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AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State kicker Connor Assalley earned national recognition for the four field goals he made in last week’s victory over Akron. That was a great sign for the Cyclones’ special teams — and a troubling one for their offense.
Iowa State (1-2, 0-1 Big 12) is thrilled that Assalley, a sophomore walk-on in his first season as a starter, has been 7 for 7 on field goals since taking over for Garrett Owens. But the bigger takeaway is that the Cyclones already have had to settle for field goals seven times in the red zone, a clear indication of an attack that has yet to find its footing.
Iowa State, which ranks 120th out of 130 teams nationally with 18.7 points a game, travels to face TCU (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday. Coach Matt Campbell isn’t panicking about his red zone offense yet. “It is too early to sit here and say, ‘Gosh, where are we with only three games so far being played,’ and playing some good opponents,” Campbell said. “But I see some areas of improvement where we wanted to make improvement, and time will tell where we get to.”
The Cyclones have played mostly strong defense in 2018, allowing just 21 points a game after a breakout season a year ago. So it looks like Iowa State can lean on its defense more often than not and still push for an upper-division finish in the Big 12.
But the Cyclones have simply got to get more out of their offense.
The only Power Five team averaging fewer points per game than Iowa State is Louisville, which is in transition after two seasons of leaning on Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. And what’s such a head scratcher about the Cyclones’ struggles on offense is that they have a star of their own in running back David Montgomery, who is as electric in space as anyone in America.
The problem is that they haven’t gotten Montgomery in space nearly enough.
Iowa State’s offensive line was supposed to be better in 2018. It hasn’t been, and never is that more evident than when the Cyclones try to get Montgomery going between the tackles. Montgomery is averaging just 3.8 yards a carry and has sprung only one run longer than 20 yards. But he also had his first 100-yard game and a 1-yard TD in the 26-13 victory over Akron, giving Campbell hope that the Cyclones are getting closer to freeing Montgomery up.
“The key to success is continuing to find ways to get your best players the ball in critical situations,” Campbell said. “I think that’s where I felt really excited about what I saw (last) Saturday, that we could get (Montgomery) the ball and force feed it in his hands.” All the attention that opponents are paying to Montgomery has allowed Iowa State to get its other offensive star, wide receiver Hakeem Butler, the space he needs to make big plays.
Butler has caught 14 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including two of over 50 yards in a loss to Oklahoma. “If I make plays, hopefully it will open (space) up for him, and I know a lot of people are keying on him so it’s been open for me,” Butler said of Montgomery. “It’s vice versa for both of us.”
The Orient-Macksburg Cross Country Invitational was held on Monday evening and the Creston girls and Earlham boys came away with team titles.
Bedford’s Emma Lucas was the individual girls champion, while Joshua Baudler of Nodaway Valley won the boys race.
Girls Team Top 5
Girls Top 5 Individuals
Orient-Macksburg XC Girls 2018
Boys Team Top 5
Boys Top 5 Individuals
Western Iowa Conference
(3-0) Audubon 25-25-25, Logan-Magnolia 23-20-23
Rolling Valley Conference
(3-1) CAM 20-25-25-25, Paton-Churdan 25-14-19-8
Corner Conference
(3-1) Fremont-Mills 25-25-17-25, Heartland Christian 21-8-25-13
(2-0) Fremont-Mills 25-25, Cornerstone Christian 9-12
(2-1) Heartland Christian 25-22-15, Cornerstone Christian 23-25-10
(3-0) South Page 25-25-26, West Nodaway 17-16-24
By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A chuckling Eric Thames said it felt so good he almost ripped third base out of the ground and hoisted it above his head.
A lot of that going around for Milwaukee these days.
Thames tripled and scored on reliever Bud Norris’ throwing error in the eighth inning, and the Brewers improved their playoff positioning by topping the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 on Monday night.
“You have to capitalize on errors and bad pitches, wild pitches and stuff like that,” Thames said. “Tonight we did that.”
Ryan Braun homered and Christian Yelich drove in two runs as Milwaukee won for the fourth time in five games. The Brewers (90-67) opened a three-game lead over St. Louis for the top spot in the wild-card standings and pulled within 1 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who lost 5-1 to Pittsburgh.
“Offensively, we did a heck of a job,” manager Craig Counsell said.
