The Associated Press revealed their preseason All-America Football selections on Tuesday. Iowa Defensive End AJ Epenesa was picked as a First Team member. Defending National Champion Clemson has three players on the First Team as does last year’s runner-up Alabama. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence was the First Team selection and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa was named to the Second Team.

FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

Quarterback — Trevor Lawrence, sophomore, Clemson.
Running back — Jonathan Taylor, junior, Wisconsin; Travis Etienne, junior, Clemson.
Tackles — Andrew Thomas, junior, Georgia; Walker Little, junior, Stanford.
Guards — Shane Lemieux, senior, Oregon; Ben Bredeson, senior, Michigan.
Center — Tyler Biadasz, junior, Wisconsin.
Tight end — Albert Okwuegbunam, junior, Missouri.
Wide receivers — Jerry Jeudy, junior, Alabama; Tylan Wallace, junior, Oklahoma State.
All-purpose player — Rondale Moore, sophomore, Purdue.
Kicker — Andre Szmyt, sophomore, Syracuse.

DEFENSE

Ends — Chase Young, junior, Ohio State; A.J. Epenesa, junior, Iowa.
Tackles — Derrick Brown, senior, Auburn; Raekwon Davis, senior, Alabama.
Linebackers — Dylan Moses, junior, Alabama; Isaiah Simmons, junior, Clemson; Joe Bachie, senior, Michigan State.
Cornerbacks — Bryce Hall, senior, Virginia; Paulson Adebo, junior, Stanford.
Safeties — Grant Delpit, junior, LSU; Andre Cisco, sophomore, Syracuse.
Punter — Braden Mann, senior, Texas A&M.

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

Quarterback — Tua Tagovailoa, junior, Alabama.
Running backs — D’Andre Swift, junior, Georgia; Eno Benjamin, junior, Arizona State.
Tackles — Trey Adams, senior, Washington; Calvin Throckmorton, senior, Oregon.
Guards — Tommy Kraemer, senior, Notre Dame; John Simpson, senior, Clemson.
Center — Nick Harris, senior, Washington.
Tight end — Jared Pinkney, senior, Vanderbilt.
Wide receivers — Laviska Shenault Jr., junior, Colorado; Justyn Ross, sophomore, Clemson.
All-purpose player — CeeDee Lamb, junior, Oklahoma.
Kicker — Rodrigo Blankenship, senior, Georgia.

DEFENSE

Ends — Kenny Willekes, senior, Michigan State; Julian Okwara, senior, Notre Dame.
Tackles — Leki Fotu, senior, Utah; Marvin Wilson, junior, Florida State.
Linebackers — Paddy Fisher, junior, Northwestern; Evan Weaver, senior, California; Shaquille Quarterman, senior, Miami.
Cornerbacks — Kristian Fulton, senior, LSU; CJ Henderson, junior, Florida.
Safeties — Alohi Gillman, junior, Notre Dame; Jordan Fuller, senior, Ohio State.
Punter — James Smith, junior, Cincinnati.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Iowa Association of Cross Country and Track Coaches have released their preseason Cross Country rankings for Class 1A and 2A. Here is a look at the Individual and Team ranking lists.

CLASS 1A

Girls Team

1. Logan-Magnolia
2. Hudson
3. Iowa City Regina
4. Kee
5. Denver
6. Earlham
7. Starmont
8. Pekin
9. Marquette Catholic
10. North Linn
11. Tri-Center
12. East Marshall
13. St. Edmond
14. Ridge View
15. ACGC

Girls Individual

1. Peyton Pogge, Tri-Center
2. Taylor Sporrer, Logan-Magnolia
3. Courtney Sporrer, Logan-Magnolia
4. Annalee Bartles, Iowa City Regina
5. Jalyssa Blazek, Turkey Valley
6. Haley Meyern, Kee
7. Grace Beck, Denver
8. Cheyenne Shaw, North Mahaska
9. Reagan Weinheimer, Nodaway Valley
10. Jenna Twait, Hudson

Boys Team

1. Madrid
2. Calamus-Wheatland
3. Maquoketa Valley
4. Nodaway Valley
5. Earlham
6. South Winneshiek
7. Pekin
8. BCLUW
9. St. Albert
10. Woodward Academy
11. Newman Catholic
12. Denver
13. Trinity Christian
14. Ogden
15. Durant

