ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul DeJong closed out a rough August with two big swings. It’s another positive sign for the rolling St. Louis Cardinals. DeJong hit a three-run homer and a two-run single for a career-high five RBIs, helping Austin Gomber and the Cardinals pound the Cincinnati Reds 12-5 on Friday night.

Matt Carpenter hit his NL-best 35th homer as St. Louis pulled within 3 1/2 games of NL Central-leading Chicago. Gomber (5-0) pitched seven effective innings and also contributed a two-run double. The surging Cardinals have won eight of 10 to improve to 28-13 since the All-Star break. They also lead the NL wild-card standings.

The Cardinals have been getting some key hits from their pitching staff lately, including recent homers by starters John Gant and Miles Mikolas. The Reds dropped 1-18 in Bailey’s 19 starts this year.

Cardinals: OF Marcell Ozuna (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to be activated Saturday, but manager Mike Schildt said the outfielder will see limited action for the near future. … RHP Michael Wacha (oblique) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday. He has been out since June 21.

UP NEXT- Cardinals: RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (0-0, 2.08 ERA) returns as part of the team’s September promotions.

The Audubon Wheelers fought hard in a hard-hitting 8-man football game at Fremont-Mills on Friday night but came up short 39-21. It was a game of big momentum changes as the Knights raced out to an early 20-0 lead before the Wheelers rallied back to lead 21-20. The Knights then took advantage of some Wheeler mistakes to capture the win in the fourth quarter.

Jaeger Powers opened the game with a bang for F-M with a 65 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play. The Wheelers nearly answered right back on their first drive but Ethan Klocke had a ball squeeze through his hands in the end zone on a 4th down attempt. The Knights turned that opportunity into more points with a 51 yard pass play that set up a 13-yard Mason Vanatta touchdown run. The Knights got another TD run for Jaeger Powers to lead 20-0 after a botched PAT.

The Wheelers then started their rally with a Freshman at quarterback. Skyler Schultes was knocked out of the game with a concussion late in the first quarter and Freshman Gavin Smith and newcomer Kaiden Smith would take the snaps the rest of the way. Gavin Smith hooked up with Ethan Klocke on a 31 yard touchdown pass with 4:39 left in the first half to give the Wheelers some hope. They then started off the second half in flawless fashion. The Wheelers drove down the field in 11 plays and scored on a Kaiden Smith touchdown run to cut the lead to 20-14. The Wheelers forced a three and out by the Knights and rode Kaiden Smith down the field for another score to take the lead after the PAT 21-20.

Three straight possessions would end in fumbles with Audubon losing two and Fremont-Mills coughing up one. The Knights would benefit from great field position on the last fumble that set them up at the Audubon 21 with 11:21 left in the game. Mason Vanatta used a nifty run to punch it in and regain the lead for F-M at 26-21. The Knights then backed the Wheelers up deep on their next possession with a penalty and a play for loss. The Wheelers had to make Gavin Smith attempt to punt from the back of his own end zone and the kick was blocked and the Knights recovered on the Audubon 2 yard line. After a penalty stepped them back the Knights got it home with Jaeger Powers’ third TD of the game. A turnover on downs would set the Knights up for their final score, an 18 yard run by Seth Malcom.

The Knights were able to overcome losing a 20-point lead for the second week in a row and improve to 1-1 with the win. They take on Clarinda Academy in district play next week. Audubon falls to 1-1 and will open district play against Exira-EHK next Friday.

Chris Parks, Jim Field, Matt Mullenix, and Doug Leonard take a look at 8 area high school football games each week. We try to provide some insight into the match-ups while competing for top prognosticator and the Whosman Trophy.

Last Week:

Jim Field 6-2
Matt Mullenix 6-2
Chris Parks 6-2
Doug Leonard 5-3

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KJAN Sports Director Chris Parks’ weekly discussion with Atlantic Head Football Coach Mike McDermott. The Trojans are coming off an opening win over Saydel and now will have their home opener against Creston at the Trojan Bowl.

