Thursday September 3rd Local Sports

OSAGE — Osage and Charles City are the latest schools that have cancelled upcoming football games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Osage superintendent Barb Schwamman announced in a letter to the school district community that they were cancelling their game at Clear Lake on Friday due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program. Schwamman says a student tested positive on Tuesday night, with the last exposure between the student and the team being on Friday. She says several students have been quarantined as a result of contact tracing of the student who tested positive to other students last Friday night at the football game. Clear Lake meanwhile has tentatively found an opponent for tomorrow night as they will host Regina of Iowa City at Lions Field. For Charles City, they are cancelling their next two weeks of games and practices after two players tested positive for COVID-19. A news release posted to the school district’s website says outside of the two confirmed cases, there are potentially other positive cases and several of the team’s players are quarantining. Athletic Director Todd Forsyth says in the release that the decision to pause football is all about student safety. Charles City was scheduled to host Union of LaPorte City Friday night. The Osage and Charles City cancellations come a day after Mason City High School announced they were cancelling their next two varsity games due to a COVID-19 exposure on the varsity coaching staff.

 

 

AMES — Iowa State University is changing the decision the school announced Monday to allow 25,000 fans into Jack Trice Stadium for the season-opening home football game next Saturday.

Athletic Director Jamie Pollard announced Wednesday that school president Wendy Wintersteen told him Tuesday night that she has weighed feedback she has received from the community and has decided to reverse the decision.

There has been lots of public feedback on the decision with the rising COVID-19 rates in Story County. Governor Kim Reynolds was asked about it at her news conference Wednesday and said she was confident fans could safely attend the game if they followed COVID guidelines.

Pollard says they will continue to monitor the situation closely and make a decision regarding fans for the next home game against Oklahoma October 3rd at a later date.

 

 

 

AMES — Wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson is expected to have an immediate impact on the Iowa State offense. Ranked as the ninth best junior college receiver coming out of Blinn Community College, Hutchinson chose the Cyclones over schools like Oklahoma and Nebraska. He has been impressed with junior quarterback Brock Purdy.

Hutchinson says with Purdy at the helm the Cyclone offense has high expectations.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says Hutchinson has the qualities it takes to succeed.

Iowa State hosts Louisiana for their home opener a week from Saturday

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins says he’s unconcerned about catching the coronavirus. He says his worry on a scale of one to 10 is “about a 0.000001.” Cousins made his comments on a wide-ranging interview for an NFL-themed podcast that was released on Wednesday. He says he wants to “respect other people’s concerns” about COVID-19 by wearing a face covering. He also says he’s counting on his health and fitness as safeguards against the disease. He says, “If it knocks me out, it knocks me out. I’m going to be OK.”

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Josh Donaldson returned from the injured list with two hits and two RBIs for the Minnesota Twins, who backed José Berríos with three home runs and beat the Chicago White Sox 8-1. Jake Cave and Miguel Sanó hit solo shots, Eddie Rosario had a two-run homer and Berríos pitched six sharp innings for the Twins. Two of Chicago’s four errors directly contributed to Minnesota’s highest score in 19 games. White Sox starter Reynaldo López struggled again, getting only five outs before Donaldson’s two-run double in the second inning prompted a call to the bullpen.

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota transfer center Liam Robbins has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. He made the switch in April after two seasons at Drake. The 7-foot, 235-pound Robbins will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Gophers. As a sophomore in 2019-20, the native of Davenport, Iowa, led the Bulldogs with 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. He landed on the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team. His 99 blocks were fifth in the country and a program record. Robbins is a nephew of Gophers assistant coach Ed Conroy and a cousin of reserve guard Hunt Conroy.