Sports and Outdoors

It’s going to be an interesting season on the gridiron for the three Marshall County High School football teams. There is a new coach at Forrest, a new quarterback at MCHS, and a new way of looking at things in Cornersville. Former defensive coordinator Eli Stephenson takes over the reins at Chapel Hill this season after the Rockets posted a dismal 4-7 record last year, including a quick exit from the playoffs via a 63-36 thrashing at Westmoreland. The Rockets won only one non-region game last season and that was against a winless Cascade squad.

Duck River Raceway Park Feature Results Saturday, August 11 Top 5 Pure Stock 1. Tim Wilson 2. Justin Sells 3. Josh Bondurant 4. Michael Giles 5. Steven Landers Points 1 John Whaley 435 2 Dylan McCray 425 3 Justin Sells 328 4 Tim Wilson 320 5 Dewayne Hicks 259

It's no secret that the Marshall County girls soccer team play in one of the deepest 2A districts in the entire state. Longtime rival Page has made the state tournament four times (2009, 2010, 2015, 2017) and the sectionals three more times (2011, 2012, 2016) with a close 1-0 loss last season to Greeneville in the state semifinals.

If anyone thinks that the state runner-up finish by the 2017 Cornersville Bulldogs in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Class A playoffs was a fluke, they’re in for a rude awakening. “They are ready to get back at it, we have had some good practices going back to fall camp, so I am like them, I’m eager to get started and get this season going,” Cornersville head coach Gerard Randolph said. “We have to stay focused and take it one day at a time and get better each day.” These Bulldogs are even hungrier after a late November taste of Cookeville and they are poised and ready to take the final step in capturing the school’s first-ever state title in any sport.

The Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs opened the season in style Thursday night at Frog Bottom with a 20-0 shutout win over Highland Rim. The Bulldogs dominated the game in the trenches as they rushed the ball for 273 yards, while giving up just 70 yards rushing on defense. Nick Nuenswander led the ground attack with six carries for 128 yards and a touchdown.

Every coach in high school football reaches for the same goal towards the end of the summer through preseason scrimmages and jamborees. With the first game of the regular season just around the corner, Tiger coach Thomas Osteen, along with every other coach in America, just wants to see steady improvement from their teams before the opener. And with a 23-0 win in just two quarters over visiting Lipscomb Academy at Preston Hopkins Field on Friday night, the Tigers did just that.

The Forrest Rockets faltered in 2017, posting a losing record (4-7) for the first time in 11 years. And they lost their coach as Brent Johns stepped down after two years at the helm. Johns’ defensive coordinator Eli Stephenson, who has been on the staff since 2014, took over to become the fifth Forrest head football coach in seven years. Don’t expect to see a complete overhaul to the football scheme as Forrest alum Matthew Delk takes over the defensive coordinator duties, while Stephenson implements a Hybrid Wing-T on offense.

“Oh what a day!” said Dottie Kelso Memorial Tournament scholarship fund committee member Ronald C. Robinson. “The man up above, along with Dottie’s magic gave us a beautiful day for golfing and raising scholarship funds.” The tournament was held at the Saddle Creek Golf Club on Saturday, July 28 and was great in so many ways.

2017 was supposed to be the year that the rest of Region 4-4A caught up with Marshall County. On the heels of the 2016 squad sending six players to the college ranks, an unbelievable amount for a mid-level 4A team, the Tigers seemed ripe for the picking. But for the third season in a row, Lewisburg's finest found themselves in the semifinals of the state playoffs, needing just one more one win to challenge for a 4A state title in Cookeville.

The Cornersville Bulldogs stayed the course on Thursday at Saddle Creek Golf Club, outshooting Marshall County 202 to 208 to take the Gary Wells Cup away from the Tigers for the first time since its inception in 2007. “It feels great to have the Cup at our school for this school year,” Cornersville coach Peyton Newton said. “Our team is a very close group and they knew we came into this season with a chance to do this.”...

