Category: Sports

The Coffee County Youth Wrestling League will hold signups on Saturday, October 17^th and Saturday, October 24^th from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Coffee County Raider Academy.  The league is for boys and girls from preschool thru 8^th grade and features skills training and age level competition opportunities.  Cost to join the league is $45 per child and will provide registration and insurance through AAU and a wrestling  singlet.  The training and competition season will run from December through April.  If you need more information, contact Roger Barlow at barlowr@k12coffee.net

Motlow College’s Jaylen Barford (Photo provided)

A pair of Motlow College men’s basketball players announced their plans for next season when they committed to continue their lives as student athletes at four-year universities.

Jaylen Barford, who returns to lead the Bucks after an All-American freshman season, announced he will spend his final two seasons at the University of Arkansas. Barford has been named the top junior college player in the nation by multiple scouting services and had offers from dozens of high-level schools.

Incoming Motlow freshman Stephaun Adams (Photo provided)

Freshman Stephaun Adams, set to begin his first year at Motlow after an outstanding high school career at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in the Virgin Islands and a single season at Hilda Goodling Impact Academy in York, Pa., will complete his college career at Tennessee Tech.

“Arkansas is a great campus, I love the coaching staff,” Barford told the Jackson Sun last week. “It felt right when I stepped onto campus.”

After spending the weekend in Fayetteville on the Arkansas campus and attending the Razorbacks’ football game against Texas Tech, Barford made his decision. “That was an amazing atmosphere,” he continued. “The fan base is all in. When I left campus, I knew it felt like the right place for me. The SEC is a tough conference with lots of competition. Now I can focus on school, practice, and my team.”

Adams, who goes by the nickname ‘Zaba’, had a much longer trip to get to Motlow than Barford, who played his prep basketball at Jackson South Side High School. Adams is one of the first recruits by new Motlow coach J.T. Burton, and recently told the Virgin Islands Daily News why he came to middle Tennessee to play basketball.

“I’m doing everything I’m doing for my family and people back home,” said Adams. “I want to start something new where I can give people chances, like I had the chance to come to Motlow.”

Adams was the 2013-14 Daily News Senior Male Athlete of the Year after growing up in St. Croix before moving to St. Thomas for most of his high school career.

Barford and Adams are two of 15 players listed on Burton’s first roster at Motlow. After spending a half-dozen seasons as head coach at St. Catharine, Ky., and a single season as an assistant at the University of Tennessee, Burton will begin his Motlow tenure when he carries the Bucks to Panama City Beach, Fla., this weekend for a pair of scrimmages.

Wet field conditions at Tullahoma’s soccer field forced the closure of the field last week and cancelling Saturday’s scheduled CTC soccer tournament semifinal and final rounds.  Coffee County Middle School, who entered Saturday as the number 1 seed and regular season champion, was crowned conference champions.  The Lady Raiders, who did not lose a match in the regular season, finished with a mark of 9 wins and a draw overall and 5 wins and a draw in conference matches.   Warren County Middle finished in 2^nd place while Tullahoma finished 3^rd and North Franklin came in 4^th place.

Westwood basketball player Shawn Anderson(file photo)

The Westwood Rockets boys’ basketball team traveled to Moore County for a preseason scrimmage on Saturday. The Rockets played very well and shot out to an early lead.   Coach Will Panell subbed out his starters to get some of the younger Rockets some experience and Westwood relinquished the lead for a short time. At this point the leadership of the 8th grade players took over and quickly regained the Westwood lead lifting them to a 52-41scrimmage victory.  The Rockets were led by 8th grader  Isaiah Owens who scored 16pts.  Shawn Anderson ,  Jake Hollandsworth and Rod Brinkley all added  8 points. Austin Burch added 8 rebounds and 4 points.  The Rockets will have their final scrimmage as they travel to Warren County Middle on Saturday before opening their DRVC conference schedule on October 13^th at Community.

Coach Panell had this to say about this team.  “This year’s team has the ability to have a strong season.  Their success will depend upon the 8th grade group and their ability to take care of the little things.  If we rebound tough, defend with intensity, and take care of the ball we have a chance to be a strong team. We have been working hard and will continue to work so that we can be a factor in the DRVC conference.”

Wet field conditions proved to be more beneficial to Cookeville on Friday night as the Cavaliers powered their way to a 42 to 14 win over Coffee County in Cookeville.  The Cavaliers used a 29 point 2^nd quarter to race out to a 35 to 0 halftime lead.  Cookeville running back Vic Johnson slogged his way to 184 yards rushing as the Cavaliers straight ahead running attack thwarted the perimeter rushing attack of the Red Raiders.

The Coffee County defense set up both Coffee County scores as Gavin Husted got a 39 yard fumble return for a touchdown early in the 3^rd quarter,  Jacoby Lowe recovered a Cookeville fumble in the 4^th quarter to set up a 7 yard TD run by Tyrese McGee.  For his defensive play, Husted was named the Farm Bureau/Thunder Radio player of the game.

