Stories from Wednesday, November 5, 2014

The Forrest Rockets routed Fayetteville 56-14 on a frigid Halloween senior night in Chapel Hill, setting a school record for most points in a season, while senior standout Zach McClendon shattered Zach Ray's single season rushing record. The Rockets, who put up 548 yards of total offense versus the Tigers, have scored 341 points in 10 games, breaking the 1967 total of 339 points in 11 games.

After helping Giles County achieve dominance over Marshall County on the gridiron as an assistant coach, first-year MCHS head coach Thomas Osteen reversed that trend on Halloween, as the Tigers defeated the Bobcats 34-17 on Senior Night to snap a three-game losing streak to their longtime archrival. Having lost eight of the last nine meetings against Giles County, MCHS (8-2, 4-1 District) appeared ready to overcome the specter of their past failures against the Bobcats and built a 14-3 lead in the first half. After Giles County (4-6, 2-3 District) cut the deficit to 14-9 at halftime, the Tigers made a couple of critical defensive stands in the third quarter before outscoring the Bobcats 21-8 the rest of the way to pull away for the 17-point victory. "I definitely had some extra butterflies tonight," said Osteen. "They have a good ballclub and it's always great to coach in big ballgames like this. This is a really big win for us." Thanks to Friday's win, Marshall County clinched sole possession of second place in the District standings and earned the top seed in Quadrant 3 of the Class 4A playoffs. "I'm real proud of this bunch of kids. They've bought in to what we've preached and worked their guts out. They've gotten better each week in all phases of the game. These kids want to start a new era of Tiger football," said Osteen. MCHS, however, will have little time to savor their win over Giles County and will face the Bobcats in the first round of the playoffs this coming Friday. The Tigers' offense got stronger as the game wore on, as Marshall County piled up 366 yards from scrimmage overall, which included 243 in the second half alone. Bolstered by a 91-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Chris Walker, MCHS finished with 222 yards rushing on 36 carries. Walker outshined Giles County cornerback and Ole Miss commitment Cameron Ordway by rushing for 185 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries while also catching two passes for 46 yards and a TD. "This win meant a lot because we had only beaten them one time since I've been here. There was a lot of hype coming into this game and I'm glad we got it done," said Walker. "I'm not going to take anything away from Cameron because he's a great player, but I think I'm just as good as he is." Jay Howard also picked up 25 yards on his lone carry, while D'Andre Brown added 15 yards on four carries. Tiger quarterback Ashton Posey, meanwhile, completed 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards and one touchdown. Walker also attempted two passes, completing one for 11 yards. Howard was Marshall County's leading receiver and snared five passes for 56 yards. Tre Crutcher tallied three receptions for 35 yards as well, while Kacy Pleas had one catch for eight yards. Although Giles County finished with a respectable 295 yards of total offense, the Bobcats scored on only two of their four trips inside the red zone and committed two costly turnovers that led to a pair of MCHS touchdowns. After struggling to stop the run at times this season, the Tigers shored up that problem on Friday and limited Giles County to just 98 yards rushing on 34 carries. Tailback Jordan Tucker paced the Bobcats' ground game with 70 yards on 10 carries, while R'Kell Reed chipped in 14 yards on four carries. Giles County quarterback Trevor Holder toted the ball 16 times but gained only seven yards after being sacked four times. Holder also completed just 14-of-30 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown to go along with one interception. Lucas Harrison was Holder's primary target and hauled in nine passes for 153 yards and a TD. With his performance against the Tigers, Holder eclipsed the 2,000-yard receiving mark for his career. Defensive end Payton Hood led the Tigers with 14 tackles and a fumble recovery, while Cale Shelton tallied nine tackles and a sack. Peyton Williams notched eight tackles as well, and Josh Franklin, Walker, and Antonio Shelton recorded seven tackles. Howard also tallied five tackles and an interception for MCHS, while Prentice Davis registered three tackles and a sack Marshall County was stopped on downs on their opening possession, but got the ball back a few moments later when Hood recovered a fumble by Tucker at the Giles County 47. The Tigers cashed in on the Bobcat miscue and took a 7-0 lead 12 plays later when Walker burst up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown run while Caleb Estes tacked on the extra point. Aided by a 32-yard kickoff return by Ordway and a Marshall County 15-yard facemask penalty, Giles County started their ensuing drive at the Tiger 29. The Bobcats then advanced to the 15 on consecutive runs by Reed and Holder, but picked up just six yards on their next three plays and settled for a 26-yard field goal by Griffin Birdsong to cut the deficit to 7-3 late in the first quarter. After Marshall County was forced to punt on their next three possessions, Howard set the Tigers up with excellent field position by picking off a Holder pass and returning it 52 yards to the Bobcat 13. Giles County was also called for a facemask on the play, which moved the ball to the seven-yard line. Walker then burrowed into the end zone from a yard out three plays later to make it 14-3 with 3:29 left in the second quarter. The Bobcats finally reached the end zone on their next possession to narrow the gap to 14-9 when Holder hooked up with Harrison for a 34-yard touchdown strike with 1:26 left in the half. Giles County failed on the two-point conversion attempt to keep the deficit at five going into the break. In the third quarter, the Bobcats had a chance to take the lead after advancing from their own 37 to the Tiger 19 on four straight runs. After losing seven yards on first down due to a bad snap, Giles County picked up 14 yards on their next two plays to set up a 4th and 3 situation. The Bobcats, though, came away empty handed, as Shelton and Davis stopped Holder a yard short of the 1st down marker on a designed quarterback run. Following a MCHS punt, the Bobcats lost the ball on downs again at the Tiger 43 before Marshall County put together a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive that was punctuated by a Walker seven-yard TD run to stretch their lead to 21-9 late in the third quarter. After stopping Giles County on downs again in the red zone with the help of a 4th down sack by Brown, the Tigers were penalized five yards for an illegal substitution. Walker quickly got Marshall County out of the shadow of their own goal line by racing 91-yards for a touchdown on the next play to give MCHS a 28-9 lead early in the fourth quarter. Holder scored on a four-yard TD run on the Bobcats ensuing possession before running in the two-point conversion to trim the deficit to 28-17, but the Tigers pushed their lead to 34-17 when Walker caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Posey with 5:02 left. That proved to be all the points MCHS would need, as the Tigers stopped Giles County on downs one final time in Marshall County territory before running out the clock.