Boys Individual

1. Will Roder, Gehlen Catholic
2. Joshua Baudler, Nodaway Valley
3. Carson Rygh, Lake Mills
4. Matt Hellige, Holy Trinity Catholic
5. Jason Renze, Madrid
6. Noah Jorgenson, Sidney
7. Buddy Darting, Wilton
8. Chase Knoche, Calamus-Wheatland
9. Logan Berg, Baxter
10. Brady Millikin, Pekin

Class 2A

Girls Team

1. Williamsburg
2. Mid-Prairie
3. WC-KP
4. Jesup
5. Panorama
6. Danville
7. Unity Christian
8. Wauke
9. Dike-New Hartford
10. Albia
11. Cherokee
12. Shenandoah
13. Monticello
14. Crestwood
15. CC-Springville

Girls Individual

1. Marie Hostetler, Mid-Prairie
2. Emily Staal, CC-Springville
3. Ella Waddle, Panorama
4. Kate Crawford, ACGC
5. Addison Parrott, Danville-New London
6. Tori Castle, Treynor
7. Taylor Kvale, Dike-New Hartford
8. Abby Christians, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura
9. Whitney Minderhoud, Western Christian
10. Kallie Wallick, Tipton

Boys Team

1. Tipton
2. Bellevue
3. Central Lyon/G-LR
4. Monticello
5. Albia
6. South Hardin
7. Davis County
8. Camanche
9. Okoboji
10. DM Christian
11. Sioux Center
12. Unity Christian
13. Roland-Story
14. GCGR
15. Williamsburg

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Only when Dakota Hudson reached the dugout after being removed from the game did he realize something was different.

“Guys were giving me hugs instead of handshakes,” the St. Louis Cardinals starter said. “I thought, what was going on? I didn’t know it was a no-hitter.”

Hudson and two relievers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 Monday night in a series opener between NL Central contenders.

Yasmani Grandal’s ground-rule double with two outs in the eighth inning off Giovanny Gallegos was Milwaukee’s only hit. Hudson was lifted with two outs in the seventh after throwing 111 pitches, and Andrew Miller got four outs for his fifth save.

Paul DeJong homered for St. Louis, which increased its division lead to a half-game over the idle Chicago Cubs. Third-place Milwaukee is three games back.

Hudson (12-6) matched a career high with seven strikeouts and walked four — including his final batter, Eric Thames. Gallegos retired Ben Gamel on a grounder to end the inning.

Taking out Hudson not a difficult decision, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said.

“He did his job,” Shildt explained. “We saw the tea leaves and the way the game was going.”

Orlando Arcia reached on an error by DeJong at shortstop to begin the eighth before Gallegos got two outs. Grandal then hooked a 1-2 slider just inside the right field line, and the ball bounced into the stands.

“I think it was a good breaking ball,” Gallegos said. “He’s a good hitter, too.”

Grandal was just trying to give his team a chance to come back.

“I don’t really care whether we’re getting no-hit or not. We’re still trying to win the game,” Grandal said. “Got here with just having him miss the spot and I was able to get a double out of it, but for me it was just pretty much, get the guy up behind me to the plate and give him a chance to tie the game.”

Miller relieved and, after an intentional walk to Christian Yelich, got Mike Moustakas to ground out with the bases loaded.

“He’s the MVP,” Moustakas said about Yelich. “It’s a pretty intelligent decision. I wouldn’t want to pitch to that guy. That’s just kind of how baseball is.”

Miller then closed it out in the ninth.

Milwaukee’s best chance for a hit against Hudson came in the sixth when Trent Grisham hit a hard grounder up the middle. DeJong made a diving stop and threw out Grisham at first base.

“I was just out there competing and trying to throw up some zeros and get a win,” said Hudson, who has completed seven innings twice in his two-year major league career.

The 24-year-old right-hander threw six sharp innings in a 6-0 victory at Kansas City last time out. Before that, he allowed 11 runs (10 earned) over 11 2/3 innings during a three-start span.

St. Louis scored twice in the fifth off starter Zach Davis (8-6), who pitched five innings. Matt Carpenter drew a leadoff walk and went to third when Yadier Molina singled to right field. Carpenter scored on a grounder to second by Kolten Wong, who beat the relay throw to foil a double-play opportunity.

Hudson laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Wong. Dexter Flower hit a bloop single to shallow left, scoring Wong for a 2-0 lead.

