Friday, August 23, 2024

• Thomas Jefferson @ Atlantic **On KJAN, pre-game at 6:30 pm/ Kick-off at 7:00 pm**
• Boyer Valley vs. Moravia (@ ADM)
• Melcher-Dallas @ Murray
• Twin Cedars @ Colo-Nesco

Week 0 is underway for the Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson Yellowjackets Football squad and their first opponent of the year will be the Atlantic Trojans. Yellow Jackets Head Coach Jeremiah Watters is now in his first full year of coaching for T.J. as he co-coached a 3-6 team a year ago. Now in full control, coach Watters has been pleased with the progress his team has made over the summer and how all of the players have seemed to mesh together.

All of the effort displayed by the Yellow Jackets has shown some impressive results for various players. One of them being junior quarterback Jayden Fujii who passed for 1303 yards and 10 touchdowns last year.

Coach Watters has also seen improvement in his offensive line. T.J.’s O-line has grown from last year and average over 280 pounds per lineman.

The offensive line will not be the only strength for T.J. The Yellow Jackets are also bringing back their leading rusher junior Jayden Mulligan who gained 250 yards on the ground last year. Fujii will also have his favorite target junior wide receiver Mayson Kramer returning who collected 29 passes and 3 scores. The talent that T.J. is getting back creates faith for Coach Watters in his team’s ability to win ball games. Nevertheless, he is even more excited about how his team is believing in the 2024 T.J. theme.

One of the strategies for the Yellow Jackets as they head into Friday’s contest against Atlantic is minimizing mistakes. Coach Watters wants his team to stay in control by limiting turnovers and keeping their heads up throughout the entire ball game.

KJAN has the coverage for T.J.’s matchup against the Atlantic Trojans starting with the pregame show at 6:30 pm.

Iowa State basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger expects forward Joshua Jefferson to be ready for preseason practice. The transfer forward from St. Mary’s started the first 26 games last season before suffering a knee injury and he missed most of summer workouts while recovering from surgery.

Otzelberger says Jefferson watched most of summer drills before gradually returning to the court.

Otzelberger on what Jefferson will bring to the Cyclones.

Jefferson on what his rehab was like this summer.

Jefferson is happy with the way ISU has handled his recovery.

Jefferson averaged just over 10 points and six and-a-half rebounds last season at St. Mary’s before the injury.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa cross country student-athletes Will Ryan and Miriam Sandeen were named to the Big Ten Cross Country Preseason Watch List, the conference announced on Thursday.

Ryan, a native of Waukee, Iowa, holds the program’s seventh-fastest 6,000-meter time (18:17.4). Last season, he scored in four of the five meets he competed in, including a fifth-place finish at the Hawkeye Invite. Ryan holds personal records of 18:17.4 (6K), 25:20.5 (8K) and 32:53.7 (10K).

Sandeen enters the 2024 cross country campaign after a strong finish to the outdoor track season. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native has careers bests of 14:38.8 (4K), 17:54.2 (5K) and 21:51.3 (6K). Sandeen is a four-time academic all-Big Ten selection and three-time letterwinner.

The Hawkeyes open their cross country season on Friday, Aug. 30, with the Hawkeye Invite at the Ashton Cross Country Course in Iowa City. The meet begins at 6 p.m. (CT). Admission is free.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz took responsibility for an NCAA violation that has led to a University imposed suspension for the season opener against Illinois State. Receiver coach Jon Budmayr is also suspended. The violation involves improper contact with a player before he entered the transfer portal.

Ferentz says the NCAA investigation is ongoing but at this point they felt a suspension was the right move.

Ferentz did not name the player involved but did call it a unique situation.

Ferentz will not be with the team on game day.

Iowa AD Beth Goetz says they were notified about a potential violation by the NCAA.

Goetz says Ferentz took ownership of the violation.

Various reports say the violation involved Hawkeye quarterback Cade McNamara and his transfer from Michigan in late 2022.

Iowa defensive lineman Aaron Graves says it is about upholding a standard and not living up to expectations for the Iowa defense. The former Southeast Valley star moves into a starting role this season for a Hawkeye defense that finished fourth in the nation in points allowed in 2023.

Graves on what that standard is.

Graves says having played in 26 games the past two seasons will help him transition into an expanded role.

