KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Deshaun Watson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown while running for two more, outdueling Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes in a matchup of former first-round picks and leading the Houston Texans to a 31-24 victory over Kansas City on Sunday. Carlos Hyde added 116 yards rushing and a touchdown against the team that traded him to Houston (4-2) before the start of the season. DeAndre Hopkins hauled in nine passes for 55 yards. None was bigger than his last, when the Texans star made a sliding grab on fourth-and-3 from the Kansas City 27 with just under 2 minutes to go. That allowed Houston to run out the clock and deal the Chiefs (4-2) their second consecutive loss — both at Arrowhead Stadium.

Mahomes, who was selected two spots ahead of Watson in the 2017 draft, finished with 273 yards passing and three touchdowns, though he also threw his first interception of the season.
Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill returned to action for the first time since Week 1, when he broke his collarbone, to catch five passes for 80 yards and two of the Chiefs’ scores.
It wasn’t a pretty game for either side. The teams combined for 21 penalties totaling nearly 150 yards, and that didn’t include close to a dozen flags that were offsetting, overruled or declined.
It was Kansas City that started hot, engineering drives of at least 90 yards twice in the first quarter. Hill finished the first with a 46-yard reception — the first TD throw in a first quarter by Mahomes since Week 1 — while Damien Williams finished the second with a 14-yard TD catch.

In between, Hyde coughed up the ball on Houston’s first offensive play. But the big running back soon atoned for his mistake. Hyde battered the Chiefs’ porous run defense the rest of the game, punctuating a big first half with a short touchdown run. The Texans then took the lead into the locker room after Mahomes was strip-sacked with 20 seconds left and Houston recovered, and Watson waltzed into the end zone on the very next play. It wasn’t the last time he reached pay dirt.

Mahomes hit Hill again in the third quarter to give the Chiefs the lead back , but the Houston quarterback answered with a 12-play, 93-yard drive consuming more than 8 1/2 minutes. By the time he spun into the end zone and converted the 2-point try, the Texans had a 31-24 lead with 6:17 to go. Kansas City went three-and-out on its next possession, and a defense that has been maligned for most of Andy Reid’s tenure with the Chiefs failed to make a stop once again.
FIRST PICK
The first pick Mahomes had thrown this season was nearly wiped out when an official threw a flag for pass interference. But after referee Shawn Hochuli announced the penalty, the officials huddled and decided to pick up the flag in a bizarre series of events.
INJURIES
Texans: CB Johnathan Joseph (hamstring) was inactive after showing up on the injury report Friday. Also inactive were WR Kenny Stills (hamstring) and RB Taiwan Jones (hip). … RT Tytus Howard (knee), CB Bradley Roby (hamstring) and LB Zach Cunningham (knee) left during the game.
Chiefs: Inactive starters included WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring), LT Eric Fisher (groin), LG Andrew Wylie (ankle), DT Chris Jones (groin) and LB Anthony Hitchens (groin).
UP NEXT
Chiefs visit the Broncos on Thursday night.

The Underwood Eagles took the championship at the CAM Classic volleyball tournament on Saturday. The Eagles went 3-0 in pool play, defeated CAM in the semifinals, and topped AC/GC in the finals.

Silver Pool

(2-0) Underwood 21-21, ArWeVa 7-16
(2-0) Underwood 21-21, Paton-Churdan 12-6
(2-0) Underwood 21-21, AC/GC 19-17
(2-0) AC/GC 21-21, Paton-Churdan 10-7
(2-0) AC/GC 21-21, ArWeVa 10-14
(2-1) ArWeVa 15-21-15, Paton-Churdan 21-16-13

Blue Pool

(2-0) Riverside 21-21, Griswold 19-14
(2-0) Riverside 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 4-6
(2-1) Riverside 16-21-15, CAM 21-19-10
(2-0) CAM 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 10-14
(2-0) CAM 21-21, Griswold 17-11
(2-0) Griswold 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 8-7

Semifinals

(2-0) AC/GC 25-25, Riverside 19-17
(2-0) Underwood 25-25, CAM 14-19

Finals

(2-0) Underwood 25-25, AC/GC 15-14

All-Tournament Team

Chloe Largent, AC/GC
Danielle Hoyle, Paton-Churdan
Macy Vanfossan, Underwood
Leslie Luft, ArWeVa
Caitlyn Gist, Orient-Macksburg
Maddy McKee, CAM
Izzy Bluml, Riverside
Haylee Pennock, Griswold

The Harlan Cyclone girls claimed the team title with 46 points, during the Atlantic Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Ankeny Centennial finished second with 71-points. Individually, Lucy Borkowski led the Cyclones scoring runners with a third-place finish. Peyton Pogge of Tri-Center, earned the individual title in a time of 20:10.88 and remains undefeated on the season. Kate Crawford of ACGC finished second in a time of 20:41.51, Lucy Borkowski of Harlan was third, Ava Rush of Atlantic, fourth, and Kaia Bieker finished fifth. Atlantic’s lead runner Taylor McCreedy, who was previously injured but able to participate, was running in third place, when she fell on the muddy surface and couldn’t finish the race.

