Thunder Radio’s 63rd year of covering Red Raider football begins in one week – Aug. 21 when Coffee County hosts Franklin County in a non-region tilt. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Carden-Jarrell Field.
Following the season opener, Thunder Radio will be on hand for every Red Raider game – home and away – to bring all the action back to your radio, computer and streaming devices (smart phones and Amazon Alexa).
The Friday Night Thunder pregame show (delivered by Riddle Trucking), will begin the festivities at 6 p.m.. This is the 12th year for Friday Night Thunder, and a new host will in the studio – Court Steere.
A Manchester native and former Red Raider himself, Steere brings a great understanding of not only football, but the Red Raider community. Steere played football for the Red Raiders and was a 2001 graduate of CHS.
“We are thankful and blessed to bring Steere onto our football coverage team for 2020,” said Josh Peterson, vice president of Thunder Radio. “He understands community sports. He knows what it was like to play sports and to play right here at Coffee County. He is raising kids in this community and he has a great understanding of football. He is going to bring a great new perspective to the Friday Night Thunder experience for our fans, players and coaches.”
Following Friday Night Thunder, the game broadcast will be handled by Peterson and Dustin Murray – both are former athletes at Coffee County Central, graduates of the school, Manchester natives and veteran broadcasters. Jonathan Oliver returns for his second season as the sideline reporter. Peterson moves from the Friday Night Thunder studio to the play-by-play booth to replace Dennis Weaver, the longtime voice of Coffee County athletics, who tragically passed away on July 24th.
“Weave was extremely excited to start this season and, in typical fashion, was already bombarding me with preparation and ideas,” explained Peterson. “We are going to miss having him on the call, and miss the excitement that he got from celebrating our athletes, teams and coaches. There is no ‘replacing’ Dennis Weaver. We are going to carry on his enthusiasm and his passion and we are going to focus all of our energy here at Thunder Radio on highlighting, promoting and celebrating our athletes and teams at Coffee County Central. We are proud to do it for them, and for him.”
Following each game, the Friday Night Thunder Postgame show – hosted by Steere – will allow for call-ins and a region-wide scoreboard rundown, as well as play highlights from the game.
Every pregame show, game and postgame show can be heard live on Thunder Radio- 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM, streaming at www.thunder1320.com, streaming on the Manchester Go smartphone app and streaming on Amazon Alexa.
Tickets for the season opener against Franklin County should be purchased at the school prior to arrival – no tickets will be sold at the gate. You can purchase tickets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. and CHS- 100 Red Raider Dr.
