IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Northwestern heads to Iowa this weekend, hoping to keep its season from falling further apart.The Wildcats, once dark horses for the Big Ten title, have lost three straight ahead of a two-game road trip that starts today (Saturday) against the Hawkeyes (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten).

The Wildcats (4-3, 0-3) aren’t counting on star running back Venric Mark to play and versatile quarterback Kain Colter is questionable with a sprained ankle. Northwestern has struggled mightily without those two, combining for just 23 points in losses to Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Iowa has lost four of its last five to Northwestern. Pre-game coverage begins at 9-a.m. on KJAN, with the kick-off at 11.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – No. 19 Oklahoma State will open the second half of the season unsettled at quarterback and with an offense that’s been somewhat average of late. What a perfect time to play Iowa State. The Cyclones (1-5, 0-3 Big 12) are coming off the worst loss in school history, a 71-7 shellacking at No. 6 Baylor. They’ve given up 113 points since a heartbreaking one-point loss to Texas and are on pace for their worst finish in the five-year tenure of coach Paul Rhoads.  Still, the Cowboys (5-1, 2-1) aren’t nearly as certain at quarterback as they’d like to be by now.

Sophomore J.W. Walsh was pulled in favor of senior Clint Chelf after throwing a pair of early interceptions last week against TCU. Chelf’s first pass was also picked off, but he eventually led Oklahoma State past the Horned Frogs 24-10. The Cowboys don’t intend to announce who will start today ( Saturday). The Cyclones – and everyone else – will probably find out who they’re facing when either Walsh or Chelf trots out for the first play. “We feel we have two good quarterbacks and we need to make sure we’re doing what we can to help them improve and get them playing at a high level. It starts with ball security,” Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said. “It’s about getting the ball to our playmakers and creating space for them.”

Iowa State is also a bit shaky at quarterback. But coach Paul Rhoads said Tuesday that he’s sticking with sophomore Sam Richardson even though he, like Walsh, was pulled during last week’s game. Richardson is just 22 of 52 passing in losses to Texas Tech and the Bears in the past two weeks. “He’s got to make smarter decisions and quicker judgments,” Rhoads said.

Kick-off is set for 11-a.m. at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns after straining his groin in practice this week.  Coach Andy Reid said Friday that Bowe hurt the groin near the end of Thursday’s practice. The former Pro Bowl wide receiver did not participate in Friday’s workout.

Bowe, who signed, a five-year, $56 million contract in the offseason, has struggled to get involved in the Chiefs’ unbeaten start. He’s second on the team with 25 catches, but he has just 295 yards receiving and two touchdown grabs in his first seven games. Reid indicated that Bowe will be a game-time decision on Sunday.

Everybody else on the Chiefs roster practiced Friday, including starting safety Kendrick Lewis, who sat out the previous day with a lingering ankle injury.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – As the World Series moves to St. Louis on Saturday, vast regions of the Midwest and South still love the Cardinals. But there are signs that nationally, Cardinals fatigue is officially setting in. It began in the first round of the playoffs with national commentators openly rooting for the Pirates to beat St. Louis. Then there are online columns like a recent one the website Deadspin implying that Cardinals fans are insufferable.

Fans in St. Louis take the criticism in stride, saying some people are simply tired of all the success. The Cardinals have been in 10 of the past 14 postseasons and have played in the National League championship series eight times in the span. This World Series appearance is their fourth since 2004.

Class 3-A, District 1

• Atlantic 20 @ Glenwood 48
• Creston  10 @ Lewis Central 38
• Saydel 0 @ Perry 46
• Harlan 30 @ ADM 7

Class 2-A, District 8

• Nodaway Valley 59 @ Clarinda Academy 20
• Red Oak 13 @ Shenandoah 10
• Greene County 42 @ OA-BCIG 7
• Clarinda 24 @ Kuemper Catholic 52

Class 1-A, District 8

• Missouri Valley 14 @ St. Albert 49
• West Central Valley 26 @ Tri-Center 65
• Panorama 6 @ Treynor 31

Class A, District 7

• Bedford 20 @ Woodward-Granger 28
• Woodward Academy 20 @ Martensdale-St. Marys 14
• Audubon 36 @ Earlham 24
• Guthrie Center 6 @ Madrid 53

