Pumpkin007

41-42 Tullahoma wins the pot.

Who do you have? Tullahoma is coming off a big win after a 21 game losing streak and Coffee County is coming off a lose after FC took them to the woodshed.

The Burkes kid made a huge impact on both sides of the ball.

I pull for CC, I was born and raised here. But last year hurt to watch. From the stands it was easy to see that there were players straight up laying down on their jobs. Makes me wonder if there were not kids on the sidelines that might have had more heart and would have gave more effort. The only game they played hard as a whole team and the whole game was Tullahoma, and look at the results. Only time will tell if it is any different this year. I really hope it is.

Who has CC scrimmaged??? None in the spring, or none that was talked about or posted about. One in this fall that was posted about afterwards. heck Fans like to go watch scrimmages too. Why keep them a secret??? Trying to not let the comp get a chance to go see what is going on??? I don't see it that way, these other head coaches cannot be blind sided by these simple tricks like this. They have scouts to go watch scrimmages. They find out about them even when fans don't.

Guys kid was a starting lineman, just puzzling that he was blaming the coach and his kid was one of the ones not giving a honest effort. You was talking about putting in extra work, I saw AT practicing running routes today with no one there but a QB to throw the ball to him. So yes a few kids get it, just wish more of them had that attitude.

I have been in the stands and heard this with my own ears. I have even called parents out on it. and of course the parents of these bad apples all seem to point it at the coach.

Him and a few others put in the extra time. It is just sad to see the ones that don't suck the drive out of others as the season goes on. Why do you think we had about 45 kids on the sideline last year? A few bad apples spoil the barrel. I just hate it for the ones that do put in the extra time and effort.

Problem was last year (viewing from the stands and having no dog in the fight) was the O-line and D-line lost their heart to play. No reason for 5 Down lineman on the O-line and 4 D-line was in the back field for the hand off. Just crazy, seems they were upset over the fact Alontea gets all the recognition. If they had of played hard, the scouts coming to see Alontea play might see a somebody else they are interested in. If I had been a coach I would have benched them till they got their heart right. Maybe that bunch is gone and this new bunch of lineman will be different. Only time will tell. I expect them to play hard for at least our first 2 rival games, then we will see if it carries over to the Blackman game. That is what will tell me how improved they are. Of course Blackman will be like playing Oakland. Haha we don't not have an easy region to show improvement in.

TN Punishers04 is having tryouts the next 2 weekends. They practice in Murfreesboro and Smithville. Not sure if that is to far or not, but they are a great group of Parents and kids.

A write up from Thunder Radio Season Preview – CHS Football As the fall sports season gets ready to crank up, Thunder Radio sports concludes our series of previews for the fall prep sports season. For the last 11 days, we have shown the spotlight on each of the 12 different local prep teams which will compete this fall. Today, we look at the Coffee County Central High School Red Raider football team. The Red Raiders donned the pads on Monday morning for their first day of full contact work. Battling heat and contact restrictions, Coach Ryan Sulkowski begins his 4th season at the helm of the Red Raider program. “It was a little sluggish for a Monday, but overall I was pleased with the work of the 1st and 2nd groups” said Sulkowski when asked about the first day. Coach Sulkowski is pleased with the spring and summer workouts and feels that this year’s team is ahead of schedule when compared to his previous teams especially in leadership. “Not to take away from previous senior classes, but this year’s seniors are coaching the kids (and holding them accountable)” said Sulkowski. “Physically speaking and athletically, this is our best group in 4 years.” You can’t begin any discussion of Coffee County without mentioning UT commitment and senior Alontae Taylor. Taylor is expected to begin the season at the wide receiver position, a position he is projected to play at the college level. “Obviously Colton Prater(Sr.) is doing a good job for us at the quarterback position” said Sulkowski but he quickly added that Taylor will line up at a variety of positions to year to get more touches and to serve as a decoy as well. In the backfield, Sulkowski called out the performance of junior running back Byron Sullivan who is “running hard.” Senior Zach Vaughn has practiced well at the wide receiver position and will complement Taylor’s presence on the outside. Up front, Sulkowski was pleased with Tyler Luttrell(Soph) who appears to have nailed down the center position. Sulkowski said that he “likes the competition” amongst the other linemen as he considers their knowledge of the system as the best he has seen in his time at CHS. Sulkowski and his staff are attempting to platoon this season and limit the number of players having to play on offense and defense when possible. On defense, a pair of seniors lead a strong linebacking corp as Cameron West and Deaaron Rozier have shined all summer. “They are running to the ball and their football acumen and athleticism are special” said Sulkowski. He went on to add that the defensive secondary is strong anchored by senior cornerback Keishaun Creel and sophomore cornerback Claudius Williams. He called out their knowledge of the defensive concepts and the ability to run “the system” as well as communicate and work as a team. One additional benefit of platooning is the opportunity to work more with the freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen are getting quality preparation and practice experience. Sulkowski was effusive in his praise for many of his younger players, especially freshmen who have stepped up this summer. Sulkowski praised the work of freshmen Bryce Damstra(OL/DL), C.J. Anderson(WR) and Matthew Pittman(QB) for their progress thus far. “I want our kids to continue to show up and be ready to work hard every day” added Sulkowski. The Red Raiders open the season on August 18th when they travel to Winchester to take on Franklin County in a non-region game. The first home game for the Red Raiders is August 25th when Tullahoma visits Carden-Jarrell Field for the Coffee Pot Game. As always, Thunder Radio is the exclusive home of each and every Red Raider football game with Lucky Knott and Dustin Murray on the call. Additionally, the Ryan Sulkowski Show returns to Thunder Radio again this fall airing at 6 PM on Wednesday nights.

