The 7-1 GTRA Titans football program is preparing for a competitive matchup against the 6-2 CAM Cougars this Friday night. The Titans last game a week ago turned into a 66-20 rout of the North Iowa Bison.
44-point victories are a good reminder for GTRA head coach Todd Hough of how much improvement his team has seen in the last year.
A large part of the Titans success is the equal distribution on offense. Starting quarterback Kasey Hough has been sharp in the pocket with a 73.8 completion percentage and over 23 touchdowns. Those 23 touchdowns have been distributed to seven different receivers.
Coach Hough has also liked the disruption his defensive has caused on opposing offensive lines. That has allowed linebackers Caleb Swedin and Landen Dietrich to cause havoc on offenses. Both linebackers combine for 74 tackles and six tackles for a loss.
Even with a tested defense, the Titans are not overlooking the running attack of CAM. The Cougars have rushed for over 1800 yards and average 6.4 yards a carry. A large part due to senior Makade Paulsen and his 985 rushing yards.
The bus ride for CAM will be over two hours on Friday and coach Hough thinks that will only play a small part in the game.
KJANTV will be broadcasting the game with the pregame slated to start at 6:30 p.m.
JACQUELINE “Jacque” SMITH, 95, of Exira [& formerly of Macedonia], had died. Funeral services for “JACQUE” SMITH will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at the Macedonia Community Church of Iowa (formerly Macedonia United Methodist Church). Loess Hills Funeral Home in Carson is in charge of arrangements.
Visitation at the church will be held prior to the funeral beginning at 11:00 a.m.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Members of the City of Atlantic’s Park Advisory Board, today (Wednesday) approved a request by Frank Saddlemire, on behalf of the Disc Golf Club, to plant 11 trees in the area around the course at Sunnyside Park, plus one very unique tree in an area of the park to be determined.
Saddlemire said last year the group spent $600 and planted several trees. This year, they purchased 12 trees from in a clearance aisle with about 100 trees at the TimberPine Nursery & Greenhouse near Earlham, for $1,000.
He provided the Board with a map where they would like to plant the trees, including in the southeast corner of the Camblin Addition, and an area around a culvert near the fairgrounds, to name a few locations. One of the trees the Disc Golf Club is donating to the park, is the Dawn Redwood, which has its origins in China. That single tree was in the nursery’s clearance aisle, and it’s no small sapling.
One possible location is near the Camblin Shelter. Another is near Sunnyside Park Bandshell. The Dawn Redwood was thought to have been extinct for at least 20-million years, but according to the Save the Redwoods League, in 1944, a Chinese forester found an enormous dawn redwood shedding its leaves in the Sichuan province of China.
The 11 trees will be planted next Spring. Meanwhile, they will remain in the nursery’s care until then. In other business, Board Chair Kevin Ferguson said the Atlantic Junior Federate Club has all the money needed that’s been pledged, for a new sign at the entrance to the Bull Creek and the placard they would like to attach. Ferguson said Junior Federated representative Jamie Joyce will submit a rendering of the placard for the Board to review.
Atlantic Parks Board 10-23-24
The Atlantic Parks Advisory Commission will hold a Special Meeting Oct. 30th at 3:30-p.m., to consider ideas for 2025, and discuss matters they spoke about during the Oct. 23rd meeting.
The 8-0 Lenox Tigers football team are focused and ready for their matchup this Friday against the 3-5 Exira-EHK Spartans in the first round of the 8-player playoffs. Lenox has seamlessly cut through the regular season with their closest game being a 28-point victory against a talented Bedford program.
Co-Head Coach Cole Bonde noted that the Tigers have seen large amounts of success from the leadership of their senior class with athletes like Gabe Funk and Jordan-Martin-England.
The Lenox offense has been nearly unstoppable this year thanks to the arm and decision making of Funk. Funk has thrown for 957 yards, 15 touchdowns, and only one interception on the year. Combined with the ground game of Martin-England’s 81 carries, 735 rushing yards, and 17 scores the duo have been hard to contain.
Defensively the Tigers have been led by Brody Brokaw with 37.5 tackles and 7.5 tackles for a loss. Laramie Stoaks is another defensive back who leads the team in interceptions with four and has minimized most teams passing attacks.
While studying film in preparation for Friday, coach Bonde noted that Exira-EHK tends to be creative with their schemes. That creativity lends the Spartans numerous opportunities to score and take momentum away.
One of Lenox’s main focuses heading into Friday is to quickly create explosive plays and get an early lead. This offensive mentality has kindled a Tiger offense that is scoring 55-points a game.
KJAN will have the coverage for Friday’s contest with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.
(Montezuma, Iowa) – A dump truck accident late this (Wednesday) morning in east central Iowa claimed the life of a man from Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Peterbilt dump truck loaded with gravel was traveling westbound in the 1600 block of Highway 85 (east of Montezuma) at around 11:30-a.m., when the vehicle had a tire failure. The incident caused the driver of the truck, 52-year-old Christopher Phillip Hudnut, of Logan, to lose control.
The truck left the road on the south side and entered a ditch, causing Hudnut to be ejected. He was not wearing a seat belt. The man died at the scene. The Patrol was assisted in the investigation by the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – An Altoona man was sentenced on Friday, October 18, 2024, to 117 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. The District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says according to public court documents, Eduardo Ibarra Mora, 34, a Mexican national, possessed 45 images and more than 60 videos containing child sexual abuse material on his phone and a social media account. After completing his term of imprisonment, Ibarra Mora will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Altoona Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Drake coach Todd Stepsis says the Bulldogs will focus on the run game during their bye week. Drake has ridden the arm of quarterback Luke Bailey to a 5-1 overall record and 4-0 start in the Pioneer Football League race, but the Bulldogs are only averaging 88 yards on the ground and only ran the ball 20 times in last week’s 19-16 overtime win at Presbyterian.
Drake blocked a potential walk off field goal to send the game to overtime and survived despite several redzone turnovers.
Drake continues to excel in close games. The Bulldogs have won 15 straight PFL games dating back to 2022 and 10 of them have been by a touchdown or less.
Stepsis says they are using the bye week to get the starters some rest and prepare for the stretch run.
The Bulldogs return to action at home on November second against Marist.
Iowa had lofty goals coming into the season but only seven games in the Hawkeyes’ hopes of competing for a Big Ten title and a spot in the expanded college football playoffs are gone. They take a 4-3 record into Saturday’s game at home against Northwestern.
That’s Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara who believes the Hawkeyes have what it takes to bounce back.
McNamara was 11 of 23 from 150 yards in a 32-20 loss at Michigan State and knows he needs to be better going forward.
Tight end Luke Lachey says the Hawkeyes are not going to quit.
Lachey says despite his struggles for much of the season he remains confident in McNamara.
Northwestern coach David Braun says Iowa’s offense has made progress this season, even though the way they play has not changed. The Wildcats take a 3-4 overall record into Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
Braun says with running back Kaleb Johnson the Hawkeyes have a big play threat.
Braun says new offensive coordinator Tim Lester has put his stamp on the offense.
Under Braun the Wildcats have played well on special teams. He says that will be a challenge against the Hawkeyes.
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