Iowa heads into its bye week with a record of 3-2. Indiana scored a late touchdown to escape Kinnick Stadium with a 20-15 victory. The touchdown came moments after Drew Stevens missed a go ahead 42-yard field goal. Two interceptions hurt their chances.

That’s Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa returns to action October 11th at Wisconsin.

Iowa’s lack of offense was, once again, too much to overcome against a rated foe and while defense kept the Hawkeyes in the game missed tackles continue to be a glaring problem.

3A District 6

• Atlantic – 29 vs Creston – 27
• Carroll – 33 vs Harlan – 28
• Greene County – 49 vs Perry – 0

A District 7 

• Riverside – 60 vs Nodaway Valley – 14
• AHSTW – 49 vs Southwest Valley – 12
• Mount Ayr – 64 vs Central Decatur – 6

A District 8

• St. Albert – 54 vs Westwood – 26
• Logan-Magnolia – 21 vs West Monona – 0
• IKM-Manning – 35 vs Akron-Westfield – 8

11-Player Non-District 

• ACGC – 33 vs Madrid – 15

1A District 8

• Tri-Center – 71 vs Red Oak –  0
• Treynor – 37 vs Underwood – 12
• Shenandoah – 33 vs Missouri Valley – 0

2A District 8

• Clarinda – 17 vs Van Meter – 14

2A District 2 

• Kuemper Catholic – 42 vs Southeast Valley – 6

8-Player District 9

• CAM – 54 vs Glidden-Ralston – 46
• Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton – 70 vs Griswold – 32
• Coon Rapids-Bayard – 64 vs Ar-We-Va – 50

8-Player District 10

• Woodbine – 74 vs East Mills – 0
• Boyer Valley – 48 vs Stanton/Essex – 20

8-Player District 8

• Bedford – 63 vs Mormon Trail – 0
• Lenox – 52 vs Lamoni – 26
• East Union – 64 vs Murray – 40

8-Player Non-District 

Audubon 40 Fremont-Mills 8

In dramatic fashion, the Atlantic Trojans defeated the Creston Panthers 29-27 to open district play Friday night. Although the Trojans seemed to be on the front foot all night, the Panthers drove the field twice in the final five minutes to take the lead. However, the Trojans used the final 24 seconds to move into position for one final heave towards the endzone.  On the last play of the game, Zayden Parker put one into the end zone, and Shelton Mualia came down with it, giving Atlantic a win to open district play. 

From Start to finish, the game was full of ebbs and flows. After Creston opened the scoring with a field goal, the Trojans responded with a sustained 80-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard Gavin McLaren Touchdown run. Although Atlantic didn’t get the same kind of pressure they did last week, for a good portion of the first half, they were able to keep Tanner Ray and the Panthers at bay. Sawyer Terrell was excellent in the secondary with multiple pass breakups throughout the night.

Early in the second quarter, the Trojans added to their lead with a 34-yard Killion Field goal. After forcing a Panther punt, the Trojans had the ball with a chance to grab complete control, but Creston started to turn the tide. After stopping the Trojans for the first time, they went on a sustained drive of their own to tie the game on a 17-yard Ray touchdown run. Although the Trojans moved into scoring position on the ensuing drive, Killion’s 45-yard field goal attempt was blocked to end the half. 

Much like the first quarter, the third quarter saw Atlantic start to tip the balance. Although they failed to capitalize on their opening drive (turned over on downs), the Atlantic defense grabbed a fourth-down stop of their own. As he did throughout the night, Ethan McNeal pulled off a long run, which set up another long drive capped off by McLaren’s second touchdown of the night to give the Trojans a 17-10 lead. 

Late in the fourth quarter and up by four, Atlantic needed a stop and got it in a big way. Hunter Nelson picked off Ray to set the Trojans up in the red zone, an opportunity they would capitalize on as Gavin McLaren cashed in once again. Although the extra point was blocked, up by 10 with 5:01 to go, Atlantic was in a good position to win the game.

Determined to flip the game on its head, it took less than three minutes for the Panthers to drive the field. Aided by the strong play from Ray (and a pass interference call), Jackson Pettigrew ran in an eight-yard touchdown to make it a three-point game. Regardless, Atlantic was still in a good position to close out the game. However, a fumble nearly derailed the night as Creston took full advantage. Leaving just 35 seconds on the clock, Ray connected with Jace Perdurm to give the Panthers their first lead since the first quarter.

Following the kickoff (and a great return from Killian), the game-winning drive was nearly perfectly executed. Outside of a false start penalty, everything that needed to happen happened. McNeal got a big chunk on the ground, the timeouts were used perfectly, and most importantly, the play to set up the hail mary was flawless.

That was Zayden Parker, who just seconds later delivered the game-winning throw to Mualia. Head coach Joe Brummer’s message heading into the final drive was a simple one.

Although there are some things to clean up, Brummer was pleased with how his team played, especially on offense.

This was a big win for the Trojans. In addition to moving to 3-2 on the season, they started district play 1-0, which goes a long way towards Atlantic’s goal.

Kickoff for Atlantic’s homecoming game against Perry next Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Iowa won with offense last week at Rutgers and may need even more tomorrow at home against Indiana. The 11th ranked Hoosiers are 4-0 and put up 63 points last week against Illinois. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz.

Indiana has been known for fast starts and Ferentz says the Hawkeyes may need to match them.

Ferentz says the Hawkeyes need to be aggressive but limit mistakes.