Marshall County High School has held the coveted Gary Wells Cup for all 11 years of the intra-county golf match named in honor of the longtime Tiger golf coach, but things may change this season as the Cornersville Bulldogs closed in on the prize after the first two rounds of the three-round, nine-hole event. The Bulldogs shot a combined 181 in Tuesday’s opening round at the Ewell Butler Golf Course in Lewisburg with the Tigers trailing by 12 strokes and Forrest in third place with 195 strokes.

Cornersville’s Tate Lowery, a senior on the golf squad at Martin Methodist College, has had a long lasting love affair with the sport and combined with his relentless hard work, the ex-Bulldog lefty recently took a big step forward in the competitive arena when he shot a one-under par 71 in the qualifier at Old Fort Golf Course in Murfreesboro to earn a spot in the Tennessee Golf Association’s (TGA) State Amateur Tournament. “I’ve been trying for a couple years and it feels good to finally qualify,” Lowery said. “My game is in a good spot, so it gives me a lot of confidence going into the actual tournament.”

On Friday, August 17 high school football kicks off and as that date moves closer prep squads hone their skills mostly on the practice field, but when they get a chance to scrimmage the energy levels increase exponentially as witnessed Friday night when the Forrest Rockets hosted Mt. Pleasant in a scrimmage at Murrey E. Holton Field in Chapel Hill. “We had good practices this week and got better every day,” Forrest coach Eli Stephenson said. “They were really looking forward to coming out and playing another team.”

Saturday, July 28 Top 5 Pure Stock 1. Dylan McCrary 2. Tim Wilson 3. John Whaley 4. Wally Walls 5. Cody Lovett 604 Crate Late Model 1. Chase Walls 2. David Seibers 3. Dustin Harris 4. Steven Holcomb 5. Robert Stutts Mod Lite 1. Shawn Mooneyhan 2. Jody Brannon...

The theme for Friday night’s opening session of the Lions Super Pull of the South at Chapel Hill was never trust the weatherman. “With the fear of tornado and hail in the forecast I spent quite a bit of time keeping my eyes on the sky,” Lions Club president Brian Williams said. “Safety of our crowd is the most important thing to the club.” Due to some ominous reports of potential severe weather all day, a smaller than expected crowd showed up for session one, but the Saturday night crowd was huge and lively.

Forrest’s senior Ethan Mealer picked up the win on the mound in Columbia American Legion Post 19’s 13-2 triumph over Pulaski Post 60 in the American Legion state title game Sunday at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. Mealer gave up two earned on four-hits, while striking out six and walking seven Pulaski batters in his 4.2 innings of work. Although Mealer did not hit when pitching on Sunday he is currently batting .370 with 20 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

The 42nd Annual Lions Super Pull of the South kicks off tonight at Lions Motorsports Park in Chapel Hill with the green flag flying shortly after the always entertaining opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. Some of the proceeds from the event go to help the Lions Clubs’ many chosen charitable organizations, including A Soldier’s Child Foundation, the Tour de Cure Bicycle Race that benefits the American Diabetes Foundation, the Kidsight Outreach Program at the Monroe Carrell Jr. ...

In a domino effect, Marshall County senior quarterback Bryce Wallace is leaving Lewisburg and going to Giles County High School to be with his brother Bo, who was recently named the offensive coordinator of the Bobcats, replacing assistant Rip Flippo. Bo Wallace won a Class 4A state title with Giles County in 2009 before going on to play at Ole Miss. Bryce Wallace played in nine games as a freshman and all 14 contests in his sophomore and junior campaigns at MCHS.

The Marshall County 13-15 year-old all-stars won the state championship last weekend at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Field in Lewisburg to qualify for the Southeast Region Tournament that begins on July 24 at Longwood, Florida and they need some help to fund the trip...

It took all day and much of the night for the Marshall County all-stars to complete a back-to-back sweep of the 13-15 year-old Babe Ruth League state championships via an 8-0 win over Lebanon in the title game Sunday. The title tilt started two hours late because of rain and lightning delays and another short delay because of a lighting outage when the local sports editor (Me) accidently hit the switch in the Press Box. “They showed up early, got a little batting practice and they were real positive and upbeat the whole time,” Marshall County manager Mike Mills said. “When we hit that field it just had that feel about it. For lack of a better word, there was blood in the water and the sharks were circling.”