Offensively, Alontae Taylor rushed the ball 20 times for 65 yards, while McGee finished with 34 yards on 6 carries and a touchdown.  DeAaron Rozier rushed 5 times for 43 yards while Husted finished with 30 yards on 6 carries.

Coffee County will enjoy a bye next week before returning to Region play on October 16^th for a homecoming matchup with Warren County.  That game will also be the last home game of the season for Coffee County and has also been designated as Senior Night.

Members of the Red Raider Cross Country team on Thursday prior to the race. #ThomasStrong (Photo by GB Reid)

Running with love and devotion in their hearts, the Coffee County Central High School Cross Country teams dedicated their meet performance on Thursday at Sewanee to teammate Thomas Millaway.  With his name and initials written on their arms, the Red Raider team got a second place finish as they were edged out by Cannon County.   James Lynn finished 1^st in the boys race while Andy Rosson was 3^rd, Edgar Marceleno was 10^th, Bradley Kishpaugh was 11^th and Neil Slone was 13^th.  In the girls race, Byanka Woods was 6^th, Makenzie Morgan was 9^th, Katie Folk was 11^th and Jasmine Farrar finished in 13^th place for Coffee County.

CHS Cross Country runner Thomas Millaway(middle) with coaches Robert Harper(left) and Thomas Wanuch(right) (Photo by Jeana Segovia‎)

Thomas Millaway was admitted to Centennial Hospital on Thursday of last week where doctors discovered he had leukemia.  After being admitted, a ruptured spleen necessitated an emergency surgery.  After being listed in critical condition, Thomas has begun chemotherapy and is now listed as being in stable condition at Centennial.  Friends of the family have set up a GoFundMe account at: https://www.gofundme.com/me56a4xs#  and a Facebook account at: https://www.facebook.com/Thomas-fight-with-leukemia-1631480680434882/timeline/

Needing a win to secure a 2^nd place regular season finish, the CHS volleyball clawed out a thrilling 4 set win in Lawrenceburg on Thursday night.  Coffee County took the first set 25 to 22 before Lawrence County rallied to tie the match in the second set 26 to 24.  The Lady Raiders gained the upper hand with a 25 to 21 win in the 3^rd set, but were pushed to the limit in the 4^th set before prevailing 27 to 25.  CHS head coach Andrew Taylor was proud of the heart and tenacity the Lady Raiders displayed in the match as the Lady Raiders claimed their 12^th win in their last 15 matches.  With the win, Coffee County finishes tied with Lincoln County in the district standings.  Coffee County will take on the winner of the Shelbyville and Franklin County play-in game on Tuesday night at 6 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that match beginning at 5:50 PM as part of the Hometown Tuesday series.  Additionally, Coach Andrew Taylor and members of the Lady Raider team will be featured on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show broadcast live from Al White Ford/Lincoln here on Thunder Radio.

After battling the rainy conditions and the Eagleville Eagles to a 1^st half scoreless tie, the Westwood Rockets fell in the final game of their season 22 to 0 on Thursday night.   The speed and quickness of Eagleville, along with the playing conditions limited Westwood offensively and allowed Eagleville to use their size advantage up front to wear down the Rockets in the second half.  The Rockets, who opened the season with a win at Moore County, finished the season with a record of 1 and 7.

CHS senior Teagan Perry in action on Wednesday at the state tournament (Photo by John StClair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

A pair of top 20 individual finishes by juniors Savannah Quick and Sophie Vinson were not enough to lift the Coffee County Lady Raider golf team to a team title on Wednesday in the final round of the Class AAA state golf tournament at Willowbrook. Quick and Vinson finished with a 2 day total of 315 as the Lady Raiders claimed a 4th place team finish. Individually, Quick finished with a 2 day total of 155 to finish in 12th place. Vinson shot a 2 day total of 161 to finish in a tie for 19th place. Senior Teagan Perry shaved 5 strokes off her Tuesday score as she finished the tournament with a final round score of 83. Perry had improved scores on 8 holes on Wednesday from her Tuesday round as the senior captain completed her high school career with a 32nd place finish. Houston High School out of Germantown rode an 8 under par score of 64 on Wednesday from Jayna Choi to claim the state title. Dobyns Bennett and Farragut finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.

CHS Golfer John Parigger

John Parigger shot a 3 over par 75 on Wednesday to finish in 36th place in the boys tournament. Parigger, a junior for Coffee County, finished the day with a pair of birdies and an even par score of 36 on Willowbrook’s front 9. Parigger finished the tournament with a respectable 36 hole score of 154(10 over par) and played the last 27 holes at plus 5. Parigger was the 3rd Red Raider golfer to compete in the state tournament in the last 3 years. The Lady Raider team is the 3rd consecutive girls’ team from Coffee County to make the state tournament and this year is the 4th year in a row that Coffee County has been represented at the girls state tournament. Coach Mike Ray is the head coach for Coffee County and he, along with members from the Coffee County golf teams, will be the guests on the Coffee Coaches Show on Saturday morning at 10. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday from the showroom of AL White Ford/Lincoln at 2002 Hillsboro Boulevard in Manchester.