CHS senior Boone Riddle hauls in a pass against Pope John Paul II from earlier in the season (File Photo by John St. Clair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)
Four first half touchdowns by Blackman’s Taeler Dowdy, including one on the opening kickoff, powered the Blackman Blaze to a 35 to 0 halftime lead over Coffee County on Friday night. The Raiders were able to notch 3 second half touchdowns but it was not enough as the Raiders fell to the Blaze by a final score of 42 to 20. Defensively, the Blaze defense held three of Coffee County’s first five possessions to 3 plays and a punt, and the Red Raiders didn’t cross midfield until the second half. Dowdy finished the night with 200 all-purpose yards. Boone Riddle scored the first touchdown for Coffee County on a 13 yard touchdown run with 4:09 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Alontae Taylor broke loose for a 54 yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. Riddle added a late touchdown on a 29 yard touchdown reception late in the 4th quarter.
Taylor, a Vanderbilt commitment, finished the night with a rushing and a passing touchdown. Taylor finished the night with 110 yards rushing on 13 carries and was 9 of 17 through the air for 131 yards passing. Tyrese McGee had 7 pass receptions for 80 yards. With his 2 touchdowns, Boone Riddle was named the Farm Bureau/Thunder Radio player of the game. Coffee County returns to Murfreesboro on Friday night as they end the regular season with a game at Siegel. Kickoff is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will have the broadcast for you beginning with the Friday Night Thunder pregame show at 6.
The Lady Raider and Red Raider 6th grade basketball teams from Coffee County Middle moved their season records to 4 and 0 on the season with a pair of dominant wins over East Tullahoma on Saturday. The Lady Raiders held East without a field goal for the game. The Panthers scored 2 free throws in the 4th quarter to avoid the shutout as Coffee County got the 44 to 2 win. Olivia Evans had 10 points to lead Coffee County in scoring as 10 different Lady Raiders scored in the contest. Jayda Wright added 8 points while Hayley Horton and Leigha Insell each netted 6.
Joseph Duncan(#1 in white) battles for a rebound against 2 White County defenders
Ten different Red Raiders scored in the boys game as well as Coffee County held the Panthers to 2 points in each half in a 46 to 4 win. Kelby Walker led Coffee County with 9 points. Joseph Duncan had 8 points and Ruben Alvarez added 7 points. Coffee County travels to Sparta in Monday for a 6 PM rematch with White County.
The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League opened their 2015-2016 season on Saturday with 8 games. Boys and girls teams from all 8 participating schools were in action in games played at Coffee County Middle School.
In girls action –
Hillsboro defeated Deerfield 22 to 12
Hickerson bested Westwood 11 to 4
New Union got a 2 to 0 forfeit win over East Coffee
College Street downed North Coffee 22 to 3
Boys elementary league action from October 24th
In boys action –
Hillsboro bounced Deerfield 22 to 10
Westwood raced past Hickerson 28 to 9
New Union stopped East Coffee 22 to 7
College Street stopped North Coffee 36 to 2.
Next Saturday, the games return to Coffee County CHS with 4 doubleheader contests scheduled to begin at 9 AM,
9:00 AM – College Street vs. East Coffee (Girls at 9, Boys at 10)
11:00 AM – North Coffee vs. New Union (Girls at 11, Boys at 12)
1:00 PM – Westwood vs. Deerfield (Girls at 1, Boys at 2)
3:00 PM – Hickerson vs. Hillsboro (Girls at 3, Boys at 4)
The Nashville Predators battled back in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Preds in overtime by a 2-1 score on Saturday night. Even with the loss, Nashville still gained a point, putting their record at 6-1-1, including a 2-0-1 mark to close out a three-game home stand.
“I thought we played a really good game,” Preds Captain Shea Weber said. “We stuck to it, and I thought [Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre] Fleury played well for them. I’m proud of the guys for battling back in the third, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way in overtime.”
The first period ended in a scoreless tie, thanks in part to the Predators killing off a five-minute major penalty assessed to Austin Watson for boarding.
