The 2016 CHS senior wrestlers and their parents prior to Thursday’s match with Riverdale
CHS Wrestling Seniors and their coaches. (Left to Right) Assistant Coach Randall Jennings, Joshua Tobitt, Brody Litz, Harry Hosea, Dustin Seals and Head Coach Roger Barlow
The Coffee County Central High School wrestling team held their final home meet of the season on Thursday Night at their home dojo at the Raider Academy as they played host to Riverdale. Four seniors were recognized and honored before the match. CHS seniors Harry Hosea, Josh Tobitt, Brody Litz and Dustin Seals were recognized for their contributions to the Raider Wrestling program.
Following the ceremony, the “fight was on” as the Raiders battled the visiting Warriors. The night started off hopeful for Coffee County as Rein Bozich took his opponent the 3 full rounds before losing an 11 to 6 decision in the 132 pound class. Owen Teague, who was 0.7 pounds over his target weight was forced to “wrestle up” at 145 but got a huge pin fall win. Back to back pins by seniors Josh Tobitt at 182 and Harry Hosea at 195 cut the Riverdale lead to 27 to 18 before Coffee County dropped 4 of the last 5 matches. The lone win for the Raiders came at the 106 pound class as Brittney Spry got a forfeit win. Riverdale captured the dual meet with a final score of 51 to 24. Next up for the Raiders will be the Region Individual Tournament which will be held on Friday and Saturday, February 12th and 13th at Cookeville.
Coming up this weekend, Friday afternoon at 4:15 the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders take on Rossview in the semifinals of the TMSAA State Sectional Tournament at Murfreesboro Central Magnet.
Friday Night at 6 PM, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams travel to Winchester to take on Franklin County in a district basketball doubleheader. Thunder Radio will have the broadcast beginning at 5:50 PM.
Saturday at 10 AM, the champions from the Coffee County Youth Basketball League will be the featured guests on the Coffee Coaches Show which is broadcast live from AL White Ford/Lincoln. The College Street Cougar Cheerleaders, the New Union Lady Rebel girls basketball team and the College Street Cougar boys basketball team will be the guests here in Thunder Radio.
Saturday at noon, the TMSAA State Sectional final will be held at Murfreesboro Central Magnet. A Coffee County win on Friday night will pit the Lady Raiders against Mt. Juliet OR Christiana.
Saturday at 3 PM, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams return to the Joe Frank Patch Gym to host Columbia in a district basketball doubleheader. Thunder Radio will have the broadcast beginning at 2:50 PM.
Sunday, Thunder Radio will bring you the Westwood One coverage of Super Bowl 50 from San Francisco. The pregame show begins at noon with the kickoff scheduled around 5:30.
Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds each scored twice, and the Philadelphia Flyers topped the Nashville Predators 6-3 on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The loss puts Nashville’s record at 24-20-8 with 30 games to play in the regular season.
“It was inconsistent through the night,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of his team’s play. “We talked about our urgency and our will to win and where the level needs to be. Especially going into the first period, I don’t think it was there. When we got behind we seemed to fight a little bit harder, but it needs to be more consistent and be there from the start.”
Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, courtesy of goals from Matt Read and Brayden Schenn two minutes apart in the second half of the opening frame.
Ryan Johansen cut the Flyers lead to 2-1, when he scored his first goal at Bridgestone Arena as a member of the Preds at the 4:23 mark of the second stanza. Johansen received a slick pass from Roman Josi in the slot and snapped a shot past Steve Mason for his 10th tally of the season.
After goals from Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux gave the Flyers their third and fourth goals of the evening, Calle Jarnkrok brought the Preds back to within two before the period was out, as he capitalized on a James Neal rebound to make it 4-2. Johansen picked up a secondary assist on the play for his fourth multi-point game with the Predators.
Preds Captain Shea Weber blasted a shot from the point on the power play at 10:03 of the third period to bring the Preds to within one goal once more, but Simmonds and Giroux each added their second markers of the night before the contest was out to give Philadelphia the three-goal victory.
“We just have to be more consistent, and we’ve spoken about it all year,” defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “When we need timely things, whether it’s a goal or a penalty kill, whatever; we have to do our best to get that and obviously tonight it didn’t happen. We came back, we fought hard, just gave up too many chances. They have good players over there; they are going to make plays, and they capitalized on it.”
With the schedule continuing to shorten, the Predators are well aware that they need to find a way to produce victories on a consistent basis as springtime approaches.