Class A, District 8

• A-H-S-T 46 @ Underwood 8
• Griswold 28 @ Logan-Magnolia 50
• Riverside 7 @ Westwood 22
• West Monona 0 @ East Mills 66

Eight Man, District 6

• East Union 46 @ Grandview Park Baptist 41
• Murray 48 @ Lamoni 40
• Mormon Trail 64 @ Ankeny Christian 18
• Adair-Casey 34 @ Coon Rapids-Bayard 26

Eight Man, District 7

• Woodbine 31 @ Charter Oak-Ute 43
• Ar-We-Va 14 @ Glidden-Ralston 52
• West Harrison 26 @ Boyer Valley 32

Eight Man, District 8

• Sidney 53 @ CAM 30
• Nishnabotna 44 @ Stanton 46
• Lenox 12 @ Fremont-Mills 61
• Essex 8 @ Southwest Valley 63

w/ Jim Field

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1-A @ Treynor

1. Griswold 81
2. St. Albert 121
3. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 143

1. Rebekah Topham, Griswold 14:56
2. Kristen Weber, Earlham 16:04
3. Destiny Scar, Nodaway Valley 16:10
4. Michelle Mumm, Tri-Center 16:18
5. Emma Harper, East Union 16:19
6. Mackenzie Hulsing, Southwest owa 16:20
7. Jacey Martin, St. Albert 16:28
8. Megan Maaske, Woodbine 16:36
9. Megan Deist, Audubon 16:42
10. Charissa Mogler, Bedford 16:42

2-A @ Panora

1. Panorama 63
2. Greene County 84
3. North Polk 89

1. Allison Higgins, Greene County 15:45
2. Alexis Cook, Missouri Valley 16:13
3. Hannah Appleseth, Panorama 16:17
4. Michelle Manser, Albia 16:30
5. Holly McKinney, Interstate-35 16:36
6. Sybbie Sears, North Polk 16:44
7. Jordan Winke, Albia 16:45
8. Shelby Hunemiller, West Central Valley 16:46
9. Rachel Stafford, PCM 16:46
10. Karlee Johnk, Panorama 16:49

3-A @ Winterset

1. Humboldt 67
2. Winterset 81
3. Dallas Center-Grimes 97

1. Abby Kohut-Jackson, Ballard 14:32
2. Sam Larson, Humboldt 14:40
3. Madison Waymire, Dallas Center-Grimes 14:48
4. Maddie Kampen, Humboldt 15:06
5. Layken Gurwell, Winterset 15:07
6. Brianna Mueller, ADM 15:11
7. Tiffany Williams, Atlantic 15:14
8. Maria Mostek, Creston 15:17
9. Megan Hart, Shenandoah-Essex 15:25
10. Sophia Luu, Humboldt 15:27

4-A @ Council Bluffs

1. Johnston 33
2. Des Moines Roosevelt 43
3. Waukee 44

1. Jordyn Kleve, Johnston 14:38
2. Megan Schott, Des Moines Roosevelt 14:49
3. Maddy Bradley, Johnston 15:13
4. Rachel Brush, Waukee 15:13
5. Sara Ness, Johnston 15:14
6. Jordan Allen, Waukee 15:23
7. Erika Lewis, Waukee 15:32
8. Kenzie Carney, Des Moines Roosevelt 15:33
9. Anna Toot, Johnston 15:36
10. Emma Buchanan, Des Moines Roosevelt 15:37

1-A @ Treynor

1. Riverside 73
2. St. Albert 76
3. Boyer Valley 95

1. Noah Larsen Mount Ayr 16:45
2. Shane Breheny Nodaway Valley 17:01
3. Wyatt Schulz Logan-Magnolia 17:02
4. Heath Downing Nodaway Valley 17:02
5. Tim Brink Riverside 17:07
6. Brady Ryun Riverside 17:10
7. Max Ross St. Albert 17:11
8. Brayten Funke Nodaway Valley 17:11
9. Chase Bonsall Boyer Valley 17:19
10. Gus Doll St. Albert 17:21

