By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Winfield Football Hopes for Continued Growth:
The Winfield-Mount Union football team is hoping for continued growth as head coach Scott McCarty enters his 10th season as the lead man.
The Wolves graduated lots of talent from last year’s team that finished 1-8, but do return OL Seth Schurr, OL Chance Malone and last year’s leading WR, Jacob Ford.
Winfield will have to replace all three of their top skill players last year, including QB Daunte Oepping, RB Juanito Piper and WR Christian Gerot.
Oepping threw 13 touchdowns to just five interceptions last year while rushing for 949 yards and an additional 17 scores.
Getting the first crack at signal caller this year will be junior Noah Sparrow.
Sparrow appeared sparingly in a backup role last year, missing on his only attempted pass.
“We are going to play to the strengths of our team and put our guys in a position to be successful in every game we have” said head coach Scott McCarty.
McCarty believes that aforementioned strength will be the offensive and defensive lines.
“With the new schedule and the uncertainty we face week in and week out it will be imperative to control what we can control. We will be investing our time in the basics so we can become extraordinary in the ordinary.”
Winfield will open their season on August 28th at home against Tri-County.
Full Schedule:
8-28: Tri County (HOME)
9-4: Montezuma (AWAY)
9-11: Twin Cedars (AWAY)
9-18: Iowa Valley (HOME)
9-25: New London (AWAY)
10-2: English Valleys (HOME)
10-9: WACO (HOME)
Hawkeyes Still Preparing for Spring Schedule:
With the fall season cancelled Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has turned his attention to a possible spring season.
The Big Ten said it was a possibility last week when the fall season was cancelled.
Ferentz has two problems with the idea: playing two seasons in a calendar year and the possibility of many players skipping the season to prepare for the NFL.
“It’ll be a different approach for sure, but we’ll have to push forward. There has to be answer for it” Ferentz explained.
The Big Ten has yet to reveal any of their concrete plans for a spring season, which remains very much murky at best.
Over the weekend several Hawkeye parents crafted a letter to the Big Ten asking them to reverse course on their decision to cancel the fall football season.
UNI Adds Talented Illinois Prep:
The University of Northern Iowa football team went into Illinois to pick up a game-breaking wide receiver, Friday.
Peoria’s Dionysius Hogan announced a commitment to the Panthers on social media, choosing the Missouri Valley Football Conference team over an offer from Bowling Green.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Hogan is ranked as the No. 80 player in Illinois for the 2021 class.
Hogan, listed as an athlete on most recruiting sites, also played linebacker and safety last year.
He’s expected to suit up on offensive for Mark Farley’s bunch.
MLB Scoreboard (8/16):
Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 2 — 7 innings (Game 1)
Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 5 — 8 innings (Game 2)
Cleveland 8, Detroit 5
Washington 6, Baltimore 5
Philadelphia 6, New York Mets 2
Atlanta 4, Miami 0
Chicago White Sox 7, St. Louis 2
Houston 3, Seattle 2
Minnesota 4, Kansas City 2
Milwaukee 6, Chicago Cubs 5
Colorado 10, Texas 6
Oakland 15, San Francisco 3
Arizona 5, San Diego 4
Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Los Angeles Angels 3
New York Yankees 4 Boston 2