DeJong added his 22nd home run with two outs in the sixth off reliever Devin Williams, knocking out the glass in the M on the Big Mac Land sign. DeJong has hit safely in his last 10 games against the Brewers.

UP NEXT

Brewers: LHP Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 3.81 ERA) is 3-4 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 career starts against St. Louis. But he is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts at Busch Stadium.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (6-6, 5.44) is one of three pitchers to have a perfect career winning percentage against Milwaukee with 10 or more starts. He is 6-0 and has held the Brewers to two or fewer runs in each of his last four starts against them.

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer, Tommy Edman added a solo shot among his three hits and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Sunday to split their four-game series. Jack Flaherty’s scoreless streak was snapped at 23 innings, but he allowed only one run in five frames as St. Louis stayed in first place in the NL Central, just ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Carlos Martinez gave up three straight hits and two runs to open the ninth but hung on for his 14th save, striking out Eugenio Suàrez to end it. Suàrez homered early but also committed a costly error at third base and grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Reds rookie Aristides Aquino went 0 for 2 with two walks after hitting 10 home runs in his previous 11 games. Suàrez went deep in the first inning, his first at-bat after missing Saturday’s game with a sprained left thumb. That run was the first against Flaherty (7-6) since a 5-3 win over Houston on July 26. The right-hander had thrown seven scoreless innings in each of his three previous August starts. He improved to 3-0 in four starts this month after allowing three hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Left-hander Alex Wood made his fifth start for the Reds after spending the first four months of the season on the injured list with a lower back problem. Wood (1-2) gave up eight hits and five runs — four earned — in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. Goldschmidt wiped out a 1-0 deficit with his 28th homer, driving in Edman in the third. Yadier Molina reached on Suàrez’s two-base throwing error and scored on Lane Thomas’ single in the fourth. Edman hit his fifth home run with one out in the fifth. One out later, Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna teamed up on back-to-back doubles for a 5-1 lead.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against Giovanny Gallegos. Andrew Miller came on to walk in a run before John Gant got Suàrez to bounce into a double play.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Dakota Hudson (11-6) pitches Monday night at home against the Brewers in a matchup of NL Central contenders. Milwaukee has roughed up Hudson for 15 hits and 10 runs — nine earned — in eight innings over two starts this season.  Pre-game is at 5:50, with the 1st pitch at 6:45.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aristides Aquino keeps hitting historic home runs.
Cincinnati’s red-hot rookie had a three-run homer, Nick Senzel added a leadoff shot and the Reds dropped the St. Louis Cardinals back into a tie with Chicago for first place in the NL Central Division with a 6-1 victory on Saturday.

With the Reds leading 2-1 in the fifth, Aquino followed two-out singles by Josh VanMeter and Freddy Galvis with a no-doubt drive to center field on Miles Mikolas’ first pitch for his second homer in two nights, his 10th in his last 11 games and 11th in his 17th career games. Aquino is the first rookie since 1900 with 11 homers in his first 17 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
THROWBACK SATURDAY
The Reds wore replicas of the uniforms worn by the 1976 team, the 11th in a series of 15 throwback outfits the team is wearing to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of baseball’s first all-professional team. The Cardinals wore for the 10th time this season the road alternate “victory” blue uniforms the team wore in the 1980s. St. Louis is 1-9 in those uniforms.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (6-6) has allowed 10 hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in 11 1/3 shutout innings over two starts against Cincinnati this season.
Reds: LHP Alex Wood (1-1) has issued three walks and amassed 15 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings over his first four starts since coming off the injured list on July 28.

Pre-game coverage on KJAN at 11:15-a.m.  First pitch at 12:10.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The shirts read “shut out the noise.” Shutting out the pain of suddenly losing the man behind the mantra will take far longer for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, there was something about the game-day routine that brought a sense of relief and normalcy just six days removed from the death of wide receivers coach Darryl Drake.

The receivers walked out to pregame warmups wearing gear with “shut out the noise” emblazoned on them, the phrase Drake adopted for his group heading into the 2019 season. The Steelers took the field with “DD” stickers on their helmets, stickers that will remain there all season. Players gathered on the sideline to kneel in prayer. A moment of silence was held just before the national anthem.

Then the ball was kicked off and Pittsburgh went back to work, keeping Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in check in a 17-7 victory on Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: Host San Francisco next Saturday.