It was a well fought contest, but the Audubon Wheelers football team came out on top over the CAM Cougars on Friday night 38-20. Out of the gate you knew this was going to be an interesting contest when CAM went three and out on their first drive and Audubon had a punt blocked and retuned for a score to make it 6-0 Cougars. Audubon had a response of their own on the next drive that was capped with an Aaron Olsen 10-yard touchdown run with a two-point conversion giving Audubon the lead at 8-6. Later on, in the quarter the Wheelers started to put a drive together but that was quickly ended with a Carsen Mckee interception, which resulted in a two play 63-yard touchdown run by Kayden Winther to put CAM back up 12-8.

In the second quarter Audubon seemed to be losing steam but was quickly reenergized by an Austin Christensen interception that started a fast touchdown drive from a 13-yard throw from Carson Wessel to Brody Weber into the endzone. The Wheelers were successful with the two-point conversion taking the lead again at 16-12 but weren’t done there. After forcing another three and out Audubon slowly drained the clock and with a minute left Wessel connected with Christensen for a 44-yard touchdown throw in double coverage. The Wheelers capitalized again on their 2-point conversion making it a 24-12 game at the half, after Adam Obrecht picked off Makade Poulsen before halftime.

The third quarter completely turned the ride for the Wheelers as they scored twice from one yard out thanks to Karter Obermeier plunging his way through and Wessel gliding for another score. Those two scores and a missed two-point conversion saw the Audubon lead grow into 38-12 at the end of the third. In the fourth quarter both teams exchanged a few punts before CAM put together their last scoring drive that ended with a Makade Paulsen 5-yard touchdown scramble and efficient 2-point conversion ending the ball game with a score of 38-20.

The Wheelers rushing game resulted in 252 yards off of 47 carries and 3 touchdowns. A big part of the run game was Wessel’s legs scrambling for 198 yards and one touchdown. Wessel was also 9-10 in the pocket with 155 yards and 2 TD’s. Audubon also controlled the time of possession holding onto the ball for 30:11. Coach Birks was proud of the way his team battled throughout the night.

Coach Birks did note that those last few drives before halftime proved to be crucial, and he was impressed with how focused Audubon stayed. 

A large part of Audubon’s success tonight was from the selfless mentality that the team shared. If they can remain selfless, coach Birks know this team can be tough all year.

The Wheelers next game will be at home against Colo-Nesco. CAM’s leading rusher was Kayden Winther who had 87 yards on six carries before being banged up. The Cougars did rush for 212 yards on 40 carries but accumulated three turnovers on the night. CAM will look to bounce back next week on the road as they face the 0-1 Griswold Tigers. 

The Atlantic Trojan volleyball season is now underway, and the program has plenty of excitement to go around. The Trojans are led by first year head coach Alyssa Boltz, who has been on the Atlantic volleyball staff for over 5 years. Coach Boltz is passionate about this position and knows she has a talented pool of girls.

One of the things that impresses coach Boltz about this group is the work ethic they have shown. The girls stay disciplined in practice and carry positive attitudes the whole time.

The Trojans are also bringing back plenty of experience with senior Morgan Botos who has 87 sets under her belt and 57 kills. Senior Paytn Harter is another Atlantic volleyball player who is looking to make an impact for her team. Harter was tied for leading the team in spikes with 87 and led in kills with 175 back in 2023.

Coach Boltz noted that the team has seemed to mesh well together, and she has an abundance of leadership on her squad.

The goals for Atlantic volleyball are to build off of previous year’s success and bring the sharp results from practice onto the floor.

The Trojan’s recently lost their first match of the season 3-1 against the Winterset Huskies. But Coach Boltz still want’s fans to expect passion from every match.

Atlantic volleyball will be back in action on Saturday for the AHSTW tournament.

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s cross country team swept the top-six individual finishes enroute to a team title at the second annual Cyclone Preview. Maelle Porcher was the individual champion to lead the Cyclone effort.

“The athletes ran great, we had really nice stuff happen for both the men and women,” said director of track and field/cross country Jeremy Sudbury. “On the women’s side, we ended up running the whole roster. Coach (Cale) Wallace wanted to see where everybody was at and obviously get a chance to evaluate how training has been going. They’ve been training pretty hard this week and maybe doing some things they’ve never done before, so just getting that validation of ‘we’re tired but we can still run well’ was good.”

Despite losing three of its top four finishers from the 2023 NCAA Championships squad, four upperclassmen stepped up to lead Iowa State to the team title in its 2024 season opener. Porcher took the individual title in 16:58.8 while seniors Bella Heikes (second) and Taylor Briggs (fourth) as well as junior Riley Beach (third) followed. Freshman Josie Baker opened her rookie campaign with a solid fifth-place individual finish in 17:13.6 while Sydney Morrell ran for sixth in 17:14.1 to open her sophomore season.

Freshmen Claire White and Becca Heitzig rounded out Iowa State’s top-10 individual finishers, placing eighth and ninth, respectively.

“Even though we ran controlled today, it still shows us a little bit of where we’re at,” said associate head coach Cale Wallace. “Obviously (the Nuttycombe Invitational) is a 6K race versus the 5K race we ran today, so we’re preparing for that and continuing to get better running on the grass.”

Up Next

Iowa State travels to Madison, Wisconsin on September 27th to participate in the Nuttycombe Invitational. The women’s “B” race will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the “A” race set to start at 12:20 p.m.

Team Results

1. Iowa State, 15; 2. UNI, 56; 3. Drake, 71

Individual Results

1. Maelle Porcher, Iowa State, 16:58.8; 2. Bella Heikes, Iowa State, 17:02.4; 3. Riley Beach, Iowa State, 17:08.7; 4. Taylor Briggs, Iowa State, 17:12.5; 5. Josie Baker, Iowa State, 17:13.6; 6. Sydney Morrell, Iowa State, 17:14.1; 8. Claire White, Iowa State, 17:18.6; 9. Becca Heitzig, Iowa State, 17:22.0; 11. Keelee Leitzen, Iowa State, 17:34.0; 14. Makayla Clark, Iowa State, 17:37.6; 15. Mya Trober, Iowa State, 17:40.4; 16. Aspen Fulbright, Iowa State, 17:41.9; 20. Ashlyn Keeney, Iowa State, 17:47.2; 23. Camryn Sattler, Iowa State, 17:58.5; 28. Ruby Hughes, Iowa State, 18:15.6

Iowa will be without head coach Kirk Ferentz on Saturday when the Hawkeyes host Illinois State. Ferentz is serving a one game suspension for a recruiting violation and assistant head coach Seth Wallace will have the final call on the sideline.

Ferentz wants to see the new offense under coordinator Tim Lester play a sound game.

The Hawkeyes are a three touchdown favorite but Ferentz says upsets happen every week.

Pre-game coverage on KJAN begins at 9-a.m., Saturday, with kick-off at 11-a.m.

Iowa State opens at home against North Dakota. Cyclone Coach Matt Campbell says a key in every opener is to be sound on both sides of the ball.

Campbell says the opener always has a lot of question marks.

Campbell says season openers are unique.

Northern Iowa opens in the UNI-Dome against Valparaiso. The Panthers were 6-5 a year ago. Out of the Pioneer Football League Valpo was 3-8 last season.

That’s UNI coach Mark Farley who is not sure what to expect from Valpo.

It is the first time the Panthers have opened at home since 2010.

Winterset 3, Atlantic 1

Coon Rapids Bayard 2, Audubon 1

Panorama 2, Audubon 1

Coon Rapids Bayard 2, Panorama 1

Southwest Valley 2, Essex 0

East Mills 2, Southwest Valley 0

Iowa City High 2, C.B. A.L. 0

Johnston 2, C.B.A.L. 0

Sidney 2, Tri Center 0

Sgt. Bluff-Luton 2, Tri Center 0

Des Moines Christian 2, Harlan 0

Carlisle 2, Creston 0

Glenwood 2, Sidney 0

Fremont Mills 3, Bedford 0

Denison Schleswig 3, Storm Lake 2

Football is back for the Audubon Wheelers on August 30th as they travel to Anita for a tough matchup against the CAM Cougars. Last year Audubon football finished 8-2 and made it to the second round of 8-man playoffs before losing to Lenox 33-8. Now with a new season ahead of them and a strong amount of depth on their squad Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks likes the effort he has seen from his team throughout the summer. Coach Birks was also pleased with the Wheelers efforts from their scrimmage last week against Fremont-Mills and Ar-We-Va.

Another big takeaway from last week’s scrimmage was the amount of depth that Audubon contained. Coach Birks noted that he is fortunate to have so many athletes eager to start. Players like senior Aaron Olsen who rushed for over 1200 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Coach Birks also commented that the first game of the year also brings a unique atmosphere.

Audubon’s first opponent of the year will be the CAM Cougars. A team that the Wheelers are familiar with and lost to 42-12 a season ago. CAM had their own success back in 2023 with a 10-1 record. To keep Friday’s game competitive against the Cougars, coach Birks said his team needs to be physical.

Part of Audubon’s physicality relies on the brawn from seniors Ely Jorgensen and Gabe Jensen who both combine for nearly 100 total tackles. Coach Birks expects CAM to focus on their run game come Friday and an aggressive fight between both lines.

KJAN will be broadcasting the game starting with the pregame show at 6:30pm and kickoff is set for 7:00pm.

Perennial powers collide Friday night as class 3A 10th ranked Harlan hosts 4A top ranked and defending state champion Lewis Central. Harlan coach Todd Bladt says a first rounds playoff loss to Creston last season has provided motivation for his team.

Sophomore quarterback Gabe Arkfeld will direct the Cyclone offense.

Bladt on the keys to the game.

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the Iowa Speedway in 2025. The Hy-Vee 350 will run on August third with the Xfinity series race a day early. The Cup Series debuted at the Newton track in June and Iowa Speedway president Eric Peterson says he was confident of its return.

Peterson says the fans showed why Iowa Speedway deserves a spot on the Cup Schedule.

A new race in Mexico City takes the mid-June spot on the schedule and that opened up the date in early August.

Peterson says the racing surface received positive feedback after a partial repave and there are no plans for any further changes.