As 2018 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on. Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the prep football teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County and Westwood middle schools.
The Coffee County CHS Red Raiders struggled at times in the “Year After Alontae” but kept up the tradition of beating Hwy 55 rival Warren County. As always, Thunder Radio brought you the broadcast of the game and wrote about the resounding win in a story we published on September 15th:
Andrew Mahaffey of Coffee County football
With the Warren County Fair taking place in McMinnville, senior Andrew Mahaffey put his Coffee County football team on his back for a ride on Friday night. The senior rushed 35 times for 303 yards as the Raiders returned to region play with a convincing win over the Pioneers. Taking on their bitter rival, Coffee County ground out a 35 to 13 win.
The Red Raiders got a pair of touchdown runs from Mahaffey in the 1st quarter to build a 21 to 7 lead after the first 12 minutes. A pair of long touchdown runs by Warren County sent the 2 teams to the locker room at halftime with Coffee County up 21 to 13. In the second half, quarterback Matthew Pittman hit Trace Bryant for a 25 yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter and Marshall Haney rushed for a 10 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to close out the scoring.
With his 303 yard performance, Mahaffey was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game. Pittman rushed 10 times for 64 yards with a rushing and a passing touchdown. Haney finished with 13 yards on 3 carries as Coffee County improves to 1 and 1 in region play.
The Red Raiders return home next Friday night to Carden-Jarrell. Coffee County will play host to Cookeville. That game will kick off at 7 PM and Thunder Radio will once again be your source for exclusive coverage. Lucky Knott and Dustin Murray will bring you the kickoff at 7 PM, Thunder Radio’s live coverage begins with the pregame show at 6 PM.
Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
The Coffee County Middle School football team got hot late in the season winning 3 of 4 during a stretch in September. The big win was a hard fought upset of North Franklin on Homecoming. Thunder Radio reported on the win with the following story on September 12th:
2018 CCMS football team [Photo by DanasDigital.com/ShannonSmiles.com]
Cole Pippenger scored both Raider touchdowns with one in each half including a run from 49 yards out. Caleb Boothe added a 2 point conversion on the first Raider score as Coffee Middle enjoyed an 8 to 6 halftime lead. Leading 14 to 6 late in the game, Coffee County needed a stop on the Gators after they got a first and goal at the 7 yard line. The defense rose to the challenge to halt North on downs and run out the clock.
Coffee County will hit the road next Tuesday for their final road game of the year. The Red Raiders will take on Warren County in McMinnville. Kick-off is set for 6:30 PM.
The Westwood Rockets football team struggled with a young roster but closed out the year with a dominating win over their fierce rival Liberty in Shelbyville. Thunder Radio reported on the win with the following story on September 28th:
2018 Westwood football team [Photo by Dana Giltner – DanasDigital.com]
Eight grader Konnor Heaton had 2 first quarter touchdowns and a 2 point conversion to give Westwood a 14 to 0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Ian Weldon scored on a 40+ yard jet sweep in the 2nd quarter and Heaton added the 2 point conversion to give the Rockets a 22 to 0 lead at the half. Heaton added his 3rd touchdown in 3rd quarter to give Westwood a 30 to nothing lead late in 3rd quarter. Liberty and Westwood traded 2 touchdowns apiece to close out the final 10 minutes of action with the Rockets last score being on a kickoff return by Brayden Dixon.