Corbin Burnes (7-0), the seventh of nine Milwaukee pitchers, got two outs for the win, and Corey Knebel worked the ninth for his 16th save. With a runner on, Jose Martinez fouled off four two-strike pitches before taking a called third strike for the final out.
Chase Anderson was slated to start before Counsell announced Sunday that the team had decided to go with a bullpen game instead. Dan Jennings made his first career start and retired Matt Carpenter on a grounder to second before the left-hander was replaced by Freddy Peralta, beginning a parade of relievers for the Brewers.
“Props to everybody who came in behind me and the position players for getting it done,” Jennings said. “That’s a grind right there.”
Martinez and Marcell Ozuna homered off Josh Hader in the rain, but St. Louis (87-70) was unable to close out a one-run lead. The Cardinals’ advantage in the race for the second NL wild card was trimmed to a half-game over Colorado, which cruised to a 10-1 win over Philadelphia.
“It’s not frustrating, at all,” Martinez said. “We’ve got two games to win the series.”
Thames has played sparingly this year with the Brewers in playoff contention. But Counsell sent him up to hit for Burnes in the eighth and he tripled past a sliding Martinez in right field with one out.
“Oh man, it felt amazing,” Thames said.
After Mike Moustakas was intentionally walked, Norris (3-6) tried a pickoff throw that hit the baserunner before bounding away from first baseman Matt Carpenter.
“It was called from the dugout. … A decent throw, but obviously crept in and got him and the ball bounced away,” Norris said. “Just a tough break. Very unfortunate.”
Thames scored easily and Yelich added an RBI double in the ninth as Milwaukee improved to 9-8 against St. Louis this season. Yelich, one of the top candidates for NL MVP, also walked and scored on Braun’s bases-loaded walk as the Brewers scored two runs in the sixth without a hit, opening a 3-1 lead.
St. Louis staged a dramatic rally as the showers intensified on a soggy night at Busch Stadium.
Martinez led off the sixth with a drive to center for his 17th homer, sending a charge through the crowd of 36,508. After Paul DeJong walked, Ozuna put the Cardinals in front with a screaming liner just over the wall in center.
Hader had given up just six homers in 51 appearances this year, and none since Anthony Rizzo connected for the Cubs on Sept. 3.
But Milwaukee quickly answered. The Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against Jordan Hicks, and Keon Broxton scampered home with the tying run on Yelich’s fielder’s choice back up the middle.
UP NEXT
Brewers left-hander Gio Gonzalez (9-11, 4.28 ERA) and Cardinals left-hander Austin Gomber (6-1, 3.63) pitch on Tuesday night. Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA in three starts since he was acquired in a trade with Washington on Aug. 31. Gomber is coming off a solid start at Atlanta, allowing one run in five innings for an 8-1 victory.
| Class 4A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. West Des Moines Valley (9) | 5-0 | 108 | 1 |
| 2. Cedar Falls (1) | 5-0 | 97 | 2 |
| 3. Ankeny Centennial (1) | 5-0 | 88 | 3 |
| 4. Bettendorf | 4-1 | 68 | 4 |
| 5. Johnston | 4-1 | 53 | 5 |
| 5. Iowa City West | 4-1 | 53 | 6 |
| 7. West Des Moines Dowling | 3-2 | 49 | 7 |
| 8. Indianola | 5-0 | 39 | 8 |
| 9. Waukee | 3-2 | 21 | 9 |
| 10. Cedar Rapids Prairie | 4-1 | 17 | 10 |
Others receiving votes: Fort Dodge 10. Ankeny 1. Muscatine 1.
| Class 3A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (10) | 5-0 | 109 | 1 |
| 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central (1) | 5-0 | 98 | 2 |
| 3. Solon | 5-0 | 88 | 3 |
| 4. Pella | 5-0 | 78 | 4 |
| 5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton | 4-1 | 51 | 6 |
| 6. Eldridge North Scott | 4-1 | 48 | 8 |
| 7. Epworth Western Dubuque | 4-1 | 39 | 10 |
| 8. Clear Creek-Amana | 5-0 | 37 | 9 |
| 9. Harlan | 4-1 | 28 | NR |
| 10. Sioux City Heelan | 4-1 | 18 | 5 |
Others receiving votes: Independence 4. Waverly-Shell Rock 4. Decorah 3.
