LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The first big weekend of the college football season was marred by weather problems across the country Saturday, with officials calling off games at Nebraska and Iowa State and delays hitting stadiums from the Air Force Academy in Colorado to the Southeast.

Iowa State’s home game against South Dakota State was canceled after a long delay because of severe storms in and around Ames. And Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, which holds some 80,000 people, was evacuated because of a severe thunderstorm two hours after the Akron-Nebraska game went into a lightning delay. There was no immediate word on whether it would be rescheduled.

The Iowa State game was cancelled after a 2 hour, 23 minute delay. Lighting flashed throughout the delay and rain fell off and on. Fans gradually trickled out until only a few students remained. Iowa State had a 7-0 lead on Kyle Kempt’s 55-yard touchdown pass to Deshaunte Jones, but the two teams got in only 10 plays plus a punt before they left the field for good. “At the end of the day, player safety is of the utmost importance,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said.

At Nebraska, storm clouds that built south of the stadium in the hours before the game did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm for one of the most anticipated Cornhuskers openers in memory. The stadium was full more than a half-hour before kickoff, with many fans showing up in T-shirts celebrating the arrival of new coach and former Huskers quarterback Scott Frost.

NFL star and ex-Husker Ndamukong Suh and Omaha-born actress Gabrielle Union and her NBA star husband Dwyane Wade were among the celebrities in attendance. The buildup for the game reached a crescendo after an emotional team entrance to the Huskers’ traditional “Tunnel Walk.”

But right after the kickoff, a Nebraska athletics official ran onto the field to notify officials of lightning within an eight-mile radius of Memorial Stadium. Lightning in the area requires at least a half-hour delay. Most fans remained in the stadium watching the Michigan-Notre Dame game on the big screens and dancing to music on the public-address system until a downpour an hour in prompted most to leave. An hour after that, a severe thunderstorm moved in, and fans were instructed to leave the stadium and take shelter in designated areas. The game was postponed indefinitely almost three hours after kickoff.

Because of a forecast calling for potential storms, officials decided against waiting out the weather. In 2011, Oklahoma State and Tulsa started a weather-delayed game at 12:16 a.m. and didn’t finish until 3:35 a.m. Sunday. Nebraska and Akron have not ruled out making up the game.

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

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Dalton Sneed ran for one score and threw for another, helping Montana hold off Northern Iowa for a 26-23 win in Bobby Hauck’s first game back as Montana’s coach. Hauck, who guided the Grizzlies (1-0) to Big Sky Conference titles in each of his seven seasons as the helm from 2003-09, saw his defense hold Northern Iowa to 47 total yards in the first half.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Saturday night’s season-opening contest between Drake and Division II William Jewell was canceled due to severe weather and will not be rescheduled. Braeden Hartwig had a 6-yard touchdown run on Drake’s first possession and the Bulldogs led 7-0 with 7:18 remaining in the first quarter when lightning caused the initial delay.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The first big weekend of the college football season was marred by weather problems across the country on Saturday. Officials called off games at Nebraska and Iowa State and delays for lightning were reported at stadiums from the Air Force Academy in Colorado to North Carolina. Iowa State’s home game against South Dakota State was canceled after a long delay because of severe storms in and around Ames, Iowa.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning, giving the Kansas City Royals a back-and-forth 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles went ahead off Jake Newberry in the top of the ninth, when Trey Mancini homered to lead off and Tim Beckham hit a two-run double, his fourth hit of the night. The Royals have won six of seven on their current homestand, their best seven-game stretch since July 2017.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Luis Castillo and two relievers combined on a two-hitter to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds snapped a three-game losing streak.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are poised to head into the regular season with a defensive backfield that bears very little resemblance to the one that spent the offseason and training camp together. The Chiefs released eight players from their secondary on Saturday, including underperforming cornerback David Amerson, as they trimmed their roster to the NFL’s 53-man limit. They also were poised to add safety Ron Parker, who spent the past four seasons with Kansas City before joining Atlanta.

He was released by the Falcons this past week and was visiting the Chiefs on Saturday.
Throw in a trade with Dallas on Thursday night that landed cornerback Charvarius Ward, and another with Miami on Friday for safety Jordan Lucas, and that’s quite the secondary overhaul.

Amerson was released by the Raiders before signing with Kansas City, where he was expected to solidify the secondary after Peters was sent to the Rams. But he was often burned in preseason games, and his release appeared imminent when the Chiefs traded for Ward during their preseason finale.

They also added Kendall Fuller earlier this year, grabbing him from the Redskins in the trade for quarterback Alex Smith, and signed veteran Orlando Scandrick late in camp. Late-round pick Tremon Smith has shown flashes, too, giving the Chiefs an intriguing but unproven mix of talents.

The Chiefs kept safety Daniel Sorensen on the 53-man roster, an indication they expect him back at some point this season. He broke a bone in his leg but was not placed on injured reserve. With the status of Eric Berry a bit uncertain — he missed most of training camp with a stubborn heel injury — it made sense that Veach would bring in Parker to solidify the safety spot.

The Chiefs kept undrafted rookie Ben Niemann over Ukeme Eligwe at middle linebacker, even though Eligwe was a fifth-round pick last year and started Week 17. Eligwe was among the players who protested during the national anthem, though it appears that had nothing to do with his release. The Chiefs cut Jace Amaro and Tim Wright, leaving them only Travis Kelce and Alex Ellis for their Week 1 game against the Chargers. Demetrius Harris is suspended for the opener for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, and Veach said the Chiefs are content with three tight ends when he returns.

Matt McGloin beat out Chase Litton for the No. 3 quarterback job, though Veach said the Chiefs hope to keep the undrafted rookie on the practice squad. Damien Williams and undrafted rookie Darrel Williams joined Kareem Hunt and Spencer Ware at running back, where Kerwynn Williams, Ray Lawry and Algernon Brown were released. The final wide receiver spot went to Marcus Kemp, who beat out a group that included Jehu Chesson, Gehrig Dieter and Jordan Smallwood.

The only player placed on IR was wide receiver Byron Pringle, an undrafted rookie who surprised in training camp. In what might have been a fortuitous injury for the Chiefs, Pringle hurt a hamstring in their preseason finale, allowing them to keep him on IR this season.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kirk Ferentz’s record-setting 144th win at Iowa could not have been more emblematic of his tenure in Iowa City. There were times when every play on offense looked like a struggle — especially early on. But they kept grinding, finally breaking through with a win powered by mental toughness, the running game and a punishing defense.

Nate Stanley threw for 108 yards and a touchdown, Ferentz passed mentor Hayden Fry as Iowa’s all-time leader in wins and the Hawkeyes rolled past Northern Illinois 33-7 in a season opener on Saturday. Fry, who counted Ferentz among his assistants for nearly a decade, went 143-89-6 in 20 seasons before Ferentz took over in 1999.

The often-stoic Ferentz couldn’t hold back his emotions as the seconds ticked down, sharing a tearful embrace with his son, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. “I’ve just enjoyed coaching … there’s a lot of luck involved, too. Because everything pretty much in my whole career has happened by chance. I swear to God it has,” Ferentz said. “I never had a master plan or a list of things I was trying to accomplish. But the commonality is that I’ve just been around really good people.”

It was a signature Ferentz win, with the Hawkeyes running for 209 yards while holding the Huskies to just 211 yards overall.

The Hawkeyes were missing their starting left and right tackles against one of the better Group of Five programs in America in their opener. The goal was survival, not style points, and in that regard Iowa did what it had to do. But Iowa’s defense was so dominant that its offense had time to find its footing.
UP NEXