Category: Sports

Weekend Sports Roundup

Caitlyn Moore of CHS soccer

Continuing their tradition of opening the season with tough non-district matches, the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider soccer team traveled to Soddy Daisy on Saturday to take on the always tough Lady Trojans. In a game rained out on Tuesday, the young Lady Raiders took dropped a 5 to 1 decision to their sectional foe. Caitlyn Moore scored the lone goal for Coffee County off of an assist by Lexie Roberts. Ali Shelton turned away 6 shots between the pipes as goal keeper. The JV soccer team fell 4 to 3 to Soddy Daisy as Allie Amado, Sam Ellison and Jessica Bogle scored the 3 Lady Raider goals. The Lady Raiders travel to Murfreesboro on Tuesday to take on Murfreesboro Central Magnet who advanced to last year’s region tournament. That match is set to kick off at 5:00 PM.
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Keri Munn of CCMS volleyball

After getting 2 wins and a tie in pool play in the Donaldson Christian Middle School volleyball tournament on Saturday, the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders entered bracket play as the top seed in their pool. The top seeding earned them a spot in the gold pool bracket against other pool champions heading into the afternoon’s single elimination tournament. However, the Lady Raiders luck ran out there as they fell in the first round to eventual tournament champion Stewarts Creek. For their performance, the Lady Raiders claimed a 5th place finish in the challenging tournament field. CCMS head coach Lora Selvog was pleased with a pair of her big hitters as she was impressed with the play of Maddie Harryman and Keri Munn. The Lady Raiders hit the road on Tuesday for a match at South Lincoln. First serve is set for 5:30 PM.
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Julia Duncan of CCMS soccer

A pair of goals by Jade Arnold and Julia Duncan lifted the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders to a convincing 6 to 0 win over Algood Middle on Saturday. Anna Amado and Jenna Garretson also found the back of the net as the Lady Raiders improved their record to 2 and 0 on the season. The JV Lady Raiders completed the sweep for Coffee County as they dropped Algood 2 to 0 in their match. Coffee Middle returns to conference play on Tuesday afternoon as they welcome White County to their home pitch for a 5:30 PM kickoff. Thunder Radio will bring you the call of that match beginning with the pregame show at 5:20 as part of their Home Town Tuesday series.
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A 3rd place finish and an opportunity to play against older and more experienced JV squads was a good way to spend a Saturday for the CHS freshman volleyball team. The freshmen Lady Raiders competed in the Bradley Central JV tournament held in Cleveland. Coach Jon Spears and the Lady Raiders were able to compete in 6 matches in the marathon day as his freshmen got a pair of wins on the day and took 2 of their 4 losses to a decisive 3rd set. The freshmen Lady Raiders will be back in action on Monday as Warren County visits the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The freshmen play at 4 PM, the JV plays at 5 while the varsity match is set to begin at 6:00 PM.

Coffee County Dominates Tullahoma for Coffee Pot Win

Coffee County CHS football coach Ryan Sulkowski(Right) holds the Great American Rivalry Trophy while his wife Heather(left) holds the Coffee Pot Trophy following Friday night’s game. (Photo Provided)

Before a capacity crowd at Carden-Jarrell Field on Friday night, the Coffee County Red Raiders claimed a win in the Coffee Pot rivalry for the first time since 2007 beating Tullahoma 42 to 7. Roaring out to a 42 to 0 lead at the half, the Red Raiders held Tullahoma off the scoreboard until the last 4 seconds of the game in the dominating win.

The Red Raiders converted 3 first half Tullahoma turnovers into touchdowns as the Raider defense held Tullahoma to 5 first downs in the game. Mill Harner and ALontae Taylor each had 3 tochdowns on the night as Harner scored on a 1 yard run in the first quarter, a 75 interception return for TD and a 50 yard TD run in the 2^nd quarter. Harner finished the night with 131 yards rushing on 7 carries to earn the Thunder Radio/Farm Bureau Most Valuable Player trophy in addition to the Great American Rivalry MVP presented by the US Army. Alontae Taylor finished the night with 128 yards on 9 carries for Coffee County as he scored on runs of 2, 14 and 69 yards for Coffee County.

The margin of victory is the largest for Coffee County in the series and the 42 points is tied for first place in the most points scored in a game by the Red Raiders. Coffee County will host Pope John Paul II next Friday night in a non-region game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning with the Friday Night Thunder Pregame show at 6:00 PM.

