Mary Ann Downey, 69, of Mt. Pleasant, died Sunday, October 15, 2023 at her residence.
Per Mary’s request, there will be no funeral service. Cremation rites have been entrusted to the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant, which is assisting the family with the arrangements. On-line condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com
Playoff Football- The regular season is in the books for 8-Player and Classes A, 1A, and 2A, which means that it’s time to look at the matchups for our local teams.
Starting in Class 2A, #10 Mediapolis won their district, giving the Bulldogs homefield advantage against Anamosa, who finished in fourth place in District four behind Monticello, Camanche, and Northeast.
Albia earned the dubious distinction of taking on #2 Van Meter to open up their postseason action.
(5-3) West Burlington-Notre Dame will hit the road to go against (4-4) Camanche and (4-4) Mid-Prairie will host (4-4) Northeast.
In Class A, Danville clinched a playoff birth in their first season of competition since 2016, but they will have a tough road battle against #6 Wapsie Valley.
Pekin will tangle with #8 Lynnville-Sully and Columbus will host Maquoketa Valley.
In 8-Player, #1 Winfield-Mt. Union, touting a high-octane offense and a stout defense, will go against the at-large bid, Belle Plaine. Looking at similar opponents, Belle Plaine handled HLV and Iowa Valley but fell to Montezuma 62-32. KILJ 98.5 FM, AM 1130, will have the call with Jeff Broeg.
WACO will have another home playoff game as the Warriors host Baxter. Including the Covid year, this is WACO’s fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs and their sixth home playoff game: the Warriors are 4-1 in that span. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will have the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Iowa Valley returns to the playoffs as they take on BGM in the first round in a road matchup.
Games are slated to start at 7 pm on Friday, October 20th.
For a full list of the playoff games, click here: Playoff Matchups
High School Football
Mt. Pleasant and Fort Madison battled for three quarters at Evans Field, but the Bloodhounds ran away with the game, scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter to win 55-14. Fort Madison jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and seemed destined to make it a 24-0 game, but a missed field goal led to a long Mt. Pleasant drive resulting in a one-yard touchdown run for Payton Walker to make the score 21-7. On senior night, it was seniors Phoenix Watson and Carson Andreasen making key plays to stop the Bloodhounds from scoring to end the first half. Head Coach John Bowlin talked about how his senior class played in last night’s matchup.
Watson stepped up again in the third quarter with a goal line interception, but the Panthers couldn’t capitalize off of the turnover. After a Bloodhound touchdown, Zachary Newton led the Panthers down the field and punched it in from 11 yards out to cut the lead in half, 28-14. Fort Madison forced a turnover and a turnover on downs to seal the win, but Coach Bowlin was proud of the fight his team put up. The Panthers will travel to Davenport Assumption next Friday.
In other Class 3A District 4 matchups, Assumption shut down Keokuk 48-0 and Mt. Vernon demolished Washington 65-6.
#4 Solon has now won seven straight after handling Fairfield last night 42-6. The Trojans will end their season against Grinnell next Friday.
Columbus took down Danville last night 63-18 to celebrate their senior night in style. Jaden Bauer tossed three touchdown passes for the Bears.
Van Buren County was downed by Lisbon last night 45-8. The Warriors finished the regular season with a 3-5 record.
West Burlington-Notre Dame finished the year on a three-game winning streak after defeating Davis County 43-30.
#10 Mediapolis knocked off Central Lee last night 51-7. The Hawks finished the season with a 3-5 record.
New London played English Valleys close but the Tigers came up just short in a 52-40 loss. New London finished the season with a 1-7 record.
#1 Winfield-Mt. Union smacked HLV last night to the tune of a 66-0 victory. Cam Buffington rushed for 74 yards and three touchdowns in the winning effort.
For 8-Player and Classes 2A, 1A, and A, the first round playoff matchups will be released today.
High School Volleyball
Mt. Pleasant will take on Keokuk on October 17th for the first round of the Class 4A regional. KILJ will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will face off against Danville in the first round of the Class 1A regionals at home on October 16th. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have Jeff Broeg on the call.
New London will travel to compete against Burlington Notre Dame on October 16th for the first round of regional play. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Central Lee will compete against Solon in the Class 3A quarterfinal round on October 17th.
WACO will host Iowa Valley on October 16th for the first round of regionals.
Mediapolis will take on Tipton in the Class 3A quarterfinal on October 17th.
Holy Trinity Catholic will compete at the Knoxville Tournament today.
