YMCA Soccer Season Comes to an End

                                                                  By: Tyler Cobbs

            SMYRNA, Tenn.— The North Rutherford Family YMCA held its final game of the annual fall youth soccer program on Nov. 5, drawing dozens of children.

            The YMCA’s youth soccer league is for ages 3 to 10 and lasted from Aug. 22 to Nov. 5. The soccer league was split into two age groups: preschoolers ages 3 to 6 and grade-schoolers ages 7 to 10. The cost for registration is $55 for YMCA members and $65 for everyone else.

            Having fun, staying active, and learning how to play the beautiful game of soccer is what this program is about. It also brings a community of people together in favor of one goal: to teach their children good sportsmanship.

 “I really love the values and beliefs here at the YMCA and my 6-year-old daughter Isabelle loves it,” said Veronica Martinez. “She is always super excited to get out of school and go to practice.”

            Sports Director Grayson Hamilton, who is in charge of the soccer program is responsible for making everything run smoothly. He makes sure the teams have the same amount of time to practice, gets all of the jersey’s made for the teams before the season, and make sure the soccer fields are game ready each week.

Hamilton also coached two teams, one from each age group.

            The final match of the season was played at 10 a.m. on Nov. 5 between two of the preschool age group teams, Team Bullock and Team Gordon. The match was close, but very entertaining. It was a very warm day for it to be less than a month away from Thanksgiving, and the heat was clearly getting to the kids on the field. Hands were on hips and jerseys were soaked with sweat.

The YMCA staff and volunteers handled the heat very promptly by having multiple water breaks for the kids to prevent dehydration. The final score ended up in a 6 to 6 draw, with all of the kids involved receiving a medal and a cupcake afterwards.

            “My favorite part about our soccer program is that it brings people together,” said Gary Cobbs, the former executive director. “It also gives families a chance to get their kids into something active and healthy. You never know, this could open the door for a career for some kids.”       

            For information about the YMCA soccer program visit  www.soccer@ymcatnmid.org.

                                                                                                 

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Smyrna Defeats Lavergne in First High School Football Alumni Game

By Cornelius Frands

SMYRNA, Tenn. – Former football players for Smyrna and Lavergne high schools took the field for an alumni football game at Smyrna Robert L. Rakes Stadium on Nov. 5, with Smyrna winning, 16-14.

            In 1988, Smyrna High was split into Smyrna and Lavergne, causing a fierce rivalry between the two schools ever since.

 

            This was the first alumni football game Smyrna and Lavergne have ever participated in. Many fans packed the stadium eager and ready for kick-off. This game featured alumni players from the years of 1988-2015.  

The Smyrna Bulldogs received the ball first, leaving the Lavergne Wolverines left to defend. Smyrna’s former running back, P.J. Whitaker, scored the first three points with a field goal in the first three minutes of the game.

Former Smyrna wide receiver, Nick Smart, scored a touchdown right before halftime increasing the lead to 10 to nothing. The crowd went crazy wild in the stands. During the 12-minute half, there was a short performance by the 615 House of Dance School’s dance team.

Smart scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the kicker missed the extra point, giving the team six more points.

“It felt great to be back on the field again,” Smart said. “Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.”

Former Lavergne running back Juju Wright scored a touchdown, giving the Wolverines seven points.

The Wolverine fought long and hard all game, and finally at 1:59 left to go, Lavergne scored another touchdown bumping the score up 16-14.

            The Bulldogs won the game, 16-14, sending the Wolverines home once again with their 30^th consecutive loss.

“This is the closest they’ve ever been to winning against us,” said Chelsea Wilkinson, a fan of the Bulldogs. “It’s been almost 30 years since they’ve beat us. They know their place.”

            For more information about the game, visit www.alumnifootballusa.com.

 

 

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Eagleville High School Basketball Opens Season with Scrimmage

By Chase Brown

 

            EAGLEVILLE, Tenn.—Eagleville High School Basketball opened its 2016-2017 season with a scrimmage against Page High School at the College Grove Rec Center on Nov. 12, with the Eagles falling to Page, 73-26.

            Eagleville Head Coach Joey Reed’s starting five was Guard Graham Hatcher, Center Ethan Cobb, Forward Austin Strickland, Guard Eric Hawks, and Guard Evan Rives. Page’s starting five was Guard Nick Burns, Guard Isaiah Forrest, Guard Joshua Ho, Forward Danyale James, and Center Darrien James.

“The crowd was really hype at the start of the game, which made it feel like a real game” Eagleville Caleb Brown said.

            The game tipped off at 7:15 p.m., with Page receiving the ball and completing a three-point shot. Eagleville was able to draw a quick foul, completing one of the two foul shots.

            The first quarter for the Eagles was a slow one. The Eagles struggled to make shots and finish layups. The team came out with great hustle though, as well as working together as a team. The quarter ended with Page on top, 14-3.

            The second quarter for Eagleville started out with Cobb hitting the basket for an easy layup, but Page didn’t let up. Page came out hot from the three-point line, knocking down three of four shots. Page stayed on top, 36-14.

