaden Dove broke loose on a 25 yard touchdown scamper with with 3 minutes to play to take the lead and the win from the Rockets.
Winton’s score broke a 12-12 tie. The Rockets had just tied the game after a 60 yard run from Isaiah Deadman set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge from quarterback Kaysen Lowery.
The Rockets led 6-0 early after driving down the field in the first quarter and capping a six-minute drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lowery to Matthew White.
The Jackets answered quickly, one play later Jayden Winton scampered 76 yards for a score.
Deadman led Westwood on the ground with 113 yards on 13 touches. Lowry was 2-of-5 through the air for 37 yards and the one touchdown to White. Joel Barrera and Deadman led the Rockets in tackles.
Westwood has a short turnaround. The Rockets will go to Fayetteville City for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Thursday.
VOLLEYBALL: WMS picks up season sweep of Community
Westwood Middle School’s volleyball team improved to 2-2 on the season with a 2-0 win over Community on the road Monday afternoon.
The Lady Rockets narrowly escaped the first game with a 26-24 win, then cruised to a 25-16 win in game 2 in the best-of-three match.
Maddy Carter got red hot at the service line yet again for WMS, ripping off 7 aces for the Lady Rockets. Maggie Brei served 4 aces, Ziya Dillard 2, Audri Patton 2, Claire Lemmons 2 and Anna Reed 1. Dillard also added a kill and Lemmons with 2 kills.
The win completes the season sweep for the Lady Rockets after a 2-0 win over Community last Thursday.
Westwood will be in action again at 5:30 p.m. Thursday when the Lady Rockets host Eagleville at Joel Vinson Gymnasium.
Raider golf outpaces Lincoln County in Monday match
Coffee County senior Logan Hale carded an 11-over par 83 and the Raiders show 381 as a team to beat Lincoln County by 10 strokes Monday afternoon at WillowBrook Golf Course.
Hale’s 83 was good enough for best score on the day.
Zach Tidwell – 98, Beau Murray – 99 and Brady Daugherty – 101 rounded out the scoring for CHS.
Meanwhile, Maggie Crouch carded a 92 and Araya Hughes 95 to give the Lady Raiders a 187, 14 strokes off the pace from Lincoln County.
Final CHS football scrimmage moved to Tuesday, Aug. 10
Coffee County Central’s Red Raider football team will have one final preseason tune-up before opening the regular season on Friday, Aug. 20.
Tyner Academy out of Chattanooga will visit Coffee County at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10 for a scrimmage at Carden-Jarrell Field.
The public is welcome to attend. The scrimmage was originally scheduled for Wednesday but had to be moved up due to transportation issue for Tyner.
The Raiders held their second scrimmage of the preseason on Friday, Aug. 6 at Marshall County. See photos from that outing below.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:
Aug 10 – Tyner at Coffee County. Scrimmage at 6 p.m.
Aug. 18 – First Coach Doug Greene Show (Built by Gilley Crane) of the season. Show begins at 7 p.m. and is live from Praters BBQ. Everyone is welcome to attend. Listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM
Aug. 20 – First Regular Season Game. Raiders AT Franklin County. Coverage on Thunder Radio begins at 6 p.m. with the Friday Night Thunder Pregame Show (delivered by Riddle Trucking). Kickoff at 7 p.m. Listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM and worldwide via the Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com audio strema.
THIS WEEK’S PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
Below is this week’s local prep sports schedule, as well as notes on which games will be broadcast by Thunder Radio – your Coffee County Sports Authority.
Thunder Radio Capstar Bank Hometown Sports Series radio broadcast will feature Westwood Football on Monday and Coffee Middle volleyball on Thursday. There will also be audio streamed games at thunder1320.com of WMS football on Thursday and WMS volleyball on Thursday.
Schedule and broadcasts are subject to change based on weather and radio personnel.
Radio games are broadcast at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM and streamed at thunder1320.com. Links to stream-only games can be found at thunder1320.com.
| Day | Date | Time | School | Sport | Opponent | Location | Broadcast | Notes |
| Monday | 8/9/21 | 6:30 PM | WMS | Football | Grundy County | Home | Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM | |
| Monday | 8/9/21 | 1:00 PM | CHS | Golf | Lincoln County | WillowBrook | ||
| Monday | 8/9/21 | 6 p.m. | CMS | Volleyball | Harris | Home | Ben Lomand Connect Stream thunder1320.com | RESCHEDULED |
| Monday | 8/9/21 | 5:30 PM | WMS | Volleyball | Community Middle | Away | ||
| Tuesday | 8/9/21 | 6:00 PM | CHS | Football | Tyner Academy | Home | SCRIMMAGE | |
| Tuesday | 8/10/21 | 6:30 PM | CMS | Football | West Wilson | Away | ||
| Tuesday | 8/10/21 | 5:30 PM | CHS | Soccer | Middle TN Golden Eagles | Home | PRESEASON | |
| Tuesday | 8/10/21 | 6 p.m. | CMS | Volleyball | South Franklin | Away | ||
| Thursday | 8/12/21 | 6:30 PM | WMS | Football | Fayetteville City | Away | Ben Lomand Connect Stream thunder1320.com | |
| Thursday | 8/12/21 | 6 p.m. | CMS | Volleyball | Tullahoma | Home | Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM | |
| Thursday | 8/12/21 | 5:30 PM | WMS | Volleyball | Eagleville | Home | Capstar Bank Stream – thunder1320.com |
Duvall HR launces Braves to second place in NL East
With newcomers like Adam Duvall, the Braves now have the firepower necessary to persevere without Freddie Freeman. But they are looking forward to welcoming both Freeman and Travis d’Arnaud back to their improved lineup this week.
Freeman made a late-inning return to action, and Duvall drilled a key home run during the three-run sixth inning that gave the Braves a 5-4 win over the Nationals at Truist Park on Sunday afternoon.
With their sixth win in their past eight games, the Braves now sit two games behind the first-place Phillies and a half-game in front of the now-third-place Mets in the National League East. Atlanta has won consecutive series and would have swept consecutive three-game sets had closer Will Smith not surrendered a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 3-2 loss.
Smith’s blown save may have been avoided had Freeman not been forced to exit Saturday’s game in the first inning because of an upper respiratory infection. The reigning National League MVP felt better on Sunday and was inserted to play first base during a double switch in the seventh inning. Â
Thunder Radio is your exclusive home for the Braves in Coffee County – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM.
Rockets host 25th annual Blue-White Game
The Westwood Rocket football team held its 25th annual Blue-White Game on Thursday at Dyer – Bouldin Field – an intra squad for the team before the regular season begins next week.
Westwood will open the regular season at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9 when Grundy County comes to town. Thunder Radio will be there to broadcast the game as part of the Capstar Bank Hometown Sports Series.
VOLLEYBALL: Westwood sweeps Community 2-0
Westwood’s volleyball team got into the win column Thursday in the team’s third match of the season, sweeping visiting Community 2-0 in a best-of-three match that you heard live on Thunder Radio.
THIS MATCH WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. LISTEN TO THE REPLAY HERE.
The Lady Rockets struggled out of the gate in game one before finally taking a 10-9 lead. Maddy Carter got red hot at the service line, rolling off 9 points in a row to push Westwood ahead 20-12 and eventually to a 25-19 win. Westwood went on to win game 25-15.
The win improves Westwood to 1-2 on the season. The Lady Rockets will play at 9 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Coffee County High School Playday at CHS.
Anna Reed 
Ziya Dillard Maddy Carter 
Maggie Brei 
Maggie Brei 
Anna Reed 
Maddy Carter 
Ziya Dillard 
Audri Patton
Titans Add QB Matt Barkley, Release QB DeShone Kizer, in a Flurry of Roster Moves
The Titans have agreed to terms with quarterback Matt Barkley, while adding three more players in a flurry of roster moves on Thursday.
The team has released quarterback DeShone Kizer.
Also on Thursday, the Titans signed tight end Donnie Ernsberger and offensive linemen Brent Qvale and Ross Reynolds while placing two more players — center Spencer Pulley and defensive back Greg Mabin — on Injured Reserve.
Barkley, who played in college at Southern California, spent the past three seasons with the Bills (2018-2020), where he played in eight games. In five games as back-up with the Bills in 2020, Barkley played in five games and completed 11-of-21 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Prior to his time in Buffalo, Barkley spent time with the Eagles (2013-14), Cardinals (2015), Bears (2016), 49ers (2017), Cardinals (2017), and Bengals (2018).
A fourth-round pick of the Eagles in 2016, Barkley (6-2, 234) has played in 19 career NFL games, including seven starts. He’s completed 212-of-363 passes for 2,699 yards, with 11 touchdowns and 22 interceptions and a passer rating of 66.6.
Ryan Tannehill is the team’s starter, and Logan Woodside is competing to be the back-up quarterback once again with the Titans.
Qvale (6-7, 315), who played at Nebraska, played in 63 games for the Jets from 2014-2019, and he played in 14 games with the Texans in 2020. He’s worked at tackle and guard in the NFL.
Thunder Radio is your exclusive home for the Tennessee Titans in Coffee County – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM.
VOLLEYBALL: Lady Rockets drop tough contest to Forrest
Westwood’s Lady Rocket volleyball team fell to 0-2 on the young season Wednesday with a tough 0-2 loss at Forrest in a best-of-three match.
Westwood fell by scores of 25-23 and 25-23.
Ziya Dillard and Claire Lemmons led Westwood at the service line, each with three aces. Maddy Carter and Anna Reed each added an ace. Dillard picked up a kill at the net. Lemmons and Reed each picked up a dig.
Meanwhile, the JV Lady Rockets improved to 2-0 on the season with a 2-0 win (25-21 and 25-18)
Reece Finch and Paisley Dyer each served up three aces and Dyer added a kill. Emily Daniels and Jules Ferrell also had an ace apiece at the service line.