| Class 2A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. Monroe PCM (11) | 5-0 | 110 | 1 |
| 2. Spirit Lake | 5-0 | 94 | 2 |
| 3. Boyden-Hull-RV | 4-1 | 87 | 3 |
| 4. Algona | 5-0 | 72 | 5 |
| 5. Greene County | 5-0 | 64 | 6 |
| 6. Waukon | 4-1 | 59 | 7 |
| 7. Clear Lake | 4-1 | 44 | 8 |
| 8. State Center West Marshall | 4-1 | 34 | 10 |
| 9. Van Horne Benton | 4-1 | 15 | 4 |
| 10. Union, La Porte City | 3-2 | 13 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Waterloo Columbus 5. Des Moines Christian 4. Tipton 2. Chariton 2.
| Class 1A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. Dike-New Hartford (3) | 5-0 | 96 | 2 |
| (tie) Van Meter (4) | 5-0 | 96 | 3 |
| 3. Bellevue (2) | 5-0 | 76 | 5 |
| 4. South Central Calhoun (1) | 5-0 | 75 | 4 |
| 5. Mediapolis | 5-0 | 56 | 6 |
| 6. West Branch | 4-1 | 49 | 1 |
| 7. Hawarden West Sioux | 4-1 | 48 | 7 |
| 8. Inwood West Lyon | 4-1 | 35 | 8 |
| 9. Truro Interstate 35 | 5-0 | 25 | T9 |
| 10. Sumner-Fredericksburg | 5-0 | 23 | T9 |
Others receiving votes: Wilton 13. Cascade 10. Pella Christian 3.
| Class A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | ||
| 1. Hudson (8) | 5-0 | 105 | 1 | |
| 2. A-H-S-T-W, Avoca | (3) | 5-0 | 95 | 2 |
| 3. Algona Garrigan | 5-0 | 88 | 3 | |
| 4. Belmond-Klemme | 5-0 | 69 | 4 | |
| 5. Hinton | 5-0 | 46 | 5 | |
| 6. Packwood Pekin | 4-1 | 41 | 7 | |
| (tie) Traer North Tama | 4-1 | 41 | 6 | |
| 8. St. Ansgar | 4-1 | 39 | 9 | |
| 9. Brooklyn BGM | 5-0 | 25 | NR | |
| 10. Edgewood-Colesburg | 4-1 | 24 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Grundy Center 10. Southwest Valley 7. Fairbank Wapsie Valley 6. Riverside Highland 4. Mason City Newman 3. Sioux Rapids Sioux Central 1. Alta 1.
| Class 8-Man | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. Gilbertville-Don Bosco (8) | 5-0 | 102 | 1 |
| 2. New London (2) | 5-0 | 95 | 2 |
| 3. Elk Horn-Kimballton Exira | 5-0 | 84 | 3 |
| 4. Westside Ar-We-Va | 5-0 | 68 | 4 |
| 5. Marengo Iowa Valley (1) | 5-0 | 57 | 5 |
| 6. Newell-Fonda | 5-0 | 50 | 6 |
| 7. Liberty Center SE Warren | 6-0 | 47 | 8 |
| 8. Fremont Mills, Tabor | 4-1 | 36 | 9 |
| 9. Central City | 5-0 | 30 | NR |
| 10. Northwood-Kensett | 5-0 | 17 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Jackson Junction Turkey Valley 7. Wyoming Midland 7. Stanton 4. HLV, Victor 1.