“We are where we are,” Weber said. “We have to deal with it, and we have to find a way to win the games. Everyone in our situation is looking at it the same way. Our division is tight. It’s going to be tight right through and those top eight teams, or whatever it is, for getting into the wild card… You just have to get in and you see that anyone can win. That’s what we are focused on doing right now, it’s just trying to stick with the pack, climb the ladder and get in the playoffs.”
The Predators will be back on the ice on Saturday night at home as they take on the San Jose Sharks. Opening face is at 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.
The Coffee County Fastpitch League will hold signups this Saturday for 9 to 2:00 at the Ada Wright Center at Fred Deadman Park in Manchester. The Coffee County Fastpitch League is for girls ages 4 through 14. Parents wishing to sign up their child will need to bring a copy of the child’s birth certificate. The league is broken up into 4 age groups from instructional league to middle age girls. Signups will continue on every Saturday in February and the Opening Parade and Ceremonies will be held on April 9th. The league is also looking for umpires for the upcoming season. If you need more information, check out the Coffee County Fastpitch Association Facebook page or call Denise at 931-409-0830 or Eli at 931-581-4862.
For the 2nd time this week, the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders opened up their postseason game a little bit tentative. And for the second time this week, the Lady Raiders used a strong 2nd quarter to gain an advantage they would not relinquish as they defeated Dickson Middle 51 to 31 in the opening round of the TMSAA State Sectional Tournament in Murfreesboro. Trailing 8 to 7 after 1 quarter of play, the Lady Raiders opened the 2nd quarter on an 8 to 0 run as they built an 8 point halftime lead. The Lady Raiders also closed out the 3rd quarter on a 9 to 1 run as the Lady Dragons could get no closer than 13 points in the 4th quarter.
Bella Vinson of CCMS Basketball
Julia Duncan led Coffee County in scoring as she netted 23 points to be named the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game. Bella Vinson finished with 15 points and Ellie Graham netted 6 points for the Lady Raiders who improve to 21 and 0 on the season. The win advances Coffee County to a semifinal matchup with Rossview on Friday. That game will tip off at 4:15 PM at the Central Magnet gym in Murfreesboro. The state sectional final is scheduled for Saturday at noon.
Two Coffee County Central High School athletes signed National Letters of Intent(NLI) on Wednesday to continue their athletic careers at a pair of NCAA colleges. February 3rd is the first day that high school seniors in the sports of football and soccer can sign the binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 program.
Zane Slater signs his National Letter of Intent to play college football for Tusculum College on Wednesday as his parents and coaches look on. Front row(left to right) Chris Slater, father; Zane; Amy Slater, mother. Back row(left to right) CHS football coaches Derek Jones, George Pearson, Richard Crabtree, Brandon McWhorter, Matt Mueller and Kyle Kriz
On Wednesday morning, Zane Slater signed his NLI with Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee. The Pioneers of Tusculum compete in Division 2 of the NCAA as a member of the South Atlantic Conference. Jerry Odum is the head coach for Tusculum after being named to that position in December. “The previous staff extended an offer to me and the new coach reconfirmed Tusculum’s commitment to me” said Slater. Slater went on to say, “He has assembled a young and energetic staff and the players are energized which was a big selling point.” Slater, who played center, guard and tackle in his high school career, expects to compete at the center position next season. “This is a new (coaching) staff up there and I know I can work hard and get a fair shot(at a starting job)” Zane is the son of Chris and Amy Slater.
Izzy Huddleston signs her National Letter of Intent to play college soccer for the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Wednesday as her parents and coaches look on. Front row(left to right) Nancy Huddleston, mother; Izzy; Ken Huddleston, father. Back row(left to right) Camp Forrest coach Patrick Lazarus; Coffee County head coach David Amado; strength & conditioning coach Jeff Brandon; CHS assistant coaches Lee Xixis and Kandy Shemwell and Coffee County Middle School coach Travis O’Kelley
On Wednesday afternoon, Isabella(Izzy) Huddleston signed to play soccer at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. The Chargers of UAH compete in Division 2 of the NCAA as a member of the Gulf South Conference. Jimmy Mitchell just completed his 4th season as the head coach for the Chargers. Izzy developed a good connection with Coach Mitchell during the recruiting process and along with the close proximity to home and her love for the school made the decision an easy one. “I felt a good connection to (Coach Mitchell) from the very beginning and the team is really a close kit group” said Izzy moments before her signing. Huddleston, who played as a midfielder this past season, expects to play as a defensive midfielder or middle back at the collegiate level. “But really, I will play wherever they put me” added Huddleston. Her high school coach, David Amado had glowing praise for Huddleston’s work ethic and determination. When asked what would make her a success at the college level he had a quick answer: “Her heart! They may recruit more talented kids, but they will not sign a kid that works as hard as Izzy. She played through injuries throughout her career and was a natural leader for us due to her tremendous work ethic” said Amado. Izzy is the daughter of Ken and Nancy Huddleston
Tuesday night’s home basketball game for Coffee County with Columbia has been rescheduled for Saturday afternoon. The girls’s game will tip off at 3 PM with the boys to follow and Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage beginning with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 2:50 PM.