Tullahoma is what I'm hearing.

Rumor has it that they picked up a STUD running back from Blackman, don't know how true it is. But maybe someone in the know might shed some light on this. Or they might try and keep it a secret till the start of the season.

In the long run, I feel it is cost saving by going to turf. Problem is no one wants to put the money up front, they would rather spend more and drag it out.

http://www.manchestertimes.com/high-school-softball-tori-bell-wins-homerun-derby-at-tsca-all-star-game/

I hear Tori Bell put on a clinic in the Home Run Derby. She hit 21.

I see Alontae making some big plays, even if is Oline does not block for him again this year. Big question is does CC Defense have anything to stop Jarious. This will be the battle of the Backs.

I really hated to see Coach Wilder leave CC, but I also understand that some job offers cannot be passed up.

But no one at TSSAA cares what makes sense. That is why 12 men went behind closed doors and put the regions together. They set the regions with only playoff money in mind.

Rampage, here is your chance.

Alontea is committed to TN as of right now. He has many of D1 schools interested in him. Wished I could make the trip to see this game, but I have other things going on.

Never know where Alontea will be playing, If they can get the Oline to help him, he can make plays against any team. Will it be enough to keep them in this game? Probably not, but he has managed to get decent yardage against good teams even without his Olines help. The Oline played just about the best game all year against Seigal this past Fri night. There are a few others on the team with the heart of lions. Just don't think they have enough depth to do much of anything. With over 1700+ kids in the hallways, they dress less than 50 for game night. I just do not understand it.

Taylor will have trouble for the simple fact his Oline doesn't fight for him. No reason for 3 defensive lineman to be in the backfield for the handoff when there is only 4 of them rushing. this has been the case all year long. The parents are in the kids heads, it is a sad sight to watch. If everyone person playing had the heart that Tayler, Rozier, McKee and a few others had, this would be a totally different ball team.

FCRebel22, you have hit the nail on the head. It is so sicken to listen to all the experts in the stands. They all talk about how the coaches are screwed up and do not know what they are doing. Yet I can see from the stands that it might not be a bad play called, just poor execution. Poor tackles and miss blocks start with the players themselves. It is up to the coaches to call the plays to put the kids into position to make the plays. But the kids have to make the play. FC is not the only school going through this. The outside influence of parents talking bad about the coaches to the kids, spreads like wild fire. Then the kids lay down and do not give 100% because their parents make them believe it will not do any good. Then half of your team plays at 50% and ends up getting other kids hurt and the coaches look bad because it looks like they called BS plays. Or they wonder why the coach only calls a hand full of plays. It could be because with kids giving 50% there is only a hand full of plays they can try to get away with.

CC lineman are playing at about 50%. Don't know what is wrong, but if they played with just half the heart that Taylor, Rozier, Prater, or McKee then they would be allot better ball team. No reason why 3 of the 4 defensive lineman are already in the backfield for the handoff.