Sports, Monday, September 14th

By: Nathan Bloechl —sports@kilj.com 

Mount Pleasant Wins Ugly, Improves to 2-1:

There’s no style points in football. Never has been — and there never will be.

So when the final seconds bled off the field at Fairfield High School last Friday night only one thing mattered: Mount Pleasant 21, Fairfield 6.

In a game where the field conditions were horrid, the visibility was worse and mud was caked on the jerseys of Trojans and Panthers alike, it was the legs of senior quarterback Jack Johnson that provided all the necessary fireworks for Mount Pleasant to earn their second win in three games.

Johnson had touchdowns on the ground from 29, 21 and 22 yards — as the Panthers did just enough to hold off a feisty Trojan team.

The scoring started in the second quarter after both teams exchanged three punts each in the first quarter.

Mount Pleasant used a 17-play 79-yard drive that eclipsed just over nine minutes of the second quarter game clock to grab the first olive on Johnson’s rush, a score that held until halftime.

Out of the half, Fairfield tried a surprise onside-kick that was recovered by Mount Pleasant’s Cole Jarrett.

The recovery and ensuing excellent field position led to Johnson’s second rushing score.

The Trojans then fumbled on their first play from scrimmage in the third, gifting Mount Pleasant more great field position that was again finished off by Johnson’s wheels.

Fairfield dropped to 1-2 with the loss, while Mount Pleasant is now 2-1.

The Panthers will resume their district schedule this Friday when they welcome in Washington (3-0) for their homecoming bout.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with air-time on KILJ-FM beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Other regional action last night:

  • Sigourney-Keota 41, Louisa-Muscatine 0
  • Mid-Prairie 49, Central Lee 0
  • Lone Tree 42, WACO 6
    • WACO falls for the second consecutive week. They’re now 1-2.
  • Winfield-Mount Union 62, Twin Cedars 6
    • The Wolves win their second in an impressive rout of the Sabres. Winfield-Mount Union now 2-1 this year.
  • Keokuk 20, Burlington 3
  • Mediapolis 41, Van Buren County 6
    • Mediapolis earns their second consecutive victory to improve to 2-1.
  • Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 30, West Burlington 28, OT
    • The Falcons fall short of winning their second game in a row.
  • #8 Washington 29, Fort Madison
    • The Demons improve to 3-0 as they get ready for a showdown with Mount Pleasant this week for the Panthers’ homecoming.
  • #4 (8-player) Montezuma 56, New London 20
    • New London falls for the first time in 2020, the Tigers are now 2-1.
  • Cedar Rapids Xavier 30, Clear Creek-Amana 7
    • Mount Pleasant’s week one opponent, a team they beat 28-27, has struggled out of the chute in 2020.

Cyclones Lose in Bad Way, Saturday: 

Iowa State was outscored 21-0 in the second half as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns came into Jack Trice Stadium and defeated the Cyclones 31-14.

Louisiana had a pair of special teams returns for touchdowns and forced two Iowa State turnovers.

Brock Purdy finished just 16-for-35 for 145 yards while Breece Hall had 103 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries for the Cyclones.

Iowa State, now 0-1, will be off until September 26th, when they travel to Fort Worth to take on the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University.

Other Big 12 Action Saturday:

Arkansas State 35, Kansas State 31

Coastal Carolina 38, Kansas 23

West Virginia 56, Eastern Kentucky 10

#4 Oklahoma 48, Missouri State 0

#14 Texas 59, UTEP 3

Texas Tech 35, Houston Baptist 33

And around the state:

Morningside 45, Northwestern 31

William Penn 30, MidAmerica Nazarene 13

Dordt 22, Midland 14

Light Volleyball Slate Tonight:

Not much in the way of high school volleyball tonight with just one varsity match on the slate — but it will be a fun one as 1A’s top-ranked Holy Trinity will scrap with Fort Madison.

The Crusaders have been off since August 29th when they played in the Skip Anderson tournament in Bondurant.

Fort Madison is off to an 0-4 start after being swept in each of their first four matches.

First serve from the HoundDome in Fort Madison is set for 7:30 p.m.

NFL Scoreboard (9/13):

Seattle 38, Atlanta 25

Green Bay 43, Minnesota 34

Buffalo 27, New York Jets 17

Chicago 27, Detroit 23

New England 21, Miami 11

Washington 27, Philadelphia 17

Las Vegas 34, Carolina 30

Jacksonville 27, Indianapolis 20

Baltimore 38, Cleveland 6

Los Angeles Chargers 16, Cincinnati 13

New Orleans 34, Tampa Bay 23

Arizona 24, San Francisco 20

Los Angeles Rams 20, Dallas 17