“That’s huge, you could go down two, three goals sometimes if you don’t get a kill, so that was really big for us,” Weber said. “[Preds goaltender] Pekka [Rinne] stepped up, our PK was great and we kind of built off of that.”
Shots on goal were slim in the first, with Pittsburgh holding a 7-5 advantage after one.
The offensive attempts increased in the second and with less than five minutes left in the frame, Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz capitalized on a 3-on-2 rush for the Penguins, one-timing a puck to the top corner past Rinne for a 1-0 lead.
After registering 17 shots on goal in the second period, the Preds continued to push the pace in the third, and former Penguins forward James Neal extended his point streak to five games when he knotted the contest at 1-1 at the 11:27 mark of the third. A slew of chances eventually led to Neal collecting a loose puck at the side of the cage and roofing it past Fleury for his sixth goal of the season.
The game-tying goal led to overtime, where Phil Kessel won it for the Penguins just 41 seconds into the extra frame.
The final score didn’t favor the home team, but there was still reason for the Preds to be content with their effort on the evening.
“I thought we played a strong game and had a lot of chances,” Rinne said. “It’s obviously disappointing when you don’t get the win, but it’s a big point for us.”
“[The result] is disappointing, but our guys played their tails off tonight,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said.
While a perfect 3-0-0 record was the ultimate goal for the Preds to finish out their home stand, five out of six points, courtesy of wins over Tampa Bay and Anaheim, plus an overtime loss to Pittsburgh, gives Nashville a 6-1-1 overall record as they prepare for their annual CMA trip, which will take the team to San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Minnesota before returning home on Nov. 7 to host a Central Division rival in the St. Louis Blues. For Nashville, that stat is reassuring to say the least.
“We are starting to play well, and we will just try to keep building on it,” Watson said. “We would’ve liked two points tonight, but at the end of the day it was nice to get the one before we hit the road.”
The Preds have talked about improving in every facet of their game, from 5-on-5 play to special teams and everything in between. After this latest home stand, things are trending in the right direction.
“We’ve just been talking about getting better every game and we’ve done that so far,” Weber said. “We just continue to improve and as long as we keep getting better throughout the year here, we’re going to be successful.”
James Neal is now on a five-game point streak, a stretch that’s seen him tally six goals and three assists. With his goal tonight, Neal has scored a goal against all 30 NHL teams. Mike Ribeiro is on a four-game point/assist streak (1g-4a).
The Preds next contest comes on Wednesday at San Jose to begin a four-game road trip. Faceoff is scheduled for 9:30 PM CDT and you can hear the broadcast here on Thunder Radio, Nashville will also make stops in Los Angeles, Anaheim and Minnesota before returning home Nov. 7 to host St. Louis on Hockey Fights Cancer night at Bridgestone Arena.
Colin Wilson and Ryan Ellis each had a goal and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
Mattias Ekholm, and Mike Ribeiro each had a goal and an assist and Eric Nystrom had the other goal for the Predators, who improved to 6-1.
Pekka Rinne made 27 saves for the Predators.
Jiri Sekac scored for Anaheim. Anton Khudobin made 24 saves. The Ducks have lost five of six so far this season.
Nystrom opened the scoring at 3:40 of the second period.
Austin Watson chipped the puck over a diving Cam Fowler just outside the Anaheim blue line and then chased the puck on the right boards. Watson found Nystrom in front, where he had a tap-in for his second goal of the season.
The assist was the first of Watson’s career.
Ellis made it 2-0 at 12:47 of the second.
Just after a Nashville power play, Ribeiro slid a cross-ice pass to Ellis at the left faceoff dot, where his one-timer beat Khudobin on the short side.
Ellis returned to the Nashville lineup after missing Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury.
Ribeiro added a goal at 17:00 of the second on a shot from the lower part of the right circle after collecting the rebound of his initial attempt, which was blocked by Fowler.
Ekholm made it 4-0 when he scored his first goal of the season at 3:03 of the third on a slap shot from the left faceoff dot.
Sekac spoiled Rinne’s shutout bid with a power-play goal at 12:15 of the third. The Ducks entered Thursday as the only team not to score a power-play goal this season.