2-A @ Panora

1. North Polk 42
2. Albia 66
3. Shenandoah 66

1. Colton Dorpinghaus Albia 16:56
2. Peter Smith North Polk 16:58
3. Ryley Sandberg North Polk 17:11
4. Reed Smith North Polk 17:45
5. Mason Cox Albia 17:50
6. Christian Berglund North Polk 17:52
7. Josh Sunberg Red Oak 17:53
8. Nate Hoyt Shenandoah 17:57
9. Logan LeRette Red Oak 18:03
10. Hunter Simmons Panorama 18:04

3-A @ Winterset

1. Harlan 63
2. Dallas Center-Grimes 96
3. Creston 103

1. Atem Akok (11) Perry 16:24
2. Luke Kohut-Jackson (11) Ballard 16:47
3. Casey Roberts (11) Saydel 17:01
4. Cooper McDermott (10) Creston 17:09
5. Josh Berger (12) ADM 17:20
6. Chris Brace (12) Harlan 17:26
7. Jay Wolfe (11) Creston 17:32
8. Michael Bowden (12) Humboldt 17:33
9. Craig Jordan (11) Ballard 17:35
10. Philip Sciranko (12) Harlan 17:37

4-A @ Council Bluffs

1. Johnston 26
2. Waukee 41
3. Des Moines Roosevelt 81

1. Ryan Tunick (12) Waukee 15:53
2. Drew Hershey (10) Johnston 15:59
3. Connor Westlake (12) Johnston 16:02
4. Abdisalan Omar (10) Des Moines Roosevelt 16:03
5. Austin Krohnke (12) Waukee 16:03
6. David Rice (12) Johnston 16:04
7. Josh Borwick (11) Johnston 16:10
8. Ben Renner (11) Johnston 16:10
9. Jacob Scott (12) Sioux City East 16:14
10. Brennan Borgestad (12) Waukee 16:19

We’ll bring you Atlantic @ Glenwood live tonight in high school football on KJAN. Glenwood has to win to have an outside shot at the playoffs and Atlantic stands in their way. Glenwood comes in to the game 4-4 overall and 2-3 in district play while Atlantic is 1-7 and 0-5.

Our high school football coverage begins at 4:45 pm with “Trojan Preview,” our weekly visit with Atlantic Coach Nick Ross. We continue our high school football coverage tonight at 6:00 with “Who’s Gonna Win?” Join Matt Mullenix, Doug Leonard, Chris Parks and Jim Field as we look at some area match-ups. Our “Football Friday Night” pre-game show begins at 6:30 tonight, with kick-off set for 7:30 pm from Glenwood.

Jim Field and Chris Parks have the call and you can listen live on AM 1220 or FM 101.1. We are streaming live audio on www.kjan.com. You can listen on your smart phone with the FREE KJAN app for iphone and android. And, you can watch the Atlantic @ Glenwood game on the TV page at www.kjan.com as we’ll be streaming live video on KJAN TV!

BOSTON (AP) — The pitching was strong, the hitting was timely and the fielding was crisp as the St. Louis Cardinals bounced back from Wednesday’s loss and tied the World Series at a game apiece. Rookie Michael Wacha remains unbeaten this month after combining with two relievers on a four-hitter in the Redbirds’ 4-2 triumph over the Red Sox in Boston. Wacha improved to 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in the postseason, although his earned run average was 0.33 until David Ortiz hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Wacha allowed three hits in six innings.

But the Cardinals put together a three-run seventh after Ortiz went deep for the second straight night, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs on Matt Carpenter’s sac -fly with the bases loaded. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia mishandled the throw to the plate and pitcher Craig Breslow threw wildly to third base, bringing home the tiebreaking run. Carlos Beltran followed with an RBI single later in the seventh.

Matt Holliday tripled and scored on Yadier Molina’s grounder in the fourth inning for the Cardinals’ first run. Cards setup man Carlos Martinez struck out three while tossing two hitless innings. Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth on just 11 pitches to notch the save.

The series will shift to St. Louis for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 Sunday. Red Sox manager John Farrell has announced that Jake Peavy will start the third game, followed by Clay Buchholz. Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn will start those games for the Redbirds. Jon Lester tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings in Boston’s 8-1 victory in Game 1, and then spent Thursday denying he had an illegal substance in his glove. Lester says his glove contained only rosin, a legal substance found on pitcher’s mounds.

A Cardinals minor leaguer posted a screen shot on Twitter showing a green substance on Lester’s glove and wrote: “Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?”