Team Scores:

1. Harlan, 46
2. Ankeny Centennial, 71
3. Bishop Heelan, 106
4. ACGC, 120
5. Ankeny, 142
6. Nodaway Valley, 160
7. Atlantic, 165
8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 168
9. Lewis Central, 221
10. Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson, 262
11. Red Oak, 278

Top 10 Individual results:
1 Pogge, Peyton 11 Tri-Center 20:10.88
2 Crawford, Kate 12 ACGC 20:41.51 1
3 Borkowski, Lucy 12 Harlan 20:58.15 2
4 Rush, Ava 09 Atlantic 21:13.90 3
5 Bieker, Kaia 10 Harlan 21:17.88 4
6 Sloss, Rylee 11 ACGC 21:21.15 5
7 Jorgensen, Kendall 10 ACHS JV 21:27.52 6
8 Broers, Sophia 11 Nodaway Valley 21:29.83 7
9 Alberti, Abby 12 Harlan 21:37.99 8
10 Aesoph, Amber 12 Bishop Heelan 21:40.88 9

Full results: atlantic v girls invite 10.12.19

Ankeny Centennial took 1st place in the team standings during a cross country meet held in Atlantic, Saturday. Individually, Nodaway Valley’s Josh Baudler had the best time in the competitive field. Baudler outdistanced the field in a time of 17:21.16.

Atlantic finished in sixth place. The Trojans were led by Craig Alan Becker, who finished in 9th place. Bradley Dennis was 20th, Evan Brummer,31st, Zane Berg, 36th, Drew Engler, 56th, Cooper Jipsen, 68th, and Ethan Williams finished 90th out of 121 runners.

Team Scores:
1. Ankeny Centennial, 95
2. Ankeny, 123
3. Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson, 140
4. Nodaway Valley, 146
5. Des Moines, Christian, 149
6. Atlantic, 151
7. Le Mars, 164
8. Harlan, 202
9. Lewis Central, 221
10. Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln, 271
11. Des Moines, Roosevelt, 294
12. Glenwood, 294
13. Des Moines, Lincoln, 298
14. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 314
15. ACGC, 336
16. Red Oak, 364
17. Clarinda, 381

Individual results:
1 Baudler, Joshua 12 Nodaway Valley 17:21.16 1
2 Vicker, Gabriel 11 Achs JV 17:29.92 2
3 Gross, Trey 11 Harlan 17:33.95 3
4 Gilo, Wimach 12 Cbtj 17:34.02 4
5 Klein, Andrew 12 Des Moines Lincoln 17:39.41 5
6 Fopma, Jacob 12 Des Moines C 17:43.43 6
7 Hentzel, Tyler 12 Ankeny 17:43.47 7
8 Tellander, Caden 11 Abraham Lincoln 17:45.24 8
9 Becker, Craig Alan 11 Atlantic 17:46.37 9
10 Houg, Carson 10 Des Moines C 17:50.13 10

Full results: atlantic v boys 10.12.19

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Max Scherzer followed Aníbal Sánchez’s near no-hitter with a try of his own and the stingy Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship Series. Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until Paul Goldschmidt led off the seventh inning with a single that left fielder Juan Soto played conservatively with a one-run lead. A day earlier, Sánchez held the Cardinals hitless until pinch-hitter José Martínez singled with two down in the eighth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Noah Cain ran for a five-yard touchdown with 5:17 left and 10th-ranked Penn State held off No. 17 Iowa 17-12, its first win over a ranked opponent this season. Cain finished with 102 yards for the Nittany Lions, who extended their winning streak over the Hawkeyes to six games.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — One week after an injury scare, Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant looked like his old self in a 38-27 victory over Mississippi. Bryant, who was knocked out of last week’s win over Troy with a sprained knee, completed 25 of 35 passes for 329 yards and one touchdown.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rodney Smith ran for 139 yards and a touchdown, helping Minnesota overpower Nebraska on a wintry night and stay undefeated with a 34-7 victory on the strength of 322 yards rushing. Shannon Brooks ran for 99 yards, Mo Ibrahim had 84 yards and three touchdowns, and the Gophers stayed in a tie for first place in the Big Ten West Division with rival Wisconsin behind an all-around performance that had the Huskers on their heels all evening. Minnesota is 6-0 for the first time since 2003.

MONTREAL (AP) — Brendan Gallagher had a goal and two assists and the Montreal Canadiens beat the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues 6-3. Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Drouin, Philip Danault, Arturri Lehkonen, and Max Domi also scored for Montreal. Brayden Schenn, Samuel Blais, and Vince Dunn scored for St. Louis.

UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals’ front office says baseballs have suddenly lost their juice this postseason, supporting a claim from a prominent data scientist that the balls have been altered following a historic, homer-friendly regular season. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said St. Louis’ analytics department has found the ball is flying 4 ½ feet less on average in the postseason. Players in both leagues have been stunned when hard-hit balls have fallen on the warning track this month.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Freshman Trey Lance threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Adam Cofield, and an FCS top-10 showdown never materialized as top-ranked North Dakota State breezed to a 46-14 victory over Northern Iowa, ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches poll.