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Atlantic Activities Director Andrew Mitchell announced during the noon hour that the Atlantic Trojan football game against Creston will start 30 minutes following the finish of the Freshman game tonight. The threat of severe weather this evening is the reason for the change. For example if the freshman game would finish at 6:00pm the Varsity contest would start at 6:30pm.

The Audubon Wheelers are riding high after an opening night win over Remsen, St. Mary’s 58-26 and now face another tough test with a long road trip to Fremont-Mills. The Wheelers were able to get a touch of revenge on Remsen, the team that knocked them out of the high school football playoffs in the quarterfinals last year. Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks said they didn’t talk about that angle much but it felt good to get that win. There was quite a bit of turnover for the Wheelers in some key spots but Coach Birks said he thinks the kids were kind of tired of hearing about that and just wanted to get out and play. He was pleased with how his young guys showed out in week one.

Skyler Schultes threw for 199 yards and 2 scores in week one and also rushed for 189 yards and 4 more touchdowns. Coach Birks said this will be a new experience going to Tabor, a place he has never coached before. He knows the Wheelers will need to be ready to face a hungry and veteran team in the Knights.

Fremont-Mills is coming off a week one loss to Exira-EHK 45-27. The Knights blew a 20 point lead in that game and threw two interceptions in the 4th quarter that lead to their downfall. Head Coach Jeremy Christiansen said it was a good learning experience for his team.

The Knights have a strong returning backfield from their semifinal team a year ago. Mason Vanatta at Quarterback and Jaeger Powers make for a tough senior duo to slow down. The Wheelers will hope they can keep them contained as well as Exira-EHK did in the opener.

We’ll have coverage of the Wheelers facing the Knights tonight on KJAN. Chris Parks and Mike Smith will have the call from Tabor with our Dvorak Tire and Service Pregame Show at 6:30pm and kickoff at 7:00pm. Catch the game on-air at AM 1220, FM 101.1, online at kjan.com, on the web app, or watch the game online as we provide a live video stream on our Facebook page. Also tune in at 5:50pm for our weekly pick ’em show Who’s Gonna Win? and stay tuned after the game as well for all the scores around the state with the Iowa High School Scoreboard Show from 10:00pm-11:30pm.

The Atlantic Trojans football team will play their home-opener tonight at the Trojan Bowl against the Creston Panthers.  Atlantic is coming off a season-opening 45-6 win over Saydel in week 1, where as the Panthers are coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to Chariton 35-34.

Atlantic got a strong performance from the offense in week one with 4 players rushing the ball over 50 yards against Saydel. New starting quarterback Chase Mullenix lead the way with 81 yards and 2 touchdowns and he only attempted 5 passes in the game. Atlantic Head Football Coach Mike McDermott said the Trojans will have to do more this week to top a tough Creston team.

Creston has some weapons on the outside with Kylan Smallwood and Camdon Peterson both topping 100 yards receiving and scoring 2 touchdowns apiece in week one. Coach McDermott said he’s also concerned about what the Panthers can potentially do in the run game.

The Trojans and Panthers kickoff at 7:00pm tonight at the Trojan Bowl. Jim Field will provide updates during our broadcast of Fremont-Mills hosting Audubon tonight on KJAN.

Iowa State Senior De’Monte Ruth has been suspended for Saturday’s football game against South Dakota State. Iowa State Head Coach Matt Campbell announced the suspension on Friday and issued this statement.

“Senior De’Monte Ruth will serve a one-game suspension this weekend. De’Monte was stopped for a traffic violation and arrested for driving with a suspended license early last evening. We have a higher standard of excellence in our program and we ask our players to put the team before their actions.”

Ruth was listed at the top of the depth chart released earlier this week at the Star flex linebacker position.

Iowa State meets South Dakota State on Saturday at 7:00pm at Jack Trice Stadium.

West Central Valley hosted the Wildcat Cross Country Classic on Thursday in Menlo.

Panorama took the team crown in the girls race with 24 points, way outdistancing the field. The Panther’s Ella Waddle won the individual title with a time of 19:49.21.

WCV Wildcat Classic Girls 2018

Nodaway Valley won the boys team title with 37 points. Josh Baudler lead the Wolverines by winning the individual title with a time of 17:05.35.

WCV Wildcat Classic Boys 2018