            Both teams came out attacking at the start of the third. Eagleville knocked down a share of threes, and so did Page. The third quarter was the last quarter for the Eagleville starters. They were replaced by Guard Bryson Kelly, Guard Ivie Burns, Guard Austin Davenport, Guard James Burnett, and Center Chavalier Sutton. At the end of three, Page was on top, 46-24.

            Unfortunately, at the start if the forth, Page came out with a steal and was fouled on the layup. Page missed both free throws. Even though the Eagles were fighting for the lead, they played with good energy. The Junior Varsity came in and finished the game for the Eagles. The final score of the game was 73-26, with Page winning.

“I feel that we will have a successful season,” said Eagleville guard, Caleb Brown. “The team came out slow but going more into the year that won’t happen as much.”

For more information on Eagleville Basketball, visit http://eaglevilleschoolathletics.com/boys_basketball

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Motlow's Public Safety Department Performs Emergency Drill

By Meghan Dackermann

SMYRNA, Tenn.-- The Motlow State Community College Police Department performed an annual practice active shooter drill at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Smyrna campus, placing the school on lockdown for almost 30 minutes.  

Public Safety Officer Samuel Campbell of the Smyrna Campus explained that the Public Safety Department became a public police department in April 2016. It gained all the responsibilities of a city and county police department.   The chief of Motlow's Police Department is Ray Higginbotham. 

Higginbotham issued an emergency drill so students and faculty would be better prepared in the event of a real emergency. Motlow College is required by the state of Tennessee to conduct a drill at least once a year.  

The intercoms throughout both buildings sounded an alert to let everyone know there was an intruder somewhere on campus. Professors shut classroom doors, turned off the lights, and urged everyone to quiet down and get out of sight. Students that were outside of classrooms had to find a place to hide. 

"I knew it was a drill when the alarms went off, but the bell still scared me because it was really loud," Motlow student Constance Allen said. "They had us sit on the floor and against the wall." 

Police walked around the school to make sure all of the doors were locked and that no teachers or students were in sight. They called an all-clear alert on the intercom when the drill was over. 

"Students and professors have to remain in hiding until the drill is over,"  Campbell said. "A real crisis would not be over until an officer came face to face with you and said it was 'all clear'." 

Drills can help save lives. A recent attack on the Ohio State University left 11 people injured. Police shot the attacker and had everything under control within minutes after their arrival. The police were able to prevent any deaths from happening except the attacker's. 

Active shooters have attacked college campuses all over the country. Public safety officials have thought of the most effective ways to keep everyone out of danger. They perform these drills often to improve the procedure and to ensure that these attacks are not fatal.  

According to public safety officials, students and professors need to take a few small steps to prepare for a real crisis. Professors should always have classroom doors locked. Students need to know all possible hiding places throughout the entire school. Injuries can be prevented if students and professors do their part. 

For more information about Motlow's emergency preparedness plan, visit www.mscc.edu.  

 

 

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MTSU Takes Big Win Over KSU

By Andrew Isbell

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee State University rugby team grabbed a big win over conference rival Kennesaw State University at 1 p.m. on Nov. 5 by a score of 39-10.

            MTSU and KSU are both in the South Independent Rugby Conference and have developed as big rivals. The two teams are incredibly physical, which made for an exciting match. This time around, the MTSU Moosemen took the victory.

The game of rugby is big internationally, a main sport for many countries including New Zealand, Fiji and Ireland among many others. It is often described as soccer and football combined. It’s football in the sense of tackling and passing, but without the pads. It’s soccer in the way of kicking. Passes are only allowed to go backwards or lateral, and a player can kick virtually whenever.

A match involves scrums and line-outs. A scrum looks identical to the offensive and defensive lines in football. A line-out looks almost like the ball being thrown back in soccer with a couple extra rules. A “try” is worth five points, and the conversion kick is worth two. A field goal is worth three points.

            The beginning of the game favored the Moosemen, who scored three times within the first 20 minutes. Scores came from MTSU starting Wing Devante Beasley, starting Second Row Trevor Wingerter, and starting Flanker Marcus Leuluai. The back end of the first half was more of a stalemate with both teams scoring once, which made the score at half time, MTSU 20, KSU 5. The last “try” in the first half came from MTSU starting Second Row Deshun Richardson.

            “The first 20 minutes of the game were fantastic for us,” MTSU Forwards Coach Jeff Pittman said. “We looked incredible.”

            In the second half, the Moosemen seemed to slow down, although almost doubling their halftime score. Conditioning is a huge part of the game, and being the beginning of the season, both teams started to tire out. The kickers seemed to shine in the second half, converting on three scores and making a penalty kick.  

            “In the second half, they (KSU) started to realize they weren’t going to win, so they started to hit us a lot harder, and I was gassed,” Richardson said. “It seemed like they were trying to hurt us.”

            The atmosphere during the game, although a small crowd, was electric. The fans loved to see their Moosemen score again and again.

MTSU has two remaining games this semester. The first will be played at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The second will be played at 1 p.m. on Nov. 19 against the University of Memphis in Murfreesboro.

            MTSU remains undefeated on the season and is in first place in the SIRC Conference. They will take time off for Christmas break, then start right where they left off playing conference games to try and advance to the championship in May.  

            For more information about how to get involved either as a player or a spectator, visit www.mtrugby.com.

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