As we have turned the page on 2016, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports. Today we look back at a highlight from the prep football teams. The highlight for the local teams has to be the 2nd straight Coffee Pot win by the Central High School team over Tullahoma on August 19th.
Thunder Radio reported on that big win with a story we published on August 20th.
Coffee County celebrates a Coffee Pot Win
If Alontae Taylor circled the Coffee Pot game on his calendar, who could blame him? The Coffee County junior quarterback had his 2nd straight HUGE game against the Wildcats in a 49 to 10 Red Raider win over Tullahoma on Friday night at the Wildcat’s home field at Wilkins Stadium. The Tennessee commitment used big play after big play to lift the Coffee County Raiders to the second straight rivalry win over Tullahoma. If is the first time since 1982 that Coffee County has claimed back to back wins in the series.
Taylor contributed to all five of Coffee County’s first half touchdowns as Coffee County built a 35 to 3 lead at the intermission. Taylor connected on a 32 yard TD pass to Tyrese McGee on the Raiders first drive before rushing for touchdowns of 48 and 64 yards before the end of the first quarter. After a Tullahoma field goal, Taylor caught a 43 yard touchdown pass from Colton Prater and rushed for another 14 yard touchdown before the half. Taylor added a 36 yard rushing score in the 4th quarter and Prater added a 26 yard touchdown pass to Andrew Mahaffey to close out the Raiders scoring. The win is the largest margin of victory for the Raiders in the 91 year history of the rivalry.
Alontae Taylor receives the player of the game trophy following the Great American Rivalry Series win. (Photo by Brock Freeze)
Taylor finished the night with 291 yards rushing on 10 carries and 4 TD’s. He also had 1 pass for 32 yards and a TD and 2 receptions for 48 yards and his 6th TD. Prater was 5 for 9 passing with 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. For his outstanding night, Taylor was named the Thunder Radio/Crazy Daisies Most Valuable Player and also received the Great American Rivalry Series Player of the Game honors.
Coffee County travels to Hendersonville on Friday to take on Pope John Paul II. Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast beginning with the Friday Night Thunder Pregame show at 6 PM. Coach Ryan Sulkowski will break down the Raiders big win on Wednesday night’s Ryan Sulkowski Show hosted by West Main Brick Oven and sponsored by Coffee County Bank heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.
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The Westwood Middle School Rockets were much improved in 2016 as they opened the season with a 2 and 2 season record. The 2nd win of the year was a dominant shutout win over their arch rival Liberty on August 25th.
Thunder Radio reported on that big win with a story we published on August 26th.
Reynaldo Ramirez of Westwood football
A pair of big plays in the first quarter lifted the Westwood football team to a 12 to 0 win over their arch rival Liberty on Thursday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field. The Rockets scored on a 69 yard touchdown run from Trenton Thompson and a 39 yard touchdown run from Reynaldo Ramirez to salt away the win. Ramirez’ touchdown was set up by an interception from the Rocket’s Caiden Mullican.
Coach Chad Dyer used his running game to pound the football against Liberty as the Rockets racked up 220 total yards in the first half. The win improves Westwood’s record to 2 and 2 on the season. Westwood will travel to Unionville next Thursday for a 6:30 game with Community.
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The Coffee County Middle School closed out their season winning 2 of their last 3 games under new head coach Bryan Morgan. The Red Raiders closed out the season on September 27th with a 30 to 26 win over White County on 8th Grade Night.
Thunder Radio reported on that big win with a story we published on September 28th.
CCMS running back Marshall Haney(#12 in red) (Photo by John StClair – www.JohnStClairPhoto.com
The Coffee County Middle School football team ended their season on a high note with a 30 to 26 win over White County on Tuesday night at Carden-Jarrell Field. The win also secured a win on 8th grade night as the Red Raiders closed out the season winning 2 of their last 3 games. Marshall Haney had 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 passing touchdown and three 2 point conversions to lead the Red Raiders.
After a scoreless 1st quarter, Haney scored from 10 yards out and added the PAT to give the Raiders an early 8 to 0 lead. After a White County score and missed PAT, Kyle Farless caught a 58 yard touchdown pass from Haney and Haney added the 2 point conversion. A late White County touchdown cut the margin to 16 to 12 at the half. In the 2nd half, Haney rushed for a 2 yard touchdown but the PAT was no good and Coffee County led 22 to 12 with 9 minutes remaining. A pair of White County touchdowns gave the visitors from Sparta a 26 to 22 lead with 7:14 left. But a resilient Coffee County team scored the winning touchdown on a 53 yard touchdown pass on 4th and 11 as Conner Shemwell hit Farless for the winning score. Haney added the 2 point conversion to put the Raiders on top for good with 5:45 remaining. The defense made the stops they needed in the final 5 minutes to earn the win and close out the season on a winning note.
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We conclude our year in review on Tuesday as we look back at the year in prep basketball.
