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

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Max Scherzer followed Aníbal Sánchez’s near no-hitter with a try of his own and the stingy Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship Series. Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until Paul Goldschmidt led off the seventh inning with a single that left fielder Juan Soto played conservatively with a one-run lead. A day earlier, Sánchez held the Cardinals hitless until pinch-hitter José Martínez singled with two down in the eighth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Noah Cain ran for a five-yard touchdown with 5:17 left and 10th-ranked Penn State held off No. 17 Iowa 17-12, its first win over a ranked opponent this season. Cain finished with 102 yards for the Nittany Lions, who extended their winning streak over the Hawkeyes to six games.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — One week after an injury scare, Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant looked like his old self in a 38-27 victory over Mississippi. Bryant, who was knocked out of last week’s win over Troy with a sprained knee, completed 25 of 35 passes for 329 yards and one touchdown.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rodney Smith ran for 139 yards and a touchdown, helping Minnesota overpower Nebraska on a wintry night and stay undefeated with a 34-7 victory on the strength of 322 yards rushing. Shannon Brooks ran for 99 yards, Mo Ibrahim had 84 yards and three touchdowns, and the Gophers stayed in a tie for first place in the Big Ten West Division with rival Wisconsin behind an all-around performance that had the Huskers on their heels all evening. Minnesota is 6-0 for the first time since 2003.

MONTREAL (AP) — Brendan Gallagher had a goal and two assists and the Montreal Canadiens beat the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues 6-3. Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Drouin, Philip Danault, Arturri Lehkonen, and Max Domi also scored for Montreal. Brayden Schenn, Samuel Blais, and Vince Dunn scored for St. Louis.

UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals’ front office says baseballs have suddenly lost their juice this postseason, supporting a claim from a prominent data scientist that the balls have been altered following a historic, homer-friendly regular season. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said St. Louis’ analytics department has found the ball is flying 4 ½ feet less on average in the postseason. Players in both leagues have been stunned when hard-hit balls have fallen on the warning track this month.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Freshman Trey Lance threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Adam Cofield, and an FCS top-10 showdown never materialized as top-ranked North Dakota State breezed to a 46-14 victory over Northern Iowa, ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches poll.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Noah Cain ran for a five-yard touchdown with 5:17 left and 10th-ranked Penn State held off No. 17 Iowa 17-12 on Saturday night, its first win over a ranked opponent this season.
Cain finished with 102 yards for the Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who extended their winning streak over the Hawkeyes (4-2, 1-2) to six games.

A matchup between two of the nation’s top defenses turned when Iowa’s Nate Stanley threw an interception near midfield with 9:22 remaining. Penn State drove 35 yards on a gassed Iowa defense, and the last of three straight runs by Cain made it 17-6.

Iowa pulled within 17-12 when Stanley found Brandon Smith for a 33-yard TD pass with 2:31 to go. The Hawkeyes’ two-point try failed though, and Cain converted a crucial third down that ensured that Iowa never saw the ball again. Up 7-6 late in the third quarter, Penn State recovered a fumble at Iowa’s 16 and Sean Clifford connected on an apparent touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth that was overturned on review. Iowa then held the Nittany Lions at the 1-foot line, and two straight holding calls forced them to settle for a 33-yard field goal.

KJ Hamler caught seven passes, including a 22-yarder for a TD, for Penn State. Stanley threw for 286 yards, but the Hawkeyes ran for just 70 yards on 30 attempts.
THE TAKEAWAY
Penn State: The Nittany Lions survived their toughest road challenge outside of a trip to Ohio State on Nov. 23. Penn State was on the road against a talented team with a jacked-up crowd, and yet the Nittany Lions were the ones making the plays that made the difference.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes nearly went back-to-back games without a touchdown. Granted, Michigan and Penn State are really good on defense. But Iowa can’t continue to lean on its own defense to keep it in games. At 1-2 in the league and with Wisconsin looking like one of the best teams in America, the Big Ten West doesn’t look so winnable anymore.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Penn State might move up a few spots. Iowa might struggle to hang onto its spot in the Top 25 after back-to-back losses.
UP NEXT
Penn State hosts Michigan on Oct. 19.
Iowa hosts Purdue next Saturday.