Wilson finished the scoring with a power-play goal at 18:18 of the third.
The Predators will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at 7 PM at the Bridgestone Arena. Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast on the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network
The Red Raider and Lady Raider 6th grade basketball teams of Coffee County Middle School remained perfect on the season with a pair of wins over West Tullahoma on Thursday night at West Middle School. Leading by 5 at the half, the Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Bobcats 9 to 3 in the 3rd quarter to coast to a 29 to 18 win. Coffee County went to the foul line 12 times in the second half, including 8 times in the 3rd quarter. Kiya Ferrell led the Lady Raiders again in scoring as she netted 10 points. Leigha Insell added 7 points.
Joseph Duncan(#1 in white) battles for a rebound against 2 White County defenders
In the boys game, the Red Raiders notched their second straight come from behind win as they used a 15 point 4th quarter to win 31 to 22. Coffee County trailed 19 to 16 entering the final period, put held the Bobcats to 1 three pointer while shooting 14 free throws of their own. Joseph Duncan led Coffee County in scoring with 12 points. Aiden Abellana added 10 points for Coffee County, including 7 points in the 4th quarter.
Both Raider teams are now 3 and 0 on the season and travel to East Tullahoma on Saturday for a 10 AM doubleheader with the Panthers.
The Central Tennessee Conference champion Lady Raider soccer team held their post season banquet recently. Coach Travis O’Kelley presided over the festivities that honored several players for accomplishments this season. The Lady Raiders finished the season with a record of 9 wins and a draw, with a conference mark of 5 wins and a draw. The Lady Raiders have not lost a regular season game since 2013. Individual Player award winners are:
Alexis Rayman – Rookie of the Year
Marley Perry – Utility Player Award
Jade Arnold and Journey Arnold – Most Improved Players
Kyleigh Harner – Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Reagan Ellison – Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Emilee Roberson – Raider Award
Julia Duncan – Offensive Player of the Year
Jenna Garretson – Most Valuable Player
CCMS Soccer award winners (Left to Right) : Front Row – Marley Perry, Alexis Rayman, Jade Arnold, Journey Arnold, Kyleigh Harner, Julia Duncan, Jenna Garretson, Reagan Ellison, Emilee Roberson. Back Row – assistant coach Allie Crowley Beagle and head coach Travis O’Kelly (Photo Provided)
The Burch & Stanley Attorneys at Law Student of the Week for 23 October 2015 is Isaiah Owens. Isaiah is in eighth grade at Westwood Middle School in Manchester. He is the son of proud parents Brad and Beth. He was nominated for this award because he is helpful, attentive and sets the example for all other students. He is also a very studious and conscientious worker and strives to always do his best work. Isaiah’s favorite subject is social studies because he says it’s easy and he enjoys learning about history. He is a student athlete and plays pitcher and short-stop during baseball season and is a guard for Westwood’s basketball team. He has said he thought he wanted to be a police officer when he got older but now he’s not so sure. Isaiah was presented with a plaque (courtesy of K&S Trophies of Tullahoma) and a set of tickets to an up-coming Nashville Predators game. Congratulations to Isaiah Owens, the Burch & Stanley Attorneys at Law Student of the Week.
Burch & Stanley attorneys at law Student of the Week Isaiah Owens and Attorney Eric Burch
The Westwood Middle School baseball team will be hosting Miami Marlin pitcher Bryan Morris on Friday night for a dinner and Question and Answer session in the Westwood Elementary School cafeteria. Morris, who played his high school baseball at Tullahoma before pitching for Motlow, will also sign autographs and pose for pictures for those in attendance.
The event, which begins at 6 PM, is $15 per person and will feature BBQ supplied by Prater’s along with a silent auction. Groups and businesses that wish to donate items for the silent auction OR reserve a VIP table should contact Westwood baseball coach Josh Morris at jmorris3257@outlook.com All proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Westwood Middle School baseball program. Bryan Morris will be a studio guest with Josh Peterson on The Sports Page at 9 AM on Thursday on Thunder Radio. Pedo and Bryan will discuss the MLB playoffs and other baseball subjects.