Class 4A
1. WDM Valley (5-0) LW #1 vs Urbandale
2. Cedar Falls (5-0) LW #2 vs Cedar Rapids Jefferson
3. Ankeny Centennial (5-0) LW #3 vs S.E. Polk
4. Bettendorf (4-1) LW #4 @ Burlington
5. Iowa City West (4-1) LW #5 @ Linn-Mar
6. Dowling Catholic (3-2) LW #6 @ DSM Lincoln
7. Johnston (4-1) LW #7 vs Ottumwa
8. Waukee (3-2) LW #8 vs DSM East
9. Cedar Rapids Prairie (4-1) LW #9 @ Dubuque Hempstead
10.Indianola (5-0) LW #10 vs Mason City
Class 3A
1. Lewis Central (5-0) LW #1 @ Winterset
2. Cedar Rapids Xavier (5-0) LW #2 vs Dubuque Wahlert
3. Pella (5-0) LW #3 vs South Tama
4. Solon (5-0) LW #4 vs Washington
5. North Scott (4-1) LW #6 @ Iowa City Liberty
6. Western Dubuque (4-1) LW #7 vs Center Point-Urbana
7. Clear Creek-Amana (5-0) LW #10 @ Clinton
8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (4-1) LW #9 vs LeMars
9. Harlan (4-1) LW (X) vs Glenwood
10.Sioux City Heelan (4-1) LW #5 @ Denison-Schleswig
Class 2A
1. PCM (Monroe) (5-0) LW #1 @ Saydel
2. Spirit Lake (5-0) LW #2 @ Southeast Valley
3. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (4-1) LW #3 vs Okoboji
4. Waukon (4-1) LW #5 @ Oelwein
5. Clear Lake (4-1) LW #6 @ Crestwood
6. Greene County (5-0) LW #7 @ Carroll Kuemper
7. Algona (5-0) LW #8 @ Clarion-Goldfield-Dows
8. West Marshall (4-1) LW #10 vs Vinton-Shellsburg
9. Union (LaPorte City) (3-2) LW (X) vs Roland-Story
10.Benton (4-1) LW #4 vs Nevada
Class 1A
1. Van Meter (5-0) LW #1 @ West Central Valley
2. Dike-New Hartford (5-0) LW #3 @ East Marshall
3. South Central Calhoun (5-0) LW #4 @ South Hamilton
4. Bellevue (5-0) LW #7 @ Dyersville Beckman
5. Wilton (4-1) LW #5 @ Wapello
6. West Lyon (4-1) LW #6 @ Unity Christian
7. West Branch (4-1) LW #2 vs North Cedar
8. Mediapolis (5-0) LW #8 @ Columbus Jct.
9. West Sioux (4-1) LW #9 vs Western Christian
10.Sumner-Fredricksburg (5-0) LW #10 vs Osage
Class A
1. Hudson (5-0) LW #1 vs #4 Saint Ansgar
2. Algona Garrigan (5-0) LW #2 vs #8 Belmond-Klemme
3. AHSTW (Avoca) (5-0) LW #3 @ Earlham
4. Saint Ansgar (4-1) LW #5 @ #1 Hudson
5. North Tama (4-1) LW #6 vs Grundy Center
6. Pekin (4-1) LW #7 vs Highland (Riverside)
7. Hinton (5-0) LW #8 @ HMS (Hartley)
8. Belmond-Klemme (5-0) LW #10 @ #2 Algona Garrigan
9. BGM (Brooklyn) (5-0) LW (X) vs Belle Plaine
10.Edgewood-Colesburg (4-1) LW (X) vs Lisbon
Eight-man
1. Don Bosco (5-0) LW #1 vs #9 Northwood-Kensett
2. Newell-Fonda (5-0) LW #2 vs #7 AR-WE-VA
3. New London (5-0) LW #5 vs Winfield-Mt. Union
4. Iowa Valley (5-0) LW #4 @ English Valleys
5. Exira-EHK (5-0) LW #6 vs West Harrison
6. Midland (5-1) LW #7 vs West Central (Maynard)
7. AR-WE-VA (5-0) LW #8 @ #2 Newell-Fonda
8. S.E. Warren (6-0) LW #9 @ Lenox
9. Northwood-Kensett (5-0) LW #10 @ #1 Don Bosco
10.Central City (5-0) LW (X) @ Easton Valley
Monday marks the start of Homecoming week in Atlantic leading up the football game on Friday night against the OA-BCIG Falcons and the dance on Saturday.
Atlantic students will be dressing up throughout spirit week and lunch games will be held throughout the week along with a dodgeball tournament for girls. Each class will make a float and judging will be held on Wednesday evening. The dress days are: Monday: Numero Uno – Colors for Each Class: Seniors-Blue, Juniors- Yellow, Sophomores-Green, Freshmen-Red. Tuesday: Glucose World – Pajama Day. Wednesday: Who is You? – Students Dress as Teachers, Teachers as Students. Thursday: Camo Day. Friday: Black and Gold.
