High School Football
For the first time since 2008, Mt. Pleasant is 4-0 after completing an 11-point fourth quarter comeback to defeat Central DeWitt last night, 16-14. For Panther head coach John Bowlin, his team answered the call,
“Perseverance. They fought like crazy. I’d say myself, you know, on the coaching side of things, made a lot of mistakes tonight. I don’t think anybody can see that, but, you know, they kept fighting, kept believing, you know. I know when we didn’t get it done there with a couple minutes left and, you know, felt like all the sales had gone out and just had a, you know, opportunity came up and they took advantage of it and just kept battling, you know. I know we gave up 14, but our defense, I thought, played lights out tonight. Just, you know, kept us in the game. We had chances to score and, you know, couldn’t get it done on the three-yard line to start the game. Got it down in the red zone again and couldn’t get it done, so, you know, hats off to them. They’re a great team. I, you know, we just, perseverance, you know. These kids fought like crazy, believed in themselves, never gave up. I’m just super proud of those guys, how they played tonight.”
Grayson Walker led the offense, throwing for 147 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Carter Gehling and Isaiah Lange for the game-winning score. Coach Bowlin knows he can count on Walker to lead the offense,
“Absolutely. I mean, I got a ton of faith in him. He’s got a great attitude, no matter what happens to him. Great leader for us. Trusting the guys out there. I mean, we had a tough time running the ball tonight, so we had to put the ball in his hands. I kept telling him, you got to take chances because, you know, we’re not getting the ball moving on the ground much and, you know, and we got guys that’ll go up and make some great plays. So, you know, it was tough coming tonight, but they made it happen when it mattered at the end there.”
Mt. Pleasant will attempt to spoil another Homecoming when they head to Washington on Friday, September 25th, at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
Washington picked up a win via forfeit against Oskaloosa, due to “misconduct reports.”
Central Lee lost to West Liberty last night, 41-14.
In a thrilling finish, Mediapolis extended their winning streak to three after handing West Burlington/Notre Dame their first loss of the season in a 29-28 final. The Bulldogs will look to keep their streak going against Wilton on Friday at 7 pm on the road.
West Burlington/Notre Dame will look to regroup on Friday at home at 7 pm against Central Lee.
Fairfield bulldozed Knoxville last night, 52-14, to end a two-game losing streak. The Trojans will hit the road to play Solon on Friday at 7:30 pm.
Danville celebrated their Homecoming with a dominating, 36-6, win over Van Buren County last night. The Bears will remain at home for a matchup against Highland on Friday at 7 pm.
Van Buren County will attempt to upset Pekin on Friday at 7 pm at home.
WACO lost their first game of the season last night at the hand of Fremont-Mills, 56-26. The Warriors will celebrate their Homecoming on Friday at 7 pm against Belle Plaine.
Winfield-Mt. Union got back into the win column, narrowly defeating Wayne last night, 40-34. The Wolves will travel to Iowa Valley on Friday at 7 pm.
Columbus was blanked by North Linn last night, 68-0. The Wildcats are on a bye week.
In other scores, Burlington’s Cecil Owens ran for 117 yards and a touchdown but the Grayhounds still fell 54-29 to Keokuk, Mt. Vernon handled Fort Madison 55-21, and Solon pitched their second shutout of the season, beating Benton 39-0. Additionally, Mid-Prairie outlasted Wilton, 20-19, Pekin beat Highland 33-6, and Iowa Valley took down HLV-TC, 61-8.
High School Volleyball
Mediapolis will head to Lisbon for an invitational today.
Wapello, Washington and Danville will make the trip to West Liberty today for an invitational.
Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will travel to Ottumwa today for a tournament.
Van Buren County will attempt to spoil Washington’s senior night on Monday, September 21st, at 7:15 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic will host their Classic on Monday with Central Lee, Columbus, Danville, Mediapolis, and WACO competing.
High School Cross Country
Columbus and Washington will run at the Solon Invitational on Monday, September 21st, at 5 pm.
Mt. Pleasant will host their invitational on Tuesday, September 22nd, with Central Lee, Danville, Fairfield, Mediapolis, New London, WACO, and Winfield-Mt. Union joining the fray with the girls’ teams running at 5:10 pm.
High School Girls’ Tennis
Mt. Pleasant will take on Burlington Notre Dame at home on Monday, September 21st, at 4:30 pm.
Fairfield will host the Class 1A Region 5 Individual tournament on Wednesday, September 23rd.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s and women’s soccer teams will square off against Central Community College-Columbus today with the women playing first at 1 pm.
The volleyball team will host Marshalltown Community College at 6 pm on Wednesday, September 26th.
College Football
#18 Iowa will remain at home to face off against UNI today at 3 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
Iowa State will attempt to bounce back with a home matchup against Bowling Green today at 11 am. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1947 – Jackie Robinson is named “Rookie of the Year.”
1988 – American diver Greg Louganis smashes his head on the diving board during the 3-meter springboard preliminaries at the Seoul Olympics; he recovers to qualify for the final which he wins the following day.
2004 – Oakland Raider wide receiver Jerry Rice ends his NFL-record streak of 274 consecutive games with a reception in a 13-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills.