Preview for High School Football
Mt. Pleasant will be in a new classification this year as the Panthers will now be competing in Class 3A. Under new direction this season in Head Coach John Bowlin, the Panthers will start the season on August 25th against Fairfield at Mapleleaf.
After being dormant for six years, football is coming back to Danville with Cody Thompson at the helm. The Bears will take on Lynnville-Sully to start the season.
Van Buren County will take on Central Lee to begin the season for Class A.
In 8-man football, WACO’s week one matchup will be Fremont-Mills on the road. New London, with Darrin Loyd leading the Tigers, will travel to take on Easton Valley. Lastly, Winfield-Mt. Union will begin their hopeful season at Central City to start the year.
Mt. Pleasant Cross Country
Summer is the time to refine your skills and Mt. Pleasant’s cross country team has done just that with their summer runs. Coach Murray has been pleased about the work put in so far.
The high schoolers will have their camp start next week and with the season’s first official practice less than two weeks away, Coach Murray expressed his passion for the sport and explained how tough it really is.
College Football Award Watches
Iowa and Iowa State will have a battle of the punters this season with the Hawkeye’s Tory Taylor and the Cyclones’ Tyler Perkins being named to the Ray Guy Award watch list, the award given to the best punter.
Taylor set the single season record for total punting yards two years ago and improved that record last year to 3,688 yards for an average of 45.4 yards per punt. Taylor has been a semifinalist for the award twice in his career and was a Second Team choice by the Associated Press last season.
Perkins averaged 42.2 yards per punt last year as a freshman, the fourth best mark for a freshman in program history. Nearly 40% of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line last year.
Drew Stevens for Iowa also earned a spot on the Lou Groza Award watch list; this award goes to the best place kicker in the country. Stevens was a semifinalist last season after nailing 16 of his 18 field goal attempts, which includes a 6 for 8 mark from 40 yards plus.
Iowa/Iowa State Gambling Roundup
The number has increased to seven athletes who have been charged in the sports gambling investigation. The latest name to be added to the list is Iowa’s backup kicker Aaron Blom.
The Johnson County Attorney’s Office charged Blom, claiming that he allegedly placed 170 bets totaling $4,400 on a DraftKings account registered to his mother prior to turning 21 years old.
Blom was expected to be the backup kicker and punter this season.
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees had the game locked at three through 5.5 innings of play, but the Clinton LumberKings would proceed to push two runs across in the 6th and 8th innings to come out on top 7-3. Keegan Schmitt and Connor Laeng each totaled an RBI in the losing effort.
Matt Scherrman had the only extra base hit of the game for the LumberKings as he finished with one of the five evenly split RBIs. Nick Meyer, Paul Vossen, Tate Gillen, and Jeremy Conforti each collected an RBI. The Great River Divisional rivalry will continue tonight in Burlington.
This Day in Sports History
1852 – America’s first intercollegiate sporting event takes place as the Harvard heavyweight rowing crew beats Yale by 2 lengths over 2 miles on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.
1906 – Washington Nationals’ Tom Hughes becomes the first MLB pitcher to win a 1-0 extra innings game off his own home run in 10th vs St. Louis Browns.
1960 – For the only time in MLB history, teams exchange managers as Detroit trades Jimmy Dykes (44-52) for Cleveland’s Joe Gordon (49-46).