Former Red Bank High School standouts Tim Benford and Jeremy Caldwell made the All-Ohio Valley Conference football first team for the second year in a row, Benford as a wide receiver for Tennessee Tech and Caldwell as a defensive back for Eastern Kentucky. Both were juniors this season. Benford caught 47 passes for 779 yards and nine touchdowns, while Caldwell made 32 tackles and three interceptions, returning one 80 yards for a touchdown. He also starred as a kick returner. Benford was the only repeat first-teamer on offense, and Caldwell was one of three defensive repeaters. Brainerd graduate Orlandus Harris of EKU was a second-team All-OVC receiver after making 56 receptions for 940 yards and seven touchdowns, and Pikeville’s Justin Hilliard as a Tennessee Tech lineman and former Howard standout Rico Council as a Tennessee State linebacker were second-team defensive selections. Council led that unit with 79 tackles, with six for loss and four sacks, and Hilliard had 45 tackles with 6.5 for lost yardage.
* Junior defensive back Alfonza Knight represented Sewanee on the All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference football first team for 2010, and teammates Max Jones, Zeke Wilson, Will Law, Zac Atkins and Geoff Marolda made the second team even though the Tigers did not win a conference game. Sewanee’s Chalankis Brown, Andrew Gordon, McLain Still, John Ugorji and Andrew Walters earned honorable mention, and freshman Chad Morehead was second in the league’s newcomer-of-the-year voting. Knight ranked second in the SCAC in tackles (101) and tackles per game (10.1) behind Millsaps’ Will Hawkins, who was voted defensive player of the year for the second season in a row.
Baseball
* Sal Rende, a former Chattanooga Lookouts slugger who has maintained his family’s home in the area, has been promoted from minor league hitting coordinator for the Philadelphia Phillies to the hitting coach for new manager Ryne Sandberg with the Phillies’ Class AAA Lehigh Valley team. Rende spent the last three years in the roving instructor role.
Golf
* MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee State women’s golf coach Chris Adams announced Tuesday the three early-period signees for next year, including Soddy-Daisy’s Haley Cothran. Her commitment had been reported, but Adams could not comment until collecting the players’ letters of intent. “Haley has been a player I’ve had my eye on for several years,” Adams said in an MTSU release. “She’s had a very decorated career at the junior level, and I know that she is excited about coming to Middle Tennessee to help take us to another level.” The Blue Raiders lose senior Morgan Hale from Tullahoma after the spring season.
Wrestling
* The National Wrestling Alliance is sanctioning a group of professional bouts Friday night at Daisy Church of God, with tickets selling for $10. Children 6-under get in free. Some ringside seats are still available, according to Micah Hughes, a church representative who also is one of the wrestlers. He will be taking on “300 Pound Beast Seven.” The main event is Mikal Judas against “Tank,” a former Red Bank High School state champion. Some of the other competitors used to wrestler for Soddy-Daisy High, including “Seven Figure Deal” Ace Rockwell, who will face Chrisjen Hayme. Other bouts are Temptation Shaun Tempers against “All That” Adam Jacobs, “The Hollywood Hacksaw” Andrew Alexander against Corey Hollis and a tag-team match between the Hate Junkies and the Hillbillies. Hughes said $1 from each admission plus all the concession profits will go to the host church’s college and career group. A similar fundraiser is planned for Soddy-Daisy Middle School on Jan. 21.
Staff Report