(2-0) ACGC 21-21, Ar-We-Va 10-14
(2-0) ACGC 21-21, Paton-Churdan 10-7
(2-0) ACGC 25-25, Riverside 19-17
(2-0) CAM 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 11-14
(2-1) Clarinda 12-21-16, Coon Rapids-Bayard 21-19-14
(2-1) Clarinda 15-21-15, Ballard 21-17-10
(2-0) Creston 21-21, Clarinda 9-13
(2-0) Creston 25-25, Fort Dodge 14-8
(2-0) Essex 21-21, Mormon Trail 14-12
(2-0) Essex 21-21, Seymour 16-12
(2-0) Glenwood 21-21, Fort Dodge 17-18
(2-0) Glenwood 21-21, Perry 8-7
(2-0) Glenwood 21-21, Stanton 13-6
(2-1) Glenwood 21-21-15, Williamsburg 23-14-6
(2-0) Glenwood 25-25, Indianola 16-19
(2-0) Glenwood 25-25, Williamsburg 15-19
(2-0) Griswold 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 8-14
(2-0) Griswold 21-21, Riverside 19-14
(2-0) Indianola 21-21, Clarinda 13-15
(2-0) Indianola 21-21, Coon Rapids-Bayard 13-14
(2-0) Indianola 21-21, Creston 18-10
(2-1) Kuemper Catholic 13-21-15, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 21-8-8
(2-0) Kuemper Catholic 21-21, Grand View Christian 11-11
(2-0) Kuemper Catholic 21-21, St. Edmond 10-17
(2-0) Kuemper Catholic 21-22, Independence 14-20
(2-1) Kuemper Catholic 25-20-15, Janesville 20-25-8
(2-0) Kuemper Catholic 25-25, Iowa Falls-Alden 22-23
(2-0) Melcher-Dallas 21-24, Essex 14-22
(2-0) Pleasantville 21-21, Earlham 13-6
(2-1) Riverside 21-19-10, CAM 16-21-15
(2-0) Riverside 21-21, Orient-Macksburg 4-6
(2-1) Sioux City East 17-21-15, Harlan 21-14-7
(2-0) Stanton 21-21, Perry 12-11
(2-0) Underwood 21-21, ACGC 19-17
(2-0) Underwood 21-21, Ar-We-Va 8-16
(2-0) Underwood 21-21, Paton-Churdan 12-6
(2-0) Underwood 25-25, ACGC 15-14
(2-0) Underwood 25-25, CAM 14-19
(2-0) Van Meter 21-21, Earlham 6-11
(2-0) Wayne 21-21, Essex 12-17
(2-0) Western Christian 21-21, Harlan 11-9

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Freshman Trey Lance threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Adam Cofield, and an FCS top-10 showdown never materialized as top-ranked North Dakota State breezed to a 46-14 victory over Northern Iowa, ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches poll, on Saturday.

Lance started the Bison (6-0, 2-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) off and running with two of his TD tosses in the first quarter — a 36-yarder to Phoenix Sproles that saw James Hendricks run it in for a 2-point conversion and a 19-yarder to Christian Watson that put NDSU up 15-0.

Northern Iowa (3-3, 1-1) got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Will McElvain hit Isaiah Weston for a 17-yard scoring strike to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 15-7. After Griffin Crosa kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Bison, UNI scored on Tyler Hoosman’s 6-yard run to get within 18-14 at halftime.

NDSU ended any drama by scoring 28 straight points in the second half. Lance’s third TD pass was a 30-yarder to Noah Gindorff in the third quarter for a 25-14 lead. Cofield scored on runs of 1 and 37 yards in the final period and Kobe Johnson capped the scoring with a 50-yard TD run.

Lance finished with 145 yards through the air, hitting 10 of 18 passes. Cofield had 15 carries and gained 104 of the Bison’s 347 rushing yards. McElvain completed 15 of 29 throws for 233 yards for the Panthers. Weston hauled in five passes for 129 yards.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Freshman Breece Hall rushed for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Iowa State to a 38-14 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night. Brock Purdy threw for one TD and ran for another for the Cyclones (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), who held the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) scoreless in the second half.

West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was hit hard while attempting a pass during the Mountaineers’ first series. He did not return and was replaced by backup Jack Allison. Hall scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and also had a 12-yard TD. He might have given the Cyclones the dependable option at running back they’d been looking for ever since star David Montgomery departed.

Hall entered the game fifth on the team with 84 rushing yards on 18 carries. The 205-pound Hall is the third different running back to lead the Cyclones in rushing this season and the first to eclipse 100 yards. Purdy had 102 yards a week ago against TCU. Johnnie Lang started Saturday’s game and had four carries for 11 yards before giving way to Hall.
THE TAKEAWAY
Iowa State: Hall’s performance will help the Cyclones take the running load off of Purdy, who entered the game with the most carries on the team.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers were limited to 190 yards of offense. Allison had one good series but couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up with Purdy. Allison finished 18 of 24 for 140 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception.
UP NEXT
Iowa State travels to Texas Tech next Saturday.
West Virginia plays at No. 6 Oklahoma next Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ian Corwin threw three touchdown passes, Drew Lauer scored three touchdowns and Drake defeated Butler 42-7 on Saturday to remain undefeated in the Pioneer League. Corwin, the current Stats FCS National Freshman Player of the Week, completed 25 of 32 passes for 265 yards. Two of his TD throws went to Devin Cates, who totaled nine receptions for 103 yards.

Drake (3-3, 3-0 PFL), second in the Pioneer League in total defense, held Butler (1-5, 0-2) to 229 total yards. Butler got started on the wrong foot, losing a fumble on the opening kickoff. Lauer capped a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 Drake lead. Butler tied it with its only score, a 34-yard pass from Joey Lindstrom to Johnny O’Shea.

Lauer scored his other TDs on a 22-yard pass from Corwin and a 2-yard run, giving Drake a 21-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Cates caught two short TD passes from Corwin and Jacob Clay added a 1-yard run to cap the scoring. Lauer had 26 carries for 124 yards.

w/ Chris Parks

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — It turns out Washington’s Big Three is a Big Four.

Don’t forget about Aníbal Sánchez.

The right-hander carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Howie Kendrick had two more big swings and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Friday night in the NL Championship Series opener.

“Tonight was obviously vintage Aníbal,” first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said.

Sánchez had allowed just three runners when he took the mound for the eighth. Zimmerman robbed Tommy Edman with an outstanding diving grab at full stretch for the first out, but pinch-hitter José Martínez cleanly singled to center with two down for the Cardinals’ first hit.

“I just tried to keep focused on every pitch that I’m going to throw,” Sánchez said. “I don’t want to miss any kind of pitch in the middle in the zone against those guys.”

Sánchez thought he was going to finish the no-hitter after the big grab.

“When Zimmerman caught the ball I said, ‘OK, I’ve got it,'” the pitcher recalled.

Sean Doolittle relieved and got four straight outs to finish the one-hitter for his first postseason save in two years.

Sánchez and Doolittle made life easy on manager Dave Martinez after the Nationals placed closer Daniel Hudson on the paternity list before the franchise’s first appearance in the NLCS since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington ahead of the 2005 season.

“I think the mood of the guys in the bullpen, we really wanted to find a way to pick him up and allow him to enjoy a really special moment with his wife and his family,” Doolittle said.

Game 2 is back at Busch Stadium on Saturday. Washington ace Max Scherzer starts in his hometown, and Adam Wainwright gets the ball for St. Louis. Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin will follow when the series moves to Nationals Park.

“People were talking about the Big Three,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said, “but we got a guy tonight that we got to contend with and not overlook him.”

St. Louis wasted a solid performance by Miles Mikolas, who pitched six innings of one-run ball in his second career playoff start.

Washington scored each of its runs with two outs. Kendrick doubled and came home on Yan Gomes’ double in the second. Kendrick then singled in Adam Eaton in the seventh after Eaton reached on a one-out triple against Giovanny Gallegos.

Kendrick also had the big blow in Washington’s Game 5 victory at Los Angeles on Wednesday night, a 10th-inning grand slam.

“It’s going to be a fun series,” Kendrick said. “Hopefully we can continue to play really good baseball and put up runs and get some wins.”

Gomes finished with two hits while subbing for catcher Kurt Suzuki, who left the Nationals’ clinching victory against the Dodgers with a head injury.

Sánchez became the first pitcher to start two postseason games with six hitless innings. Facing Boston for Detroit in the 2013 AL Championship Series opener, he was replaced by Al Alburquerque at the start of the seventh. The Tigers won 1-0, allowing their only hit when Daniel Nava singled off Joaquin Benoit with one out in the ninth.

Sánchez got his first playoff win since he struck out 12 in that game. He threw a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins in his 13th big league start as a rookie in 2006 and also has pitched four one-hitters.

He started this year 0-6 in his first nine starts but went 11-2 in his final 19.

For a while, it looked as if he might be headed to the third no-hitter in postseason history.

“He was good,” Edman said. “He was just hitting his spots and keeping us off balance all night, and we just didn’t execute our plan very well.”

Sánchez retired his first 10 batters before Kolten Wong walked in the fourth on a chilly, breezy evening.

Wong stole second and took third on Gomes’ throwing error, but Marcell Ozuna hit an inning-ending foulout.