High School Football

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CHS Volleyball Dumps Tullahoma

CHS senior Dianna Davis hits a jump serve (Photo by John St.Clair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

The Lady Raider volleyball team got the Coffee Pot fever a day early in a straight set sweep of Tullahoma on Thursday night in Tullahoma. The Lady Raiders throttled the Lady Cats 25 to 9, 25 to 14 and 25-21 to claim a win in the first matchup of the 2 teams this season. Dianna Davis led the Lady Raiders in kills with 7 while Baylee Nester had 6 and Macie Melton finished with 4. Maddie Taylor and Kaylee Skipper each had 4 aces as the Lady Raiders committed only 4 service errors in the match. Payton Nicoll led Coffee County in assists with 9 while Taylor added 8 and Makayla Morgan led the team in digs with 6. With the win, the Lady Raiders improved to 2 and 0 on the season and 2 and 0 in district play. Coffee County returns to the court on Monday night with a 6:00 PM match with Warren County.

CHS Golf gets a Sweep on Thursday at Shelbyville

Lady Raider golfer Savannah Quick

The Lady Raider and Red Raider golf teams continued their strong season performance on Thursday afternoon as they swept a pair of matches with Shelbyville and Cascade at Bedford County’s Riverbend Golf Course. Coffee County girls shot a 75 to beat Shelbyville and Cascade. The Eaglettes shot a 92 while Cascade carded a 111. Savannah Quick fired a 1 under 35 and Sophie Vinson had a 40 to improve the Lady Raiders to 26-3 on the year.

CHS Red Raider golfer John Parringer

The Red Raiders improved their record to 25-8 as they shot a 163, besting Shelbyville’s 178 and Cascade’s 184. John Parigger fired a 37 and Austin Farris shot a 39 to lead Coffee County. Senior Hayden Proffitt fired a 42 while Reid Lawrence got around in 45 strokes over the 9 hole match. The Raiders and Lady Raiders will play host to Macon County on Monday at Willowbrook in a match that starts at 1:00 PM. Coffee County will host their annual Willowbrook Invitational on Wednesday. Tee time is set for 9 AM.

Westwood Soccer Blanks Cascade

Westwood Lady Rocket keeper Abby Lowery

A pair of goals from Beatris Barrera and a goal and assist by Faith Willoughby powered the Westwood Lady Rocket soccer team to a 3 to 0 win over Cascade on Thursday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field. Abby Lowery was perfect in goal for Westwood as she had 10 saves on the night.
Barrera opened the scoring in the 7th minute off a feed from Willoughby to stake Westwood to a 1-0 lead. 3 beautiful saves by Lowery in the 10th and 11th minute kept the Lady Champions off the scoreboard as the match neared the half. Willoughby pounced on a deflected shot by the Cascade keeper in the last minute of the first half and drilled a shot into the back of the net to make it 2 to 0 at the break. Barrera notched her second goal in the 44th minute to lift Westwood to a perfect 2 and 0 record to start the season. The Lady Rockets will host St Andrew’s-Sewanee on Tuesday in a 4:30 PM contest at Dyer-Bouldin Field.

Westwood Football Loses Heartbreaker on Thursday to Middle Tennessee Christian

Westwood football coach Chad Dyer goes over a play call with QB Jake Hollandsworth

Missed extra points were the deciding factor on Thursday night as the Westwood Rockets fell to Middle Tennessee Christian 28 to 26 in Murfreesboro. After falling behind 14 to 0 in the first quarter, the Rockets got a TD run from Dylan Koon and the missed 2 point conversion made it 14 to 6 as the game neared the half. Jake Hollandsworth picked off a Cougar pass and returned it for a touchdown with 2:38 left in the half, but another missed PAT left the score 14 to 12 with 2:38 remaining in the half. Not to be deterred, the Cougars converted a 4th down for a touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half to make it 20 to 12 at the intermission.
Each team traded possessions in the 3rd quarter before MTCS scored with 4 minutes left in the game to seemingly put the game on ice. The gritty Rocket team got a TD from Jacob Floyd with 3 minutes remaining and Hollandsworth hit Shawn Anderson with a pass for the 2 point conversion to trim the deficit to 28 to 20. Westwood was unable to recover the onside kick, but the Rocket defense stopped the Cougars in their tracks to get one last chance. Hollandsworth connected with Koon on a TD pass to close the gap to 2 points, but the PAT was stopped allowing MTCS to run out the clock to claim the win
With the loss, Westwood falls to 1 and 2 on the season and 1 and 2 in conference play. Westwood will play their home opener on Thursday, August 27th beginning at 6:30 PM at Dyer-Bouldin Field. Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast as the Rockets host Forrest.

CHS Soccer Falls to Cookeville on Thursday

CHS Senior keeper Ali Shelton(Photo by John St.Clair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

A Cookeville goal in the last minute of the first half killed any Coffee County momentum going into the half and helped boost the visiting Cavaliers to a 7 to 0 win over the Lady Raider soccer team on Thursday night in Manchester. 2 huge saves in the 13^th and 15^th minute by Coffee County keeper Ali Shelton kept the match scoreless until the 29^th minute mark. From there, the Lady Raider defense settled down before a late rush in the 40^th minute gave the Cavaliers the 2-0 halftime lead. The second half belonged to the talented visitors as they scored 4 goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half to drop Coffee County to their first loss of the season.

