The Atlantic boys basketball team dropped their season opener at home on Tuesday night 59-46 to the Winterset Huskies. Atlantic found themselves down at the end of the 1st and 2nd quarter on late baskets. The Huskies got a steal and layup from Casey Kleemeier at the end of the first quarter to lead 16-14. Easton Darling then splashed in a near half-court three at the buzzer to give the Huskies a 32-29 halftime edge.

The beginning of the second half was very stale for Atlantic. The Huskies outscored the Trojans 17-7 in the third quarter and lead by as many as 16. Easton Darling hit two threes in that impactful third quarter and finished with 20 points on the night to lead Winterset and all scorers. Nicholas Baur had 10 points and Casey Kleemeier finished with 9 for the Huskies. Kleemeier was very good as a distributor as well with a number of great passes that put his teammates in great shape to get easy buckets.

Chase Mullenix didn’t start the game after missing some time to recover from an injury after football season but was the leader for the Trojans with 18 points and made some great hustle plays for Atlantic. Austin Alexander finished with 10 points on the night.  The Trojans struggled with ball handling out front and were ice cold from the field for most of the night. Defensive breakdowns also led to a number of easy looks for Winterset. Head Coach Alan Jenkins said “We just got whipped in every facet of the game. Give credit to Winterset because they executed. We just weren’t good anywhere on the floor tonight.”

Atlantic has a few days to prepare for a road test at St. Albert on Friday night.

(From hawkeyesports.com) IOWA CITY, Iowa – – University of Iowa junior defensive back Josh Jackson has been named the recipient of the 2017 Jack Tatum Award as the best defensive back in the nation.  The award was announced Tuesday by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, and is named for the late Ohio State and NFL legend Jack Tatum.

Jackson (6-foot-1, 192-pounds), a native of Corinth, Texas (Lake Dallas), is tied as the national leader with seven interceptions.  He leads the nation with 25 passes defended and is tied for second in interception return touchdowns (two), and pass break-ups (18).  He ranks third in interception return yards (163).  Jackson’s seven interceptions rank fourth best for a single season at Iowa, just one from tying Iowa’s single-season record (Desmond King, 2015; Lou King, 1981; Nile Kinnick, 1939).

Jackson tied Iowa’s school record with two interception returns for touchdowns (B.J. Lowery, 2013) at Wisconsin, covering 43 and 52 yards.  The previous week, Jackson tied Iowa’s school record with three interceptions in Iowa’s 55-24 win over No. 3 Ohio State.  Jackson also had a forced fumble at Wisconsin, and a blocked field goal in a win over North Texas.  He has started all 12 games this season and recorded 47 tackles.

Jackson is one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is also awarded to the top defensive back in the nation.  He was named the Walter Camp, Bednarik Award, and College Sports Madness national defensive Player of the Week for his play against Ohio State.  He was named Big Ten Conference defensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks following games against Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Jackson is the second Hawkeye in the past three seasons to earn the Jack Tatum Award.  Former Hawkeye Desmond King earned the award in 2015, when he also received the Thorpe Award.

The Jack Tatum Award will be presented during the 63rd Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Iowa (7-5) is bowl eligible for the 16th time in the last 17 seasons.  Iowa’s bowl destination and opponent will be announced on Sunday.

(From hawkeyesports.com) IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior linebacker Josey Jewell has been named the recipient of the 2017 Jack Lambert Award as the best linebacker in the nation. The award was announced Monday by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

The Jack Lambert Award was first presented in 1991 and is named in honor of the former Pittsburgh Steeler. Lambert is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was a four-time Super Bowl champion during his career.

The Jack Lambert Award will be presented during the 63rd Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Saturday, Feb. 17. Clemson’s Ben Boulware earned the award in 2016.

Jewell, a native of Decorah, Iowa, leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally in tackles (125 total, 11.4 per game). He is one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, and is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. Jewell is a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and was a semifinalist for the Bednarik and Butkus Awards.

Jewell recorded eight tackles and three pass break-ups as Iowa closed the regular season with a 56-14 win at Nebraska. He also added his second interception of the season and recorded one tackle for loss as the Hawkeye defense allowed just 67 net rushing yards. Jewell has 125 tackles this season.

He is the third Hawkeye in program history to have three seasons with at least 115 tackles (Larry Station 83, 84, 85; Abdul Hodge 03, 04, 05). Jewell has led the team in tackles in each of the last two seasons (126 in 2015, 124 in 2016). Jewell has 426 career tackles, fifth all-time in program history. He needs nine stops to match Brad Quast for fourth all-time (435).

Jewell was named the Lott IMPACT Trophy national defensive Player of the Week for his play against Wyoming and Purdue. He was the Chuck Bednarik Award national and Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week following Iowa’s 24-3 win over Wyoming (14 tackles).

Jewell was named Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week, Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week, Bednarik Award, and College Sports Madness Defensive Player of the Week following his performance versus No. 4 Penn State (16 tackles).

Jewell was named midseason first team All-American by five media outlets, including Associated Press, ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, Sporting News, and The All-American.

The Hawkeyes (7-5, 4-5) are bowl eligible for the 14th time in the last 16 seasons. Iowa’s bowl destination and opponent will be announced on Sunday.