Voting for King and Queen will take place on Wednesday. Queen candidates this year are: Halsey Bailey, Alyssa Ginther, Taylor Hansen, Cambry Miller, Baylee Newell, Sadie Welter, Ashley Wendt. King candidates are: Nathan Behrends, Tyler Comes, Matthew Gearheart, Kenneth Jimerson, Chase McLaren, Connor Pellett, and Korben Peterson. Corontation and Pep Assembly will start at 12:13pm on Friday.
The Homecoming parade will begin at 2:30pm on Friday. Parade entry forms are available in the high school office or online at www.atlanticiaschools.org. Entry forms are due by Thursday, September 27th at 3:00pm. Businesses and individuals are encouraged to join the parade.
Awarding of the spirit stick will take place at halftime of the football game and the Homecoming dance is on Saturday night.
You can contact the high school office at 243-5358 if you have any questions about Homecoming festivities.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas’ outing against the San Francisco Giants was typical, and typical for him is pretty good.
Mikolas won his fourth straight start, Matt Carpenter hit his NL-leading 36th homer and the Cardinals beat the Giants 9-2 to complete a three-game sweep and remain on track for the NL’s second wild card.
St. Louis (87-69) has won three straight games and six of seven. The Cardinals remained 1½ games ahead of Colorado (85-70) and two games behind Milwaukee, the wild card leader. St. Louis hosts the Brewers (89-67) in a three-game series starting Monday night.
“We feel pretty good,” Mikolas said. “We feel strong. We feel like we’re a team that’s real dangerous and a team that’s going to come out and give a lot of people trouble.”
Mikolas (17-4) allowed two runs — one earned — and two hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. John Brebbia and Giovanny Gallegos, who made his Cardinals debut, finished a five-hitter.
“I had some good sink of my fastball so I tried to use that a lot,” said Mikolas, tied with Washington’s Max Scherzer and Chicago’s Jon Lester for the NL lead in wins. “Just pound the zone. They took some swings early so I was able to get some quick outs.”
Mikolas has made 11 starts of at least seven innings and the two hits he gave up were a season low.
“He works ahead in the count so that creates doubt,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “He can pretty much throw any pitch he wants at any time in the count. He throws inner half, which sets up the outer half, which disrupts the balance of the hitter and he can change speed which disrupts the timing of the hitter. That combination is what pitching is.”
Andrew Suarez (7-12) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings as San Francisco gave him three runs or less of run support during his time in the game for the 21st time this season. The Giants finished 31-50 on the road for a two-year record of 57-105 away from home.
San Francisco has lost 10 straight road games against NL Central teams since winning at the Chicago Cubs on May 27.
“It’s a tough lineup,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the Cardinals. “They’ve got power, speed, good athletes.”
The bottom two in the Cardinals batting order built a 2-0 lead with two-out singles, by Yairo Munoz in the second and Mikolas in the fourth.
Harrison Bader bunted in a run to spark a five-run sixth that includes RBI singles by Munoz and Paul DeJong around Jose Martinez’s two-run double. Carpenter hit a two-run homer off Casey Kelly in the eighth.
“Everybody contributed,” Carpenter said. “Guys finding a way to score even when we’ve got some guys that aren’t getting it done. It’s the making of a good team.”
Brandon Crawford’s two-run homer in the seventh stopped an 0-for-9 skid.
“I’ve faced him a few times back in 2012 but other than that I haven’t seen him for years,” Crawford said of Mikolas. “I was just looking for something up that I can put in play and try and just get the bat on and fortunately saw the curve ball enough to put the barrel on it.”
TRAINING ROOM
Cardinals: 2B Kolten Wong missed his second consecutive start after leaving Friday’s game in the seventh inning with cramps in both hamstrings.
DEBUT
INF Edmundo Sosa was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Sosa made his debut when he walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, and he scored on Carpenter’s home run.
UP NEXT
Giants: LHP Derek Holland (7-8, 3.57 ERA) starts the first of a three-game series at home against San Diego and RHP Bryan Mitchell (1-4, 6.16 ERA) on Monday night. Holland will make his first start since July 18, which was also against the Padres, where he allowed four runs in five innings.
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-8, 3.08 ERA) kicks off a three-game home series Monday night against Milwaukee and RHP Chase Anderson (9-8, 3.93 ERA). Flaherty is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers.
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