w/ Chris Parks

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The Exira-EHK Spartans had the Fremont-Mills Knights in unfamiliar territory early in their Quarterfinal round match-up on Friday night, the Knight trailed at the end of the first quarter.  Exira-EHK scored on their first two possessions of the game to lead the Knights at the end of the first quarter 14-7.  Coach Jeremy Christiansen’s Knights responded very well to the new situation. The first play of the second quarter was a 65 yard bomb from Mason Vanatta to Parker Powers that brought the Knights within one after a missed PAT 14-13. Then 40 game seconds later Powers would read a screen pass for the Spartans perfectly and step in front of the throw and take it with him 15 yards for another F-M touchdown to push it to a 21-14 Knight advantage.

Exira-EHK did answer back though on the next drive with a 46 yard touchdown run from Connor Westergaard that would get it back to a one point game after a missed PAT 21-20.  The Knights would later in the second quarter get a Mason Vanatta 3 yard touchdown run and a 2 point conversion to lift them to a 9 point halftime lead.

The third quarter really turned the momentum toward the Knights as they amped up the defense and got two early takeaways. Connor Westergaard had the ball stripped out of his hands on a fourth down play deep in the Spartans own end and Fremont-Mills would capitalize three plays later with a 22 yard touchdown pass from Vanatta to Carter Jennings.  The next Spartan possession would once again give F-M a short field after a Westergaard pass was deflected and picked off.  The Knights would convert that turnover into a touchdown as well and then never looked back. The Knights tacked on a few more scores en route to a 63-20 win.

Exira-EHK saw their season come to an end with a 7-4 overall record.  The Knights improve to 11-0 and will face Harris-Lake Park, another unbeaten team, in the semifinals.  That game will be played at 12:06pm on Thursday, November 10th.

High School Football Scoreboard
Quarterfinals
Friday, November 4, 2016

CLASS 4A:

Ankeny Centennial 14, Valley, West Des Moines 10
Cedar Rapids, Washington 30, Iowa City, City High 14
Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines 36, Waukee 14
Iowa City, West 38, Prairie, Cedar Rapids 21

CLASS 3A:

Glenwood 30, Carroll 27
Pella 28, Solon 14
Webster City 21, Boone 19
Xavier, Cedar Rapids 38, Waverly-Shell Rock 14

CLASS 2A:

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 49, Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 28
Dike-New Hartford 54, PCM, Monroe 14
Mount Vernon 42, Williamsburg 32
Union, La Porte City 28, North Fayette Valley 12

CLASS 1A:

Denver 34, Bellevue 6
Regina, Iowa City 45, Pella Christian 43
Van Meter 28, Madrid 7
Western Christian, Hull 34, Hinton 21

CLASS A:

Bishop Garrigan, Algona 12, West Hancock, Britt 8
Gladbrook-Reinbeck 35, Montezuma 0
Saint Ansgar 43, Lisbon 12
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 21, West Sioux, Hawarden 14

CLASS 8:

Don Bosco, Gilbertville 56, Central, Elkader 20
Fremont-Mills, Tabor 63, Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 20
Harris-Lake Park 44, Ar-We-Va, Westside 36
Midland, Wyoming 42, Twin Cedars, Bussey 22

The Atlantic Girls Swimming team will be competing in 8 events at the 2016 State Swim Meet on Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA and this time they want to leave their mark.  The young program has continually improved under the direction of Head Coach Dean Junker and this year marks the most events they have qualified for state.  Coach Junker said he is really proud of the girls and says they are determined to get some top 10 finishes in Marshalltown.

Coach Junker has been really impressed with the way his team has competed given their program is one of the smaller schools in the state that actually have a swimming team.

The Trojans will be competing in the following events on Saturday:

Individual Events

• 200 Yard Freestyle: Cambry Miller, SO.
• 200 Yard IM: Jessica Hartwig, JR.
• 50 Yard Freestyle: Mycala Kickland, JR.
• 100 Yard Freestyle: Cambry Miller, SO.
• 100 Yard Breaststroke: Jessica Hartwig, JR.

Relay Events

• 200 Yard Medley
• 200 Yard Freestyle
• 400 Yard Freestyle

The State Diving Meet is taking place Friday evening at 5:00pm and the State Swim Meet begins at Noon on Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA.  Admission both days to the event is $10.

Catch an in-depth interview with Coach Junker at 8:30am Saturday on our Saturday Morning Coaches Show on KJAN as they prepare for State Competition.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Second ranked Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley plays number six Carroll Kuemper tonight (Friday), in the quarterfinal round of the class 2A playoffs in Denison. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Cory Brandt says the Nighthawks face a tough challenge.

