High School Football
Mt. Pleasant was looking for a storybook ending to their Homecoming last night against Washington, but the comeback effort landed short of the mark as the Panthers fell to the Demons 39-28. Mt. Pleasant found their backs against the wall early after falling behind 14 to 0 at the end of the first quarter, but two defensive stops led to touchdown drives capped off by two Ramzy Davis plunges into the endzone to tie the game at 14.
Before the end of the first half, Logan McDole would hit Jayfred Espinosa for a 49-yard touchdown pass to give the Demons the lead back 20 to 14 after a missed extra point. The Panthers would take advantage and Payton Walker would gash the defense for his 9-yard rushing touchdown to give the Panthers a 21 to 20 lead. Nevertheless, the Demon offense kept moving the football and retook the lead 26 to 21 after a failed two-point conversion.
The game’s turning point happened on the next Mt. Pleasant drive as the Panthers failed a 4th down and 1 in Demon territory, which led to a long Washington drive that ended with a miraculous 4th and goal play that saw McDole flip the ball to Kael Williams for the score to make it 33 to 21. The Panthers would still hang around, scoring in three minutes, as Davis skirted into the endzone from 14-yards out for his third of the game as he finished with 85 rushing yards. Head coach John Bowlin talked about the junior’s performance,
“Yeah, he sees the field well, did a really good job blocking for us, you know, it gave us an opportunity to kind of go both ways. You know, we’ve been a little bit, you know, one sided easy to key on. So that gave us a little bit more to go with. So yeah, I think he’ll get better and better, and you know, keep getting more carries every week I think.”
With the score leaning in Washington’s favor 33 to 28, the Panthers needed a stop and had the Demons dealing with 4th down and short, but a clutch pass from McDole to Williams dashed all hopes of a comeback as Williams would punctuate the drive with the final touchdown of the game.
Walker led the Panther rushing attack with 111 yards on 16 carries, while Washington’s McDole ended the day with 304 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Coach Bowlin talked about his team’s performance after the game,
“You know, we did a lot of really good things tonight. And they’re a tough team to stop. They spread us out and had some good speed. So, we had a tough time with that, but we still had some guys step and make big plays offensively, like I said, I thought our O-line played really well tonight and kind of dominated the line of scrimmage and you know, did some good things. But we also made a couple of costly mistakes that hurt us there… We did bounce back to take the lead and, you know, there’s just kind of a back and forth fight there in the second-half and you know, good game, we just, you know, let it slip away…”
Mt. Pleasant will stay at home to take on Keokuk on Friday, October 11th, at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
In an exhibition of offense, WACO celebrated their senior night with a 67-42 win over New London last night. Louden Huisenga tallied 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the winning effort. London Franklin finished with 158 total yards and four touchdowns for the Tigers. The Warriors will hit the road to take on English Valleys on Friday at 7 pm.
New London will compete against Moravia on the road on Friday at 7 pm.
In a defensive slugfest, Danville edged out a 7-6 victory last night against Van Buren County. The Bears will be tested on the road against #4 Lisbon at 7 pm on Friday.
Columbus drubbed Louisa-Muscatine 54-0 last night. The Wildcats will face off against Van Buren County on Friday at 7 pm.
(5-1) West Burlington/Notre Dame is off to their best start since 2008 after handling Central Lee last night 34-13. The Falcons will host Albia on Friday at 7:30 pm.
Central Lee will square off against Mid-Prairie on the road on Friday at 7:30 pm.
Mediapolis lost to Mid-Prairie last night 24-8. The Bulldogs will compete against Davis County on Friday at 7:30 pm on the road.
Fairfield was smacked by Williamsburg 54-12 last night. The Trojans will take on South Tama on Friday at 7 pm at home.
Wapello was shutout by #4 Lisbon last night 49-0. Wapello will travel to Pekin on Friday at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union put up a good amount of points, but could not keep up with #8 Iowa Valley last night, falling 72-30. The Wolves will host Mormon Trail on Friday at 7 pm.
In other scores from around the way, Mt. Vernon rallied back to beat Assumption 46-14, Keokuk demolished Fort Madison 60-7, and Burlington was shutout by Clear Creek Amana 56-0.
High School Volleyball
New London will host a tournament today with West Burlington, Van Buren County, Danville, Burlington Notre Dame, and Columbus all competing.
Central Lee will take on Danville on Tuesday, October 8th, at home to celebrate their senior night at 7:30 pm.
Wapello will square off against Hillcrest Academy on Tuesday at 7:30 pm on the road.
Mediapolis will travel to Burlington Notre Dame on Tuesday at 7 pm.
Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will be gearing up for the first round of the Southeast Conference tournament at Keokuk on Tuesday at 5 pm.
WACO will face off against Lone Tree on Tuesday at 7:30 pm on the road.
Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against Central Lee for senior night on Thursday, October 10th, at 7:30 pm at home.
Columbus will take on Highland on Thursday at 7:30 pm at home.
High School Cross Country
Mt. Pleasant, WACO, Wapello, and Fairfield will travel to Hillcrest Academy on Monday, October 7th.
Mediapolis and Columbus will be co-hosting the Mike Jay Invitational with Danville, Van Buren County, WACO, Central Lee, Winfield-Mt. Union, New London, Holy Trinity Catholic, West Burlington/Notre Dame, and Wapello all competing on Thursday, October 10th.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team swept Highland Community College and Iowa Lakes Community College to start off their run at the Rock Valley Tournament yesterday. The Blackhawks will take on the hosts today at 10 am as the tournament will conclude today.
College Football
#16 Iowa State is back at home tonight at 6:30 pm, taking on Baylor. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the broadcast.
Iowa will square off against #3 Ohio State on the road at 2:30 pm today. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
This Day in Sports History
1921 – Writer Grantland Rice does the announcing as the New York Giants-New York Yankees Baseball World Series is broadcast for the first time over radio (WJZ & WGY) – he is not at the game, but in the studio reading updates received by telegraph.
1932 – With new ownership, the Detroit Falcons officially change their name to the Detroit Red Wings and the Winged Wheel is introduced; previous names include the Cougars (1926-30) and the Falcons (1930-32).
2003 – Kansas City wide receiver Dante Hall scores on a game winning 93-yard punt return in a Chiefs 24-23 victory vs the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium; returns for score in an NFL-record 4th straight game.
