Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Cross County: Two Danville-NL Runners Named All-State:

Two Danville-New London prepsters have been selected as All-State honorees by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, following their terrific senior campaigns.

Both Ty Carr and Alexander Julian were honored as All-State choices.

Carr clocked a season best time of 16:35 even, while Julian’s top time was 17:03.6

Both men were All-State state selections last year by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, as well.

Prep Football: Two More State Championship Matchups Set:

Two more state title games for next are set following semifinal play in Class A and 4A yesterday at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.

In Class A, both top-seeds advanced.

No. 1 West Hancock rode a hot start and never wavered, rolling to a 37-0 win over No. 7 East Buchanan.

Second-seeded Grundy Center easily maneuvered past No. 4 Woodbury Central 28-7.

In Class 4A, No. 4 Lewis Central will take on perennial power Cedar Rapids Xavier.

The Titans earned a 35-10 win over Waverly-Shell Rock, while Duane Schulte’s Saints picked up a 40-14 win over Winterset.

Prep Football: Class 1A, 5A to Play Today:

Four more semifinals will be played today in Cedar Falls, with Class 1A and 5A taking center stage.

Class 1A matchups will see:

• No. 8 Beckman Catholic vs. No. 1 Van Meter
• No. 4 Dike-New Hartford vs. No. 6 West Sioux

Tilts in 5A include:

• Ankeny vs. No. 5 West Des Moines Valley
• No. 2 Southeast Polk vs. No. 7 Iowa City High

Class 2A and 3A will wrap up semifinal play on Saturday.

College Football: Wesleyan Falls in Final Matchup: 

With their game moved up to yesterday from Saturday, the Iowa Wesleyan football team saw Mayville State score 36 unanswered points as the Comets rolled to a 42-14 win over the Tigers last night.

Wesleyan led 14-6 at the end of the first quarter before Mayville State woke up.

Gavin Esquivel completed 8-of-15 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown, while Kam Cole led the running back room with eight carries for 32 yards.

Hezekiah Hunter had eight handles for just 10 yards and a touchdown.

Jaden Harris led the team with 71 yards receiving.

Iowa Wesleyan closes their first season back in NAIA at 2-8.

Nuggets:

• Iowa vs. UMKC 7:00 p.m.
• Iowa State vs. Oregon State 7:00 p.m.

Prep Football: CAM, Easton Valley to Square Off:

CAM 66, Audubon 29

CAM quarterback Lane Spieker rushed for 289 yards and six touchdowns, as CAM rolled to a 66-29 win over Audubon in yesterday’s 8-Player semifinal.

Audubon outlasted WACO last week.

Spieker also threw for 135 yards and an additional touchdown continuing what has been a historic senior season.

The Wheelers tied the matchup at 22 at halftime, before being outscored 44-7 out of the break.

CAM improved to 12-0, while Audubon closed their season 10-2.

Easton Valley 42, Remsen St. Mary’s 36

Easton Valley outscored Remsen St. Mary’s 21-14 in the second to come from behind for a 42-36 win in the second of two 8-Player semifinals.

River Hawk quarterback Conor Gruver was electric in the passing game, completing 20-of-23 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.

His top target was Carson Fuegen, who hauled in eight catches for 155 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 45 yards and an additional score.

Remsen St. Mary’s ends their year 11-1.

Easton Valley will scrap with CAM next week in the 8-Player State Title.

Prep Football: Dome Action Continues Today with Class A and 4A:

Action continues on in semifinal football from the UNI Dome with a four-pack of games.

Class A and Class 4A will play today

Class A

#7 (10-1) East Buchanan vs #1 (11-0) West Hancock

#4 (10-1) Woodbury Central vs #2 (10-1) Grundy Center

Class 4A

#4 (9-2) Lewis Central vs #3 (10-1) Waverly-Shell Rock

#7 (9-2) Winterset vs #2 (10-1) Cedar Rapids Xavier

College Football: UNI’s Penning Named to Walter Payton Award Watch List:

UNI football’s Trevor Penning is the first offensive lineman to be named to this year’s Walter Payton Award watch list.

The Walter Payton Award is presented annually to the national offensive player of the year in college football’s Division I subdivision.

Penning became the first Panther to earn the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week award Oct. 25 following UNI’s win over No. 6 South Dakota State.

UNI, sitting at 5-4 in the rugged Missouri Valley Football Conference, are at Missouri State this weekend.

College Football: Iowa’ Tory Taylor a Semifinalist for Ray Guy Award:

University of Iowa sophomore punter Tory Taylor is one of 10 punters named a semifinalist for the 2021 Ray Guy Award.

Through nine games Taylor is averaging 45.8 yards per punt, with a long of 69 yards.

He has 17 punts of at least 50 yards and has placed 28 punts inside the opponent 20.

Taylor was named a first-team midseason All-American by The Athletic. He was the Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week following Iowa’s 27-17 win at Iowa State.

Iowa will host Minnesota this weekend, with kick set for 2:40 p.m.