The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) – Kyle Larson is set to race in today’s (Saturday’s) Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals, squeezing in the prestigious sprint car event before returning to Michigan to compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Larson says Chip Ganassi, his team owner on the Cup circuit, gave him permission to race today, in Knoxville. Larson says he’s not supposed to race a sprint car the night before he’s on the track on the Cup Series, but Ganassi is making an exception this weekend.

The 25-year-old Larson is one of racing’s rising stars. He has two Cup victories this year – including in June at Michigan – and is third in the standings. He also won at Michigan last August .

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Smith led the Chiefs to a quick touchdown and first-round pick Patrick Mahomes II had an impressive debut, before the San Francisco backups led the 49ers to a 27-17 victory over Kansas City in their preseason opener Friday night. Smith hit speedster Tyreek Hill for a 32-yard gain on the first play of the game, and Spencer Ware capped a 75-yard march with a short TD run to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead. It was the only series for Smith, who finished 4 of 6 for 48 yards.

Mahomes checked in for the first time late in the second quarter, drawing perhaps the biggest roar of the night. The 10th overall draft pick had a long completion wiped out by a penalty on his first play, but later capitalized on a blocked punt with a short touchdown throw to fellow rookie Marcus Kemp. Mahomes was 7 of 9 for 49 yards as he duels with Tyler Bray for the No. 2 job.

San Francisco rookie C.J. Beathard hit Kendrick Bourne for a 46-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, then found him for a tying two-point conversion. The Chiefs promptly fumbled the ball back and Beathard added a short TD pass to Tyler McCloskey with 10:41 left to give the 49ers the lead for good. Beathard, a third-round pick, outplayed both quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart.

Brian Hoyer did little to make new 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan feel good about giving the longtime NFL journeyman the starting job at the onset of training camp. He was 1 of 4 for three yards in two offensive series, going three-and-out on both of them.

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

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul DeJong had two doubles with three RBIs and Randal Grichuk tripled and drove in two as the surging St. Louis Cardinals held off the Atlanta Braves 8-5 on Friday night to win their season-high seventh straight game. Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (12-5) went five innings and retired the final eight batters he saw after pitching out of a no-out, bases loaded jam in the third.

CHICAGO (AP) — Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run, seventh-inning rally, Reynaldo Lopez pitched six strong innings in his White Sox debut and Chicago won its fourth straight, 6-3 over the sliding Kansas City Royals on Friday night. Mike Moustakas belted a pair of deep solo shots to give him 34 homers, but the Royals lost their fifth straight and 10th in 12.

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Kyle Larson is set to race in Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals, squeezing in the prestigious sprint car event before returning to Michigan to compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Larson says Chip Ganassi, his team owner on the Cup circuit, gave him permission to race Saturday in Knoxville, Iowa. Larson says he’s not supposed to race a sprint car the night before he’s on the track on the Cup Series, but Ganassi is making an exception this weekend.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Adidas and Nebraska have agreed to a new sponsorship deal that will funnel more than $128 million in cash and goods to the athletic department over the next 11 years. The university’s Board of Regents on Friday unanimously approved the contract extension. Adidas will pay $64 million in cash and provide $64.7 million in apparel and equipment. Adidas has been Nebraska’s apparel sponsor since 1995

Saturday tee times begin at 8:30 am at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club for the 59th Annual Tournament of Champions. CLICK HERE to see the pairings.  Listen to AM 1220 & FM 101.1 for live coverage all day Saturday.  You can also listen online at kjan.com and on our mobile apps.  Also, check the Sports page at kjan.com for scoring updates!

Championship Division:                           Round 1

• 1.  Evan Schuler (Past Champion)            34-34=68 (-1)
• 1.  Steve Davie (Majestic Hills GC)          33-35=68 (-1)
• 3.  Jake Olsen (Atlantic G & CC)               34-36=70 (+1)
• 4.  Andrew Martin (Nishna Hills)             37-34=71 (+2)
• 5.  Jeff Gude (Atlantic G & CC)                 35-37=72 (+3)
• 5.  Jared Koch (Majestic Hills GC)             35-37-72 (+3)
• 5.  Nathan Miller (Lake MacBride GC)      36-36=72 (+3)
• 5.  Ron Peterson (Past Champion)          33-39=72 (+3)
• 9.  Zach Christianson (Atlantic G & CC)    38-35=73 (+4)
• 9.  Carter Trewet (Otter Creek GC)           40-33=73 (+4)
• 9.  Nathan Zimmerman (Treynor Rec)      33-40=73 (+4)
• 9.  Matt Gross (Nishna Hills GC)               35-38=73 (+4)
• 9.  Drew Thompson (Lenox GC)               34-39=73 (+4)
• 9.  Chris Nelson (Past Champion)            35-38=73 (+4)
• 9.  Ross Martens (Shelby Co GC)            35-38=73 (+4)
• 9.  Alex Bireline (Past Champion)            37-36=73 (+4)
• 9.  Joe Schafer (Mt. Ayr G & CC)              37-36=73 (+4)
• 18.  Mike Davie (Logan-MoValley CC)      37-37=74 (+5)
• 18.  Darby McLaren (Atlantic G & CC)       40-34=74 (+5)
• 18.  Chad Bruck (Avoca Country View)      37-37=74 (+5)
• 21.  Sam Pieczynski (Waveland GC)          35-40=75 (+6)
• 21.  Derek Jacobsen (Top 25)                     39-36=75 (+6)
• 21.  Rob Langfelt (Nishna Hills)                  36-39=75 (+6)
• 24.  Brock Partlow (Atlantic G & CC)          38-38=76 (+7)
• 24.  Tim Redding (Hillcrest CC)                  39-37=76 (+7)
• 26.  Matt Gearheart (Nishna Hills GC)        36-42=78 (+9)
• 26.  Chris Staudt (Clarmond CC)                40-38=78 (+9)
• 26.  Evan Baldwin (Villisca CC)                    39-39=78 (+9)
• 26.  Ben Nelson (Coldwater Golf Links)     39-39=78 (+9)
• 26.  Jared Cochran (Terrace Hills GC)        43-35=78 (+9)
• 26.  Barry Smith (Pine Knolls)                    36-42=78 (+9)
• 26.  Troy Finestead (Woodward CC)         39-39=78 (+9)
• 26.  Aaron King (Sac CC)                           40-38=78 (+9)
• 26.  Jeremy Johnson (Indianola CC)          38-40=78 (+9)
• 35.  Jason Branham (Quail Run CC)           41-38=79 (+10)
• 35.  Brett Geer (Clarinda CC)                      41-38=79 (+10)
• 35.  Craig Miller Dunlap Golf Club)            39-40=79 (+10)
• 35.  Ryan Clark (Briarwood Club)              39-40=79 (+10)
• 35.  Kyle Rock (Avoca Country View)        40-39=79 (+10)
• 40.  Cruz Reed (Lenox GC)                         40-42=82 (+13)
• 41.  Bill Christensen (Audubon CC)            40-43=83 (+14)
• 42.  Tom Zaccone (Harlan G & CC)           40-44=84 (+15)
• 42.  Ron Eads (Waveland GC)                    41-43=84 (+15)
• 42.  Josh Burns (Sac CC)                            44-40=84 (+15)
• 42.  Brad Hartkopf (Past Champion)         42-42=84 (+15)
• 46.  Eric Brown (Mt, Ayr G & CC)               43-43=86 (+17)
• 47.  Joe Zaccone Harlan G & CC)              41-46=87 (+18)
• 48.  Ryan Langfelt (Fremont Co GC)          43-45=88 (+19)