Logan Courtemanche took the ball for the winner’s bracket game Saturday night versus Lebanon at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Field in Lewisburg and pitched the game of his life, tossing 6.2 innings of shutout baseball as Marshall County won 7-0 to advance to Sunday’s title game. Courtemanche gave up four hits, while striking out seven and walking one Lebanon batter before he reached his mandatory pitch count with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The defending state champion Marshall County 13-15 year-old all-stars opened up the 2018 state tournament with a 9-1 win over East Nashville at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Field in Lewisburg Friday night. Marshall County had three, three-run innings on offense, while Carson Cheek and Logan McKnight combined for a two-hitter on the mound. Cheek started the game and picked up the win, giving up two hits and one earned run in three innings of work, while striking out eight and walking two East Nashville batters.

In the bicentennial year of our nation a few local men ran supped-up tractors down a track at Chapel Hill not really knowing what they had birthed. At the forefront of the event was the Chapel Hill Lions Club, who sponsored that first tractor pull that grew to national recognition by the ‘80’s and now some 42 years later, the Lions Super Pull of the South is acknowledged as one of the premier events on the National Tractor Pull Association’s schedule.

Marshall County High School senior and Western Kentucky signee Sydne Solomon earned an infield spot on the Class AA All-State Softball squad.

After sweeping three straight games last weekend at Pulaski to claim the District 8 title, the Marshall County 13-15 year-old Babe Ruth League all-stars have home field advantage for the state tournament beginning Friday night at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Field in Lewisburg. “I’m excited about getting out here and opening this state, but I’m not near as excited as these boys,” all-star manager Mike Mills said. “If you saw them today (Monday) when they were finished practicing they looked like mud balls and it’s dry out here.

Forrest senior Dylan Eady earned a spot in the outfield on the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Class AA All-State Baseball squad along with another Chapel Hill resident and Columbia Academy senior southpaw pitcher Alex Huey in Class A.

Marshall County High School baseball tryouts will be held on Tuesday, July 17 at 10 a.m. for 9th and 10th graders and Wednesday, July 18 at 2 p.m. for 11th and 12th graders. All players trying out must have a completed sports physical form to participate...

Championship Flight Joe Liggett, TJ Tipps, Tate Lowery, Jason Terry-56 Mike Mercer, Josh Frey, Jeremy Johnson, Russ Nixon-58 Cory Schultz, Taylor Springer, Aaron Compton, Austin Perrin-58 Andrew Robertson, Adam Bates, Brett Young, Craig Tracey-59 Bubba Russell, John Lambert, Chris London, John Myhr-59 Brian Bruce, Evan Gardner, Ray Keeton, Donald Carlson-59 Bryan Harwell, Jerry Ferguson, Ben Winsett, Joey Young-61 Keith Whitney, Terry Adkins, Richard Carter, Jeremy Dison-61 Ronnie Ashworth, Robert Ashworth, Adam Ashworth, Justin Giles-61

The Marshall County Babe Ruth League 13-15 year-old all-stars travelled to Pulaski for the District 8 Tournament last weekend and pummeled the competition, pulling off a three-game sweep to claim the championship. Marshall County opened with an 8-2 win over the hosts with Carson Cheek picking up the win on the mound.

First place Marshall Medical Center finished up the Babe Ruth League regular season in style on Saturday, beating A-Plus 14-7 in game one before taking down archrival Elks 6-3 in game two. MMC standout all-star Zack Graves slammed the first over the fence home run of the season versus A-Plus and came back with another long dinger against the Elks.

The Marshall County Dusters hosted Tullahoma American Legion Post #43 for a doubleheader at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Field in Lewisburg Thursday night and dropped two close games by scores of 4-2 and 2-0. The Dusters were their worst enemy as only one of the six runs allowed by the pitching staff were earned as they committed five errors in the field and they also ran themselves off the base paths, being picked off three times. Still, the Dusters were in both games until their last at bat.