(Radio Iowa) – The 14th ranked Iowa State Cyclones host Arizona under the lights in a battle of unbeatens. The Cyclones will need to slow down Wildcat quarterback Noah Fifita (fih-fee-tuh), who has thrown for six touchdowns and has the ability to run.

That’s ISU coach Matt Campbell who says Fifita is also effective in the pocket.

Campbell says dual threat quarterbacks force a defense to be assignment sound.

CORALVILLE, Iowa – University of Iowa volleyball swept Maryland in its Big Ten opener at Xtream Arena on Thursday night. The Hawkeyes (10-3, 1-0 B1G) have won consecutive league openers for the first time since 1999-2000.

The Hawkeyes improved to 6-1 on their home floor and clinched their eighth sweep of the season.

Graduate Chard’e Vanzandt led the offense with 14 kills. Her 12th kill of the night was the 1,000th of Vanzandt’s career.

“I had never thought about reaching 1,000 kills,” Vanzandt said. “I really don’t keep up with my stats. Obviously, it’s a great accomplishment, but it isn’t possible without my setters and passers.”

“Chard’e is our leader,” head coach Jim Barnes said. “The team rallies behind her. She is a special athlete – to move from the left side after playing middle her entire career is just not something you see. For her to play that well already shows how hard she works.”

Senior Claire Ammeraal recorded her third double-double of the season with 31 assists and 11 digs. She added six kills. Iowa’s middles remained consistent with junior Hannah Whittingstall nailing nine kills and hitting .538. Defensively, Whittingstall totaled seven blocks. Sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic terminated six kills with no errors and hit a team-high .667.

Stojanovic and fellow sophomore Jaimie Marquardt were stellar from the service line, each picking up three aces.

Iowa finished with a .330 hitting mark and held the Terrapins to .204. The Hawkeyes won the block battle at the net, 9-4.

Up Next: Iowa (10-3, 1-0 B1G) returns to action against No. 7 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at Xtream Arena. The match begins at 2:00 p.m. (CT).

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 8 University of Iowa women’s soccer team fell to No. 20 Wisconsin, 2-1, on Thursday night at McClimon Soccer Complex. The Hawkeyes move to 7-2-2 on the season and 2-1-1 in Big Ten Conference play.

The Badgers struck quickly with Erin Connolly finding the net in the third minute of play to give Wisconsin the early edge.

The Hawkeyes defense would be stellar the rest of the half, allowing just two shots and one shot on goal after the Badger goal. Iowa’s offense applied pressure late in the first half with junior Sofia Bush firing a shot on goal that would be saved.

After 45 minutes, the Hawkeyes trailed the Badgers, 1-0. Iowa fired two shots putting both on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Fernanda Mayrink had one save in the first half for the Hawkeyes.

It didn’t take long for the Hawkeyes to find the net in the second half, with sophomore Iba Oching tying the game in the 49th minute. It marked her second straight game with a goal.

Wisconsin would respond with Brooke Allen giving the Badgers the lead in the 74th minute.

The Hawkeye offense applied pressure late but ultimately fell, 2-1.

MATCH NOTES

• Mayrink’s start tonight marked her second straight game starting at goalkeeper. It is the first time all season that a Hawkeye goalkeeper has started in consecutive games.
• Iowa’s two losses on the season have come to ranked opponents (No. 7 TCU & No. 20 Wisconsin).
• The two teams had a combined 11 shots.
• Four of Iowa’s five shots were put on goal.
• Oching led all players with three shots. No other player had more than one shot.
  • Oching’s three shots and three shots on goal both mark career highs.
• 90 Tracker: Sofia Bush, Price Loposer, Miah Schueller, and Millie Greer were the four Hawkeye position players to register 90 minutes. 14 Hawkeyes played in the match.
• Greer has played the full 90 minutes in 11 of Iowa’s 12 matches. She leads Iowa with 937 minutes on the season.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes are slated to face Nebraska on Sunday, Sept. 28  at 1 p.m. (CT) in Lincoln. The match will be streamed live on B1G+ (subscription required).

After wrapping up their non-district schedule with their most complete performance of the season, the Atlantic Trojans will travel to Creston to open their district schedule against the Panthers. The Trojans start the most important stretch of the year with a 2-2 record and with the season halfway complete, head coach Joe Brummer feels his team is right where they should be.

Atlantic will face a Creston team that is still searching for their first win. However, with losses to Des Moines Christian, Glenwood, Winterset and Clarinda, not only was their non-district schedule extremely challenging, but it is also not indicative of the team they have.

The Creston offense is led by junior quarterback Tanner Ray. Not only has he thrown for over 700 yards, but he is also the team’s leading rusher with 413 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Much like last week, the Trojans will have to deal with all-around athlete at the quarterback position.

Although the abilities of both Ray and Boyd (Storm Lake) mean there are some similarities between Creston and what Atlantic saw last week, there are some minor differences.

The Creston defense struggled to hold teams through their first four games, allowing more than 28 points in all four contests. It should come as no surprise that a major part of the Trojans gameplan will be to control the line of scrimmage, but beyond that they will look to use what has worked against Creston’s defense this year. However, that doesn’t mean it will be any less of a challenge.

Make no mistake, this is a big game for the Trojans. Not only because of the playoff implications that come with opening district play, but because of the rivalry that has been controlled by Creston. Atlantic has not won in Creston since 2008 but this year, the keys to winning start up front.

You can catch all the action on KJAN and KJANTV with pregame coverage at 6:30 pm. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm.