Monday September 16th Local Sports

AMES — The Iowa Hawkeyes outlasted the Iowa State Cyclones in a game that saw two lightning delays of nearly three hours to win 18-17 Saturday in Ames, The one-point win was the closest margin in the 67 games the two have played, and gave Iowa its fifth straight win in the series.

In the winning locker room Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says his team did what it needed to do in tough circumstances. “Very proud of our team, our staff, the resiliency hat they showed through the entire game. You know, one thing you can almost bet on in this series is that it is going to be a four-quarter game, today was obviously that,” Ferentz said.

Iowa recovered a punt that went off the back of an Iowa State player late in the game and was able to run out the clock after it looked like the Cyclones were going to get a chance to try and win the game on a final drive. Ferentz says that’s the way the whole game went. “A lot of ups and downs, including the weather, hard to script to prepare for that for that. The bottom line it was a real test of mental toughness, physical toughness. I thought our guys did a great job against a team that played extremely well, they are an outstanding football team too, so we’re just thrilled to get the victory,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz says they did what they had to do in the weather delays to try and keep the team ready — including sending the staff out to get sandwiches. The starting and stopping and then preparing to play again twice was not something he likes to see. “I hate pregame warmup — it’s one of my least favorite things — we got three of them today. What a bonus that was,” Ferentz said.

Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley make some big plays late in the game to help his team win. He talked about how he handled the delays. “I just went over the game plan in my head, asked the questions that I needed to asked and then just kind of relaxed. Made sure I was eating some food, staying hydrated and making sure that I had energy, because it was an extremely long game,“ Stanley said.

He said the win is important for this team. “I think it shows that we’re finishers, we are going to fight to the end and we are to do anything to make sure we win,” according to Stanley.

Iowa moves to 3-0 on the season and has a bye week this week.

 

 

 

AMES — Two turnovers proved costly for Iowa State in an 18-17 loss to Iowa. The last one coming with a minute and a half remaining when Datrone Young collided with Deshaunte Jones on a punt return and the Hawkeyes recovered.

That’s Iowa State coach Matt Campbell who would like more consistency from the offense, better tackling on defense and better play on special teams.

Campbell feels the Cyclones handled the nearly three hours in weather delays well.

The Cyclones host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

 

 

 

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — All that mattered to Aaron Rodgers on Sunday was that the Packers won.

That’s it.

Rodgers threw two early touchdowns and Green Bay held on for a 21-16 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

On a day when the Packers honored late Hall of Famer Bart Starr at halftime, Rodgers put on quite a show — particularly early. Rodgers completed nine of his first 10 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and had a perfect 158.3 rating through the first quarter. He finished 22 of 34 for 209 yards.

Rodgers and new coach Matt LaFleur experimented with Rodgers wearing a playcall wristband in the hope that it would speed up the play-calling process and get the offense out of the huddle quicker.

After scoring on each of its first three possessions, Green Bay’s offense failed to muster another point. But the hot start was enough to win.

The Packers remained unbeaten under LaFleur after opening the NFL’s 100th season with a victory at rival Chicago. They also beat the Vikings (1-1) for the fifth time in the past seven games at Lambeau Field.

Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook had a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. It was the third-year pro’s second consecutive game with over 100 yards rushing. Cook also had 37 yards receiving in the loss.

 

 

 

CLEVELAND (AP) — After getting rained out, beaten twice and nearly counted out, the Indians saved something from their biggest weekend this season.

They’re not finished yet.

The Indians kept their faint hopes of winning the AL Central alive on Sunday with a 7-5 win over the big-swinging Minnesota Twins, who hit four more homers and tied a major league record with four players getting at least 30.

Roberto Perez’s three-run homer in the sixth off Kyle Gibson put the Indians ahead and they bounced back after dropping a doubleheader on Saturday that seemed to doom their postseason chances.

But the Indians didn’t fold and stopped the Twins from extending their lead.

With the win, the Indians are back within 4½ games of the Twins while they chase Oakland and Tampa Bay in the wild card race.

Eddie Rosario homered twice and Miguel Sanó and rookie LaMonte Wade Jr. connected as the Twins became the 13th team — and first since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies — to have four players reach 30 homers in the same season.

The Twins start their final homestand of the regular season tonight as they’ll host the Chicago White Sox for three followed by four games with the Kansas City Royals. First pitch times Monday through Thursday nights is 6:40, with the pre-game show starting at 6 o’clock on AM-1300 KGLO.

 

 

MASON CITY – The NIACC volleyball team picked up a pair of wins Saturday against non-conference opponents.

NIACC topped Marshalltown 3-2 (25-17, 17-25, 29-27, 22-25, 15-8) and the Central College Junior Varsity 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-15).

Sophomore Kennedy Meister led the Lady Trojans with 23 kills, 27 digs, seven ace serves and five blocks.

NIACC (13-4) returns to Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play on Wednesday at Southwestern.

 

 

DECORAH – The NIACC women’s cross country team placed sixth at the Luther College All-American Invitational on Saturday with 177 points.

St. Thomas (Minn.) won the women’s college team title with 27 points. The Luther College Alumni was second with 37 points and Luther College was third with 82 points.

NIACC was led by freshman Paula Jimenez, who placed 12th in a time of 19 minutes, 25 seconds on the five-kilometer course. NIACC sophomore Emma Davison placed 16th in a time of 19:46.