Senior Division:                                         Round 1

• 1.  Del Miller (Past Champion)                35-34=69 (E)
• 2.  Rick Thompson (Past Champion)       34-37=71 (+2)
• 3.  Jim Wood (Red Oak CC)                    37-36=73 (+4)
• 4.  Darron Baker (Past Champion)          38-36=74 (+5)
• 4.  John Willmore (Past Champion)        34-40=74 (+5)
• 4.  Steve Chapman (Treynor Rec)           35-39=74 (+5)
• 7.  Ken Portsche (Past Champion)           35-40=75 (+6)
• 7.  Blair Hoegh (Ankeny CC)                    39-36=75 (+6)
• 7.  Bobby Rist (Lake City CC)                  39-36=75 (+6)
• 10.  John O’Hair (Indianola CC)                 37-40=77 (+8)
• 10.  Mark Philby (Red Oak CC)                 39-36=77 (+8)
• 10.  Kim Peters (Crestwood Hills)             37-40=77 (+8)
• 13.  Jeff Morenz (Atlantic G & CC)           39-39=78 (+9)
• 14.  Mike Cardin (Gateway Recreation)    38-41=79 (+10)
• 15.  Bob Franke (Manson Golf & CC)        43-38=81 (+12)
• 16.  Kenny Hinson (Nishna Hills GC)         42-41=83 (+14)
• 17.  Mark Morris (Bedford CC)                  40-50=90 (+21)
• 18.  Mark Christianson (Nishna Hills)        43-48=91 (+22)
• 18.  Jeff Heckroth (Woodward CC)           41-50=91 (+22)
• 20.  Gary Wax (Avoca Country View)        44-48=92 (+23)

Super Senior Division:                                 Round 1

• 1.  Jim Redemske (Clarmond CC)               37-40=77 (+8)
• 2.  Arnie Leistad (Past Champion)              38-41=79 (+10)
• 3.  Gaylord Schelling (Atlantic G & CC)      38-42=80 (+11)
• 3.  Frank Gunsolley (Mt. Ayr G & CC)         40-40=80 (+11)
• 3.  Jim Mullenix (Shadow Valley)                41-39=80 (+11)
• 6.  Barry McGinn (Quail Run CC)                37-44=81 (+12)
• 6.  Mike Stanley (Avoca Country View)       40-41=81 (+12)
• 8.  Rich Mitchell (Nishna Hills GC)              36-46=82 (+13)
• 8.  Allan Hjelle (Atlantic G & CC)                37-45=82 (+13)
• 10.  Perry Paulsen (Atlantic G & CC)             42-42=84 (+15)
• 11.  Bruce Henderson (Atlantic)                    41-45=86 (+17)
• 11.  Edward Troll (Avoca Country View)        45-41=86 (+17)
• 13.  Donald Perrin (Happy Hollow CC)         38-49=87 (+18)

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Drake has won six Pioneer Football League championships but non since the league starting getting an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in 2013. With more than a dozen starters back from last year’s team that finished 7-4 third-year coach Rick Fox says they hope to change that this season.

Fox has put together a schedule to prepare for an eventual playoff berth. The Bulldogs play South Dakota and South Dakota State out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Fox says the Bulldogs learned how they need to play at the end of last season. Drake won its final four games after falling out of the PFL title chase.

Drake is talented and deep on both sides of the ball on the line of scrimmage and Fox feels this team has a lot of potential. Drake opens at home against South Dakota on September 2.

(Learfield Sports)

Freshman center Luka Garza continues to shine on Iowa’s trip to Europe. Garza poured in 24 points in just 11 minutes of action as the Hawkeyes rolled to a 125 to 56 win over the Swiss All-Stars.

Garza says the four-game trip is a great experience.

Iowa travels to Italy today (Friday), and will play the Milan All Stars on Saturday. Hawkeye coach Fran McCaffery will continue to rotate starting lineups.

(Learfield Sports)