(By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer) – Two of the seven Big Ten Champions Week games have been canceled because of COVID-19 outbreaks. The Old Oaken Bucket game between Indiana and Purdue set for Friday was canceled for the second time in two weeks and the third time this season. Michigan’s game at No. 18 Iowa on Saturday also was canceled.

Iowa defensive back Dane Belton (4) celebrates with teammate Tyler Goodson (15) at the end of an NCAA college football game against Wisconsin, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 28-7. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

That’s the third straight Wolverines game called off. Athletic director Warde Manuel says more than 50 players are unavailable because of positive tests and contact tracing requirements.

Atlantic senior Bodie Johnson recently announced that he has committed to play football at Northwestern College in Orange City. Johnson officially signed with the Raiders on Wednesday in a ceremony at the Atlantic High School. Johnson narrowed his final choices down to Northwestern, Simpson, Waldorf, Wartburg, and a few others before deciding on Northwestern. He said he just felt very welcomed when he visited the Raiders program.

As a fullback on offense Johnson carried the ball 85 times for 567 yards and 9 touchdowns this season for Atlantic. Johnson was also a stalwart on defense for the Trojans at Linebacker, finishing second on the team with 44.5 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. Johnson also had three interceptions in his senior season and took two of those back for scores. Johnson said the Northwestern staff sees him fitting in at outside linebacker.

Johnson said he is just ready to get to work with the Raiders and earn some playing time early, which is something he feels like he can do.

The Raiders went 8-1 this fall, winning their final 8 after opening with a loss at powerhouse Morningside. Listen to the full interview below.

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(Radio Iowa) – Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh believes the Wolverines will be healthy enough to play Iowa Saturday night in Kinnick Stadium. Michigan is 2-4 and because of COVID cancellations has not played since a November 28th loss to Penn State.

There has been a lot of speculation that this will be Harbaugh’s final season as head coach.

The Atlantic Trojans will play host to the Kuemper Catholic Knights for a varsity basketball doubleheader tonight. We’ll have coverage of both games on KJAN and KJANTV. Pregame will start at about 5:50 p.m. prior to the girls game at 6:00 p.m. and the boys will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The girls game matches the 2-3 Trojans against the 0-4 Knights. Atlantic is coming off a loss to Creston on Friday 63-49. The Knights fell to Harlan last Tuesday 87-41. Atlantic has been led by 22.4 points per game from Haley Rasmussen and Kumper’s leading scorer is Catherine Mayhall at 15.5 points per game.

The boys game will match the 1-1 Trojans against the 1-2 Knights. The Trojans have been off since a loss to Glenwood on the 4th, having to postpone two games last week. The Knights fell to Harlan 59-45 last Tuesday. Atlantic’s Skyler Handlos is averaging 16.5 points per outing and Kuemper’s John Mayhall has averaged 14.3 points per outing.

Tune in tonight on AM 1220, FM 101.1, online at kjan.com and watch the games on KJANTV.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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(By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer) – Third-ranked Iowa’s offense is rolling entering this weekend’s scheduled meeting with top-ranked Gonzaga. The Hawkeyes have won every game by at least 13 points while scoring 93 points or more each time. They are scheduled to meet the Bulldogs on Saturday in South Dakota. Gonzaga hasn’t played since beating West Virginia on Dec. 2 due to COVID-19 protocols.

The week’s AP Top 25 schedule includes a rescheduled game between No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 23 Louisville, while No. 16 Missouri plays with an AP ranking for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

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

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — D.J. Carton scored a career-high 20 points, and Greg Elliott and Dawson Garcia combined for 23 of their 28 in the second half to lead Marquette past No. 9 Creighton 89-84. The Golden Eagles came back from a 12-point deficit to take a lead and then held off a couple of late comeback bids by the Bluejays. Mitch Ballock went 8 of 13 on 3-pointers and had a season-high 26 points to lead Creighton. Denzel Mahoney added 21 points. Marquette beat the Bluejays for the first time in four meetings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is perhaps a strange argument to make that the Kansas City Chiefs have a problem with complacency. They have won 12 of 13 games after winning their first Super Bowl in five decades last season. Yet the Chiefs, who lead the AFC and are positioned for a first-round playoff bye, also have gotten into a dangerous habit of letting big leads slip away — or, put another way, failing to bury opponents when they have a chance. The latest example came Sunday in Miami, where a 30-10 lead became a grab-the-onside kick situation in the fourth quarter to escape with a 33-27 victory.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Free agent reliever Greg Holland is staying with the Kansas City Royals. The right-hander has signed a one-year contact for $2.75 million. The 35-year-old Holland was 3-0 with six saves and a 1.91 ERA this season for Kansas City. He made 28 appearances and didn’t permit a run in his final 13 games Holland is a three-time All-Star who made his major league debut with the Royals in 2010 and spent his first six seasons with them. He later pitched for Colorado, St. Louis, Washington and Arizona before rejoining the Royals in 2020.

UNDATED (AP) — Minnesota and Wisconsin will try again to keep their rivalry streak alive. The Big Ten announced the undercard to Saturday’s conference title game between Ohio State and Northwestern. Wisconsin is set to host Minnesota on Saturday, and Indiana hosts Purdue on Friday night. Rutgers hosts Nebraska in Friday’s other game. The rest of the Saturday slate includes Illinois at Penn State, Michigan at Iowa and Michigan State at Maryland. Minnesota and Wisconsin were supposed to play Nov. 28, but the game was canceled because of elevated COVID-19 cases in the Minnesota program. The teams have played every year since 1907.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

• AHSTW 69, Griswold 27
• CAM 65, Southwest Valley 45
• Exira/EHK 65, IKM/Manning 27
• Lamoni 56, Orient-Macksburg 30
• Underwood 77, St. Albert 49
• Wayne 52, Moulton-Udell 30

BOYS BASKETBALL

• CAM 63, Southwest Valley 42
• IKIM/Manning 48, Exira/EHK 27
• Lamoni 60, Orient-Macksburg 29

The AHSTW Lady Vikes picked up a road hoops win at Griswold on Monday night 69-27. The Tigers were able to hang around for a bit early but Claire Denning dropped in 9 first quarter points to push the Lady Vikes in front 21-6 by the end of the first. That lead would swell to 39-14 at half and the Lady Vikes made it a running clock game in the third quarter.

Denning finished with 18 points to share the scoring lead on the night. Kailey Jones dropped in 14 in the second half to also finish with 18 in the game. Claire Harris and Delaney Goshorn also got into double figures with 11 each. After the game Claire Denning talked about the balance her team brings to the table.

The Lady Vikes improve to 5-1 and have a big Western Iowa Conference battle at Treynor on tap Tuesday night. Denning said the keys to a win against the Cardinals are the same as every other night.

Griswold was led by 9 points from Brenna Rossell. The Tigers fall to 2-4 and will next up host East Mills on Friday.

The Griswold Tigers girls basketball team plays host to the AHSTW Lady Vikes tonight and we’ll have coverage on KJAN. Tune in on AM 1220, FM 101.1, or online at kjan.com Pregame will start at about 7:15 p.m. with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. You can also catch live video through the student run broadcast on GrizTigerVision through the KJAN Video Network!

The Lady Vikes are 4-1 and the Tigers at 2-3. Kailey Jones has led the Lady Vikes with an impressive 18.6 points per contest. McKenna Wiechmann has led the Tigers with 7.4 points per outing.