Van Buren County will travel to Wilton for the quarterfinal round of regionals on October 18th.
Cross Country
Winfield-Mt. Union, WACO, Danville-New London, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Van Buren County will travel to Regina Catholic on October 19th.
In Class 2A, Mediapolis, Central Lee, and West Burlington-Notre Dame will compete at Williamsburg on October 19th.
Pella will serve as the host for Mt. Pleasant, Fort Madison, Keokuk and Washington for the Class 3A meet on October 18th.
College Football
The University of Iowa will hit the road to take on Wisconsin today at 3 pm.
Iowa State University will face off against Cincinnati today at 11 am.
For the Hawkeye broadcast, tune into KILJ 105.5 FM and the Cyclone broadcast will be on 98.5 FM and AM 1130.
This Day in Sports History
1908 – Upset over seating arrangements at the Baseball World Series, sports reporters form a professional group that will become Baseball Writers Association of America.
1979 – NHL’s greatest scorer Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal.
2003 – Fan, Steve Bartman, deflects the ball away from Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou. The Cubs give up eight runs in the inning and lose to the Marlins 8-3, and the Bartman incident is seen as the turning point in the series.
Class 4A
Burlington 19, Oskaloosa 13
Class 3A
Fort Madison 55, Mt. Pleasant 14.
Mt. Vernon 65, Washington 6
Assumption 48, Keokuk 0
Solon 42, Fairfield 6
Class 2A
#10 Mediapolis 51, Central Lee 7
West Burlington-Notre Dame 43, Davis County 30
Mid-Prairie 42, Albia 22
Class A
#5 Lisbon 45, Van Buren County 8
Columbus 63, Danville 18
8-Player
#1 Winfield-Mt. Union 66, HLV 0
English Valleys 52, New London 40
Henry County Public Health is making the trip to New London for our listeners who can’t make it to Mt. Pleasant. On Wednesday, October 18th, Public Health is hosting a vaccine clinic for those who would like the flu shot or COVID vaccine.
The flu shots are $35 unless your insurance can be billed, and they have high-dose shots available for those aged 65+. Make sure to bring your Medicare part B or other insurance card.
For the COVID-19 vaccine, they have Moderna shots available for anyone 5 and older. It must be at least two months since your last COVID shot. Bring your insurance card, but they do have vaccines for those uninsured/underinsured.
The clinic will take place from 4:30pm-5:30pm on Wednesday. If you have any questions, please direct them to Public Health at 319 385 0779. You can follow their Facebook page at HealthyHenryCounty.
Roberta Boulton, 88, of Wapello, passed away on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Funeral Services for Roberta will be 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 16, 2023 at the Wapello Methodist Church. Following the funeral services, the family will visit with friends at a luncheon held at the church from around 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Burial will be in Columbus City Cemetery following the luncheon. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservices.com. 
Roberta Armeda Lessenger was born on April 13, 1935 in the farm house of her grandparents (southeast of Yarmouth), the daughter of Carroll and Mary “Lucille” (Shaw) Lessenger. Roberta attended country school in Mount Pleasant and later attended school in Wapello. Roberta was a homemaker with the utmost priority of taking care of her family as they were most important to her above all else. Outside of the home, Roberta was actively involved in the Wapello Methodist Church, Eastern Star, the Rebekah’s, Red Hats, and as an LPN. Roberta and Ray loved going square dancing, bowling and celebrating the holidays. They were also avid sports fans and always attended as many of the family sporting activities as they could.
Roberta will be deeply missed by her husband, Ray of Wapello; children, Randell (Cindi) Boulton of Grinnell, Iowa, Rae Nita (Bill) Black of Wapello, Rae Laneia Boulton of Wapello and Misty Rae Brockway of Wapello; grandchildren, Josette, Buddy, Erin, Augusta, Nathaniel, Monica, Chastine, Shawnta, Annie, Brooke, Logan and Holden; along with a family of many extended grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her daughter, LuCinda Boulton; son, Doug Boulton; brother; Arlo Lessenger; her sisters, Riva Brown and LaDonna Jo Lessenger and son-in-law, Dean Brockway.
Mount Pleasant High School is proud to announce the August/September 2023 Students of Character, Robert Flack Jr., Dakota Lange, and Mattisyn Wenke.
These students have demonstrated Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. Students are nominated by the MPCHS faculty each month. If you see these students at school or in the community, please tell them to keep up the good work! We are Panther Proud of you all!