Brandt says the Nighthawks must limit their mistakes.

Kuemper coach Chad Klein says it wil take a big effort by the Knight’s defense.

Klein says ball control will be very important for the Kuemper offense.

(Radio Iowa)

ST. LOUIS (AP) – St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, whose team missed the playoffs in 2016 for the first time in his five-year tenure, has agreed to a three-year contract extension. The Cardinals announced the new contract Thursday, a day after the rival Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Terms were not disclosed.

Matheny is 46. The Cardinals have averaged 92 wins per season since he took over after Tony La Russa retired following the World Series-winning 2011 season. Overall, Matheny is 461-349.

The former Gold Glove catcher led the Cardinals to playoff appearances in 2012 through 2015 before falling one game short this season, including NL Central titles in 2013-2015. He also led St. Louis to the 2013 World Series, losing in six games to Boston.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Baker Mayfield threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns and 12th-ranked Oklahoma held off Iowa State 34-24 on Thursday night for its sixth straight victory. Dede Westbrook caught seven passes for 131 yards and a score for the Sooners (7-2, 6-0 Big 12). They beat the Cyclones (1-8, 0-6) for the 18th time in a row and the 74th time in 81 meetings.

High School Football Schedule
Quarterfinals Playoffs
Friday, November 4, 2016
All games set for 7:00pm Kickoffs

CLASS 4A:

Ankeny Centennial @ Valley, West Des Moines
Cedar Rapids, Washington vs Iowa City, City High at Kingston Stadium
Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines vs Waukee at Williams Stadium
Iowa City, West @ Prairie, Cedar Rapids

CLASS 3A:

Boone @ Webster City
Glenwood @ Carroll
Pella @ Solon
Waverly-Shell Rock @ Xavier, Cedar Rapids

CLASS 2A:

Dike-New Hartford @ PCM, Monroe
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll vs Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley at Denison
Union, La Porte City @ North Fayette Valley
Williamsburg @ Mount Vernon

CLASS 1A:

Bellevue @ Denver
Hinton @ Western Christian, Hull
Madrid @ Van Meter
Pella Christian @ Regina, Iowa City

CLASS A:

Lisbon @ Saint Ansgar
Montezuma @ Gladbrook-Reinbeck
West Hancock, Britt @ Bishop Garrigan, Algona
West Sioux, Hawarden @ St. Albert, Council Bluffs

CLASS 8-Man:

Ar-We-Va, Westside @ Harris-Lake Park
Don Bosco, Gilbertville @ Central, Elkader
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton @ Fremont-Mills, Tabor – ON KJAN
Midland, Wyoming @ Twin Cedars, Bussey

The Exira-EHK Spartans were able to avenge one regular season loss in the first round of the 8-Man Football Playoffs and they are aiming to do it again in the Quarterfinals.  Exira-EHK ran past Bedford in the first round last week 56-12, avenging a 40-6 loss in week 2 of the season.  Now the Spartans have the tall task of trying to repeat that feat with a meeting against the undefeated Fremont-Mills Knights, a team they lost two on October 7th 50-21.  Exira-EHK Head Coach Tom Petersen knows it will be a tough task to turn the tables on the Knights from the first meeting but his team is excited for the opportunity.

Big plays were the major difference in the first meeting between the two teams. Knights Quarterback Mason Vanatta had a big game throwing for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns while also carrying the ball 4 times for 89 yards and a score.  Coach Petersen knows the Spartans will have to prevent the big play in order to have success this time.

The Spartans have gotten great play down the stretch from a number of players and a couple that stand out are Quarterback Connor Westergaard and Fullback Cole Madsen.  Westergaard has settled in nicely to the Spartans offense rushing for 694 yards and 16 touchdowns while throwing for 585 yards and 9 scores.  Westergaard is averaging a whopping 10.8 yards per carry and a big reason for that is Cole Madsen.  Coach Petersen has repeatedly said Madsen is their most improved player and is doing a great job blocking.  He also made some great plays on defense in the round 1 win over Bedford including two tackles for loss.  Fremont-Mills Head Coach Jeremy Christiansen knows slowing down the Spartans backfield is a strong challenge.

The Knights seem to rise to the occasion every time they are challenged and Coach Christensen knows this will be another tough challenge. He said winning the line of scrimmage is where success starts against a physical team like the Spartans.

We’ll have coverage of the Spartans and Knights for you on KJAN. Chris Parks and Mike Smith will have the call from Tabor with Pre-Game at 6:00pm and Kickoff at 7:00pm. Tune in on AM1220, FM101.1, online at kjan.com, and on the KJAN mobile app.