Coach David Amado praised his team for their good first half effort but voiced concern over the inability to generate an offense on the night. Coffee County put only 1 shot on frame all night as Cookeville dominated the action. Senior Maclay Brandon expressed optimism for the positives while admitting that the negatives will give the team some things to learn from. Senior Halie Conner was quick to praise the team’s effort. “I thought we played hard against a really good team.” Shelton, also a senior, echoed those sentiments saying that this team will “work together and get better coming off (tonight’s game)”

The JV Raiders fought to a 1 to 1 draw with Cookeville as Sam Ellison scored the Lady Raider goal on a header off of a Morgan Henley corner kick. Coffee County travels to Soddy Daisy on Saturday for a noon match with the Lady Trojans. The JV team will start the action at 10 AM.

Coffee Pot Hype is at a Fever Pitch

The excitement for any Coffee Pot game fuels football fans in this area year after year. But the hype and buildup for Friday night’s 90th battle between Tullahoma and Coffee County may have reached the high water mark in 2015. With Coffee County ending their season last October with a disappointing 20 to 7 loss at Tullahoma, the Red Raiders have had 10 months to formulate their plans for revenge at Carden-Jarrell Field on Friday night. Hope is a flame that flickers bright in the county seat and that flame has been fanned into a wildfire this August. The Coffee County-Tullahoma game was selected as one of the top 100 must-see match ups for the 12th Annual Great American Rivalry Series presented by the US Army. An in-school Rivalry Fitness Challenge will also take place between the two schools during the week leading up to the game. The school that proves to be the fittest will be awarded a crystal trophy at halftime of the game. The winning team on the field earns year-long bragging rights with the Coffee Pot Trophy, and the Great American Rivalry Series Champions trophy, presented by the Army. The game’s Most Valuable Player and the top student-athlete from each school are also recognized as part of the Series.
Also announced last week will be the appearance of the Heisman Trophy at Friday’s game. The Heisman, presented by Nissan, will begin its visit to Manchester at John Roberts Nissan on Thursday and Friday. The public is invited to come by and see the trophy and get their picture taken with the revered statute in its iconic pose. Shane Davis, General Sales Manager for John Roberts Auto Group expressed excitement for the arrival of the Heisman. “We are one of only 2 Nissan dealerships in the country that were approved for a visit from the trophy. We look forward to the public coming by the dealership to see the trophy and our large new car inventory.”
In addition to being at John Roberts Nissan, the Heisman Trophy will also make an appearance at a pair of pep rallies. The Coffee County Quarterback Club invites the public to help kickoff the 2015 football season at a Community Pep Rally on Thursday night at 7:00 PM at Carden-Jarrell Field. The Heisman Trophy will make a guest appearance there for the general public and on Friday at the high school for the CHS student body pep rally.
The Coffee Pot game kicks off at 7:00 PM in Manchester at Carden-Jarrell Field. Thunder Radio is your exclusive home for Coffee County sports and Lucky Knott will bring you all the action beginning at 6:45 PM. Thunder Radio’s coverage begins at 6:00 PM and ends at 11:00 PM with Friday Night Thunder

CCMS Volleyball Drops Warren County in 3 Sets on Tuesday

Sarah West of CCMS volleyball(foreground) prepares to receive a Warren County serve in Tuesday’s match. In the background are Abigail Parker(left) and Keelie Hillis(Right)

Rallying to finish strong during a shaky 2^nd set gave the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider volleyball team the momentum needed in the deciding 3^rd set to get a 2 to 1 win over Warren County on Tuesday night at CCMS. In a match broadcast on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders gutted out a 26 to 24 win in the first set against the Lady Pioneers. As the second set started, a rash of service errors put the Lady Raiders in an 11 to 4 hole as Warren County seized any Raider momentum. Coffee County settled down to close the gap before falling 25 to 21 in the 2^nd set. Despite the 7 service errors in the 2^nd set, Coffee County started the 3^rd set strong as they roared out to an 11 to 5 lead on their way to a 15 to 10, 3^rd set win to claim the victory. Amanda Mukai had 6 aces for Coffee County while Sarah West added 4. West also led the Lady Raiders in kills with 3 while Elizabeth Proffit added 2 kills herself. The Lady Raiders will return to action on Saturday as the take part in the DCA Tournament in Nashville. The Lady Raiders will play at 9:20, 10:40 and Noon before entering the single elimination bracket play. You can download the podcast of Tuesday’s broadcast by visiting the following link: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/