High School Football
In the Battle for the Claw, the two Panther programs met at Evans Field last night and Mt. Pleasant pummeled Knoxville, 55-8, to improve to 2-0 for the season. After mental mistakes and penalties allowed for Knoxville to strike first, the Maroon and Gold would strike 14 seconds later with a Griffen Jones 94-yard kick return touchdown, his first of three total touchdowns on the night, and never looked back. It was all about the offense last night, as Grayson Walker tossed for 130 yards and three scores to three different receivers: Brody Clark, Kaden Schadt, and Isaiah Lange. Yet, the biggest improvement was on the offensive line, which paved the way for the team to run for 242 yards on 9 yards per carry, including 148 yards and a touchdown from Ryan Helling. Panther head coach John Bowlin thought his front five took a big step forward in their development last night,
“Yeah, absolutely. That was one of our big ones. I thought last week we weren’t going to do our assignments. We let one of the last week’s tacklers get 17 tackles on us, and that’s not because, that’s because we just didn’t go to them we were supposed to, so I thought, you know, we kind of secured that up and understood where we were going and stopped chasing people two gaps away, so I thought that was a big fix for us this week, and it showed right away that they learned that this week.”
Mt. Pleasant will get to stay at home when they host Oskaloosa on Friday, September 11th, at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
Wapello fell to Highland last night 35-7. Wapello will be looking to pull off the upset on Friday against Pekin with kickoff at 7 pm at home.
In a shootout, WACO was able to outlast Winfield-Mt. Union last night, 74-50. The Warriors will travel to play HLV-TC on Friday at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will tangle with English Valleys on Friday with gametime at 7 pm.
West Burlington/Notre Dame’s offense continues to fire on all cylinders as the Falcons flew past Fort Madison last night, 42-21. West Burlington/Notre Dame will look to keep their streak going against Keokuk at home on Friday at 7 pm.
Danville’s defense held strong in a 14-6 victory last night over Louisa-Muscatine. The Bears will make the trip to Columbus on Friday at 7 pm.
Mediapolis found their stride against Keokuk last night, rushing for 246 yards as a team in a 48-22 victory. Brock Spears tallied 88 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, James Eberhardt contributed 103 yards and a score, while Quincy King plunged in twice for the Bulldogs. Mediapolis will attempt to continue the momentum on Friday with a home contest against Fairfield at 7:30 pm.
Fairfield had no answers for Centerville last night, losing 30-8.
In a defensive slugfest, Washington upended Independence last night, 7-6. The Demons will travel to Burlington on Friday with kickoff at 7:30 pm.
Central Lee snuck past Albia last night, 20-14, to remain unbeaten. The Hawks will welcome Fort Madison to town on Friday at 7 pm.
Columbus had Van Buren County on the ropes, leading 25 to 14 at halftime, but the Warriors managed to score 12 unanswered points in the second half to win, 26-25. The Warriors will face off against Cardinal on Friday at 7 pm on the road.
In other local games: Burlington’s Caden Zaugg threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-21 victory over Oskaloosa, Mid-Prairie tripped up against Alburnett losing 35-28, and Solon demolished Williamsburg 42-0.
High School Volleyball
Burlington Notre Dame will host their invitational today with Danville, Van Buren County, New London, Wapello, and West Burlington also competing.
WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union will head to English Valleys for a tournament today.
Washington will participate in the Anamosa Tournament today.
Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to play Keokkuk on Tuesday, September 8th, at 7:15 pm.
Columbus will make the trip to Highland on Tuesday at 7 pm.
Central Lee will travel to New London on Tuesday at 7 pm.
Fairfield will be back at home on Tuesday against Washington at 7:15 pm.
High School Cross Country
Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will compete at the Pella Invitational today.
Van Buren County will host their Invite on Tuesday, September 8th, at 4:30 pm with Danville, New London, Mediapolis, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Central Lee making the trip.
WACO will run at the Sigourney Invitational on Tuesday at 4:30 pm.
Columbus and Wapello will travel to Tipton for a meet on Tuesday starting at 5 pm.
High School Girls’ Tennis
Mt. Pleasant will look to right the ship on Tuesday, September 8th, at Keokuk at 4:30 pm.
Fairfield’s next contest will be September 14th at Burlington.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team gets back to action with a road game against St. Louis Community College today at noon.
The men’s soccer team will travel to Waubonsee Community College tonight at 6 pm.
College Football
Iowa kicks off the season against Northern Illinois at home today at 3:16 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
Iowa State will host Southeast Missouri today to start their season with gametime at noon. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1901 – National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, better known as Minor League Baseball, is formed at the Leland Hotel in Chicago.
1906 – Saint Louis University quarterback Bradbury Robinson throws the first completed legal forward pass in the history of American football for a touchdown to Jack Schneider against Carroll College. Saint Louis went on to win 22-0.
1994 – San Francisco wide receiver Jerry Rice catches two touchdown passes and runs for another score in a 49ers’ 44-14 rout of the Raiders; surpasses Jim Brown as the NFL’s career touchdown leader with 127; eventually ends his career with 197 touchdowns.