Wednesday night, the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders open play in the TMSAA State Sectional Tournament in Murfreesboro. The Lady Raiders take on the Lady Dragons of Dickson Middle at 5:30 PM at Central Magnet School. Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage beginning at 5:20 PM.
On Friday night, Coffee County travels to Winchester for their final district road game of the year as they take on Franklin County. The girls’s game will tip off at 3 PM with the boys to follow and Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage beginning at 5:50 PM.
Standing from left to right…Gary Dyer (Brian Gregory’s former coach) Joel Gregory (Brian’s brother) Niklas White and Westwod head coach Chad Dyer(Photo Provided)
Westwood hosted their annual athletic awards banquet on Tuesday night where they celebrate the accomplishments from the previous seasons. Annually, the most prestigious football award Westwood has given since 1985 is the Brian Gregory Award. Brian was a former Westwood, and Manchester Central, football player who died in a tragic farming accident while in high school. For this season, Westwood football named Niklas White as the 31st Brian Gregory Award winner. Niklas also was honored with the Iron Man Award, the Defensive Lineman of the Year Award and the Captain’s Award. Niklas is the son of Sherman White and Laura Ley White.
Troy Brouwer scored with 1:05 to play in the third period, as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Nashville Predators by a 1-0 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The loss snapped Nashville’s win streak at four games, and also pushed their record against the Blues to 0-3-1 on the season.
“It was definitely disappointing,” forward Mike Fisher said. “[It was one] of those games where you’re trying to find one, and you know it would probably be the difference. They found a way late, and it’s frustrating for sure to not get that one when we feel like we were right there.”
Pekka Rinne’s sprawling save against Magnus Paajarvi early in the third period was one of a number of important stops from the Preds goaltender, but an Alex Pietrangelo shot deflected off of Brouwer and past Rinne to break the scoreless draw.
“We started to turn some pucks over in the neutral zone,” Fisher said. “I think we played a pretty good first period, and then some things crept in our game in the second. Turning pucks over, wasting energy in the wrong areas, and in the end, I think that was the difference.”
The Predators haven’t had much luck against the Blues this season, and Tuesday’s game was a case of Nashville not being able to produce much in the way of offense, registering just 16 shots on Brian Elliott.
“We didn’t do a very good job generating tonight,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “Some of that’s us, some of that is credit to them. They were really tight and really tough defensively. We knew it could be a game where there wasn’t a lot of scoring opportunities, and there weren’t a lot of goals. We were trying to stay patient with our game and continue to do the right thing and the smart thing, and we did it for 59 minutes.”
Nashville remains at home for their next game and will host Philadelphia on Thursday night, as they try to make up ground in the Central Division. Faceoff is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action on the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network
It took almost 10 minutes of game time before the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider basketball team could find a rhythm, but when they did, they rolled up their 20th win of the year in a 42 to 17 Sub-Sectional win over Rockvale on Monday night. The quickness and size of the visiting Ravens had the Lady Raiders tentative in the 1st quarter before a Journey Arnold 3 pointer with 4 minutes left in the half seemed to settle Coffee County down. Leading by 1 after the 1st quarter, Coffee County held Rockvale to 2 points in the 2nd quarter to take a 22 to 7 lead into the halftime break. The Lady Raiders got tremendous post play and continued to force turnovers as they outscored the Ravens 27 to 4 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to salt away the win.
Following the game, Coach George Pearson had this to say about his team being 20 and 0 on the season
Coach Pearson also had glowing praise for the performance of his post players.
CCMS head coach George Pearson helps “cut down the nets” on Monday night to celebrate their CTC Tournament win on Saturday
Julia Duncan led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 18 points as she was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center Player of the Game. Keri Munn came off the bench to score 8 points to highlight the strong post play of Coffee County. Bella Vinson added 6 points for Coffee County. With the win, the Lady Raiders advance to Wednesday’s TMSAA State Sectional Tournament at Murfreesboro’s Central Magnet School. The Lady Raiders will take on Dickson Middle School who got a 46 to 36 win over Hunter Middle of Hendersonville on Monday night. Wednesday’s game tips off at 5:30 PM and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action. We will go on the air at 5:20 with the Powers Storage Pregame Show on Wednesday night live from Murfreesboro.