The Cornersville Bulldogs' fading playoff chances were officially extinguished on Friday night when they lost 38-33 to the Perry County Vikings on the road in their season finale. Cornersville (3-7) had defeated Perry County handily each of the last two seasons and held 27-20 lead late in the third quarter of Friday's contest after overcoming an early 14-point deficit. The Vikings, however, came charging back in the fourth period and scored three straight touchdowns to seize a 38-27 advantage before hanging on for the five-point victory.

On Thursday, the Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs evened their record at 2-2 by defeating the Minor Hill Wildcats 40-28 at home. The Bulldogs took control of the game early and led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter before taking a 22-10 advantage into the break. Cornersville then opened up a 32-15 lead early in the fourth quarter en route to claiming their second win of the season...

Although she was unable to reach the medal podium, Marshall County freshman Leah Hollingsworth turned in a solid performance at the Class A-AA Girls State Cross Country Meet by placing 42nd out of a 181 runners at Iroquois Steeplechase on Saturday morning...

The Cornersville Middle School Lady Bulldogs (3-1) didn't earn any style points on Thursday night, but still managed to record their third straight win by defeating the Minor Hill Lady Wildcats 28-18 at home. Cornersville held a 12-4 lead at the end of the first half, but the Lady Wildcats (0-1) clawed their way back into the contest and rallied to cut the deficit to 20-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

Robert E. Leverette, 71, of Unionville, died Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. A native of Unionville, Mr. Leverette was a son of the late Arthur B. and Jennie Mai Perryman Leverette. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, a Master Carpenter, and a member of Victory Baptist Church in Shelbyville...

Viola Edith Vincent, 73, of Lewisburg, died Friday, Oct. 31, 2014, at her residence. Mrs. Vincent was a native of Glasgow, Ky. and daughter of the late Alfred Keaton and Zada Wishard McGuire Jones. She was a homemaker and member of the Baptist Church...

Reavis "Reb" Bryant Stacey, 88, of Williamstown, formerly of Lewisburg, passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014, at his residence. Reb was an Air Force veteran of WWII. He was a business entrepreneur, with prior ownership of 30 + Cinderella Dry Cleaners and coin laundries throughout the U.S.; a tree farmer, having planted more than 13,000 trees throughout the county; and the host of many Boy Scouts and field trips at the Reb Stacey Woodland and Wildlife Farm in Folsom, Ky. ...

William Wayne "Radar" Lentz, 46, of Lewisburg, passed away on Friday, Oct. 31, 2014, at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia. A native of Lewisburg, Mr. Lentz was the son of the late Wilma Lee Troop and William F. Stewart of Lewisburg, who survives. He worked many years at ICP...

Dorris Weaver, 80, of Lewisburg, died Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, at his home in Lewisburg. Mr. Weaver was born in Marshall County and was a son of the late Frank Lee and Beulah Mae Phifer Weaver. He served his country as a soldier with the Tennessee Army National Guard, from which he retired in 1991, after 39 years of service. ...

Barbara Jean Kleine, 67, of Nolensville, died Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014, in Williamson Medical Center. Mrs. Kleine was a native of Nashville, and daughter of the late Richard and Nettie Luke Lassiter. She was retired from Ezell-Harding School in Antioch where she was a teacher for 29 years. She was a member of the Hardin Chapel Church of Christ...

By Ivory Riner Staff Writer The Chamber of Commerce, Hardison Annex, a barn on Highway 64, the Historic 1st Avenue Building, and the Abner Houston Log Cabin now all have something in common -- they all display large painted quilts. The Abner Houston Log Cabin received its barn quilt on Thursday, Oct. 30. The artist of the quilt was Linda Gupton, who also designed the quilts displayed at the Historic 1st Avenue Building and at the Athenaeum in Columbia...

Thefts and vandalism reported On Oct. 24 and 28, burglars entered a home near Lewisburg and took an S&W .22 caliber pistol, two shotguns -- a Mossberg 935 camo and a Stoeger 12-gauge wetland camo -- and a Remington 30-06 single shot rifle, worth a total of $2,700. ...

By Karen Hall and Poppy Hall Staff Writers As the Tribune went to press Tuesday, closing arguments were being heard in the case of Sharod Moore, who is charged with the first-degree murder of Ronald Shelton on Jan. 29, 2011. Last week, in addition to testimony from law enforcement, ambulance personnel, and experts from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, the jurors heard from friends and neighbors of the victim and the accused...

By Greg Lowe Special to the Tribune The City of Lewisburg is proud to announce that in a survey of over 200 economic development organizations from around the country, the city reported more jobs in the last 12 months than any other with a population of less than 25,000. The City of Lewisburg announced 852 jobs...