Pinch-hitter Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, but the 35-year-old Sánchez retired Dexter Fowler and Wong. He plunked Yadier Molina in the seventh before Matt Carpenter bounced out.

“He was spot on with everything he threw today,” Gomes said.

Sánchez struck out five in his ninth career postseason start. He threw 67 of 103 pitches for strikes.

WORTH REMEMBERING

Mikolas retired Juan Soto on a bouncer to second for the final out of the fifth, leaving the bases loaded. The pitcher then grabbed his crotch briefly in the direction of the slugger.

“To me it’s not good,” Soto said. “I don’t care. He can do whatever he wants. We’re going to keep going.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: Suzuki and OF Victor Robles (strained right hamstring) were out of the starting lineup after they got hurt in the Division Series. Dave Martinez said Robles is about 80 to 85 percent. “To me it’s worth him missing another day or two to get him fully back, hopefully,” he said.

UP NEXT

Scherzer struck out 10 while pitching eight innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers. Wainwright threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Braves.

The CAM Cougars improved to 7-0 with a blowout win over Boyer Valley on Friday night 68-14. The Cougars took advantage of some Bulldog mistakes early in the game and had a 10-0 lead before the offense even ran a play.

The Cougars forced a three and out for the Bulldogs to start the game and on the punt Lane Spieker took it back 58 yards for a touchdown to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Cougars tacked on a 2 point conversion and then pushed the Bulldogs bag to their own 2 line on their next possession. A combination of negative plays and penalties backed Boyer Valley up and then on the punt the snap sailed over Dylan Berens head out of the back of the endzone for a safety. 10-0 Cougars before the offense stepped on the field.

CAM would go on to score on a touchdown on 6 of 7 possessions the rest of the first half to lead 54-16 at the break. The Cougars picked off Gavin Reineke twice and forced a turnover on downs during the half. Lane Spieker added 4 rushing touchdowns to his early punt return score to lead the way for the Cougars. The lone mistake of the first half for CAM came on the opening play of the second quarter when Nate Hensley’s pass to the flat was picked off by Dylan Berens and returned 22 yards for the Bulldogs lone score in the half.

The second half disappeared in a hurry with the running clock mercy rule in place. CAM would tack on two more scores and the Bulldogs punched one more touchdown in as well in that second half.

Next up for CAM is a home contest against Coon Rapids-Bayard and then will finish up the regular season the following week at Audubon.

Boyer Valley falls to 2-5 on the season and will host Exira-EHK next week.

Listen to the postgame interview with CAM Head Coach Joe Wollum below.

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Friday (10/11/2019)

CLASS 4A

District 7
Ames 48, CB Thomas Jefferson 7
Valley, West Des Moines 49, CB Abraham Lincoln 6
Urbandale 47, Des Moines, North 12

CLASS 3A

District 1
Storm Lake 24, Denison-Schleswig 0

District 2
Carroll 49, Perry 0

District 9
Glenwood 54, A-D-M 18
Harlan 14, Lewis Central 6
Winterset 41, Creston-O/M 32

CLASS 2A

District 9
Greene County 26, Atlantic 0
OABCIG 54, Shenandoah 7
Kuemper Catholic 45, Red Oak 0

CLASS 1A

District 8
ACGC 50, West Central Valley 14
Mount Ayr 35, Clarinda 3
Van Meter 20, Panorama 0

District 9
Underwood 20, East Sac County 0
Cherokee, Washington 44, MVAOCOU 0
Treynor 36, Missouri Valley 6

CLASS A

District 2
IKM-Manning 21, Alta/Aurelia 7
Ridge View 21, St. Edmond, Fort Dodge 14
Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids 8, Manson Northwest Webster 0

District 9
AHSTW 34, Nodaway Valley 14
St. Albert 27, Riverside 6 (Game site moved to Oakland)
Earlham 42, Southwest Valley 6

District 10
Woodbury Central 27, Logan-Magnolia 0
Tri-Center 35, Lawton-Bronson 12
Westwood 21, West Monona 0

CLASS 8-MAN

District 1
Ar-We-Va 54, Siouxland Christian/Whiting 38

District 6
Lamoni 44, East Union 6
Lenox 70, Murray 6
Seymour at Moravia
Southeast Warren 60, Mormon Trail 7

District 7
Fremont-Mills 58, East Mills 21
Stanton-Essex 42. Sidney 28

District 8
Audubon 55, West Harrison 14
CAM 68, Boyer Valley 14- ON KJAN and CAM COUGAR CHANNEL
Coon Rapids-Bayard 33, Glidden-Ralston 14
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 28, Woodbine 12