Iowa opens August 31st at home against Illinois State.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (August 22, 2024) — University of Iowa Moon Family Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz announced on Thursday that he and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr will not coach the Iowa vs. Illinois State game on Aug. 31 to address NCAA recruiting violations that occurred in late 2022. The issue involved communications with a player and his family prior to him entering the transfer portal.

Following a thorough review and discussion with NCAA officials, Coach Ferentz and Athletic Director Beth Goetz recommended a self-imposed one-game suspension and loss of one week of off-campus recruiting to begin addressing the matter.

“I frequently tell our players to abide by the rules, and in this instance, I did not.” said Ferentz. “In 26 years as a head coach at Iowa — and more than four decades as a coach — this is my first potential Level II NCAA infraction. I made a mistake and would like to apologize to our players, University leadership, and our Hawkeye football fans. I know Coach Budmayr echoes those sentiments.”

Under the NCAA process a program can self-impose penalties or wait until formal allegations are issued. The University has chosen to self-impose these penalties.

“Coach Ferentz and I made the decision to self-impose the penalties, allowing the program to move forward without distraction,” said Beth Goetz, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. “I appreciate
the accountability demonstrated and we will continue to fully cooperate with the NCAA through this process. I have confidence in Coach Ferentz and his leadership, and we look forward to turning our focus to the opening
game and exciting season that lies ahead.”

Until the University of Iowa receives formal notification from the NCAA that this matter has been closed, University officials will not be able to comment further. Coaches Ferentz and Budmayr will participate in all team activities in the days leading up to the game but will step away from all duties for 24 hours beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 31. Both coaches will return to normal duties on Sept. 1 at 12:01 a.m. Assistant Head Coach Seth Wallace will serve as the acting Head Coach for the game.

Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock says he is ready to find out how his defense will handle adversity in a game. An experienced defense is one of the reasons The Cyclones expect to improve upon last year’s 7-6 record and they open at home on August 31st against North Dakota.

Heacock says head coach Matt Campbell creates chaos at practice by changing up the situations to help prepare for games.

Heacock says the defense has had to play with good effort every day in camp against the Cyclone defense.

Heacock says every season opener answers a lot of questions.

Junior Jeremiah Cooper leads an experienced group of safeties and says they are looking forward to game week.

Cooper has been a starter since his true freshman season and is taking on more of a leadership role.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz will reportedly open the season by sitting out the Hawkeyes’ first game.

Scott Dochterman of the Athletic reports that Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr will be suspended one game for a recruiting violation connected to the pursuit of quarterback Cade McNamara in 2022.  Dochterman cites a source who has been briefed on the violation in his report.  It is reported that it’s related to an NCAA investigation about contact with McNamara before the transfer portal had opened that year. It’s not clear if the suspension is being handed down by Iowa or the NCAA.

McNamara committed to Iowa on December 1, 2022 after four years at the University of Michigan – helping lead the Wolverines to the 2021 Big Ten championship and a College Football Playoff berth.

Ferentz will be made available to the media at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The start of football season is fast approaching for the Audubon Wheelers, as they already have a three team scrimmage planned for this Friday. The Wheelers will be looking to improve off of last season’s (8-2) efforts which ended in a 33-8 defeat against Lenox. In order to improve, Audubon’s athletes have been staying involved and active in various other sports. This high level of involvement has impressed Wheelers head coach Sean Birks.

That high level of activity should only contribute to the offensive philosophy that Audubon is looking to create. An offense that prides itself on being explosive and looking to take advantage  of every weakness that opposing defenses may show.

In order to cultivate a talented and dynamic offense, coach Birks will be looking to a few familiar Wheeler faces who made an impact last season. Junior quarterback Carson Wessel will be returning as a slick runner who picked up 252 rushing yards and 9 scores a year ago. Audubon also has confidence in their returning quarterback senior Aaron Olsen who threw for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Power on the offensive side of the ball is not the only focus for Coach Birks and the Wheelers as they have a good amount of size on defense. Players like senior Gabe Jensen who racked up 5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss. On the other side of Jensen is senior Ely Jorgensen with 49 total tackles back in 2023.

Friday’s scrimmage for Audubon will have the Wheelers take on Fremont-Mills and Ar-We-Va. Coach Birks hopes to see physicality and hustle throughout the evening.

Audubon’s first regular season game will take place on August 30th against the CAM Cougars. KJAN will bring you coverage of that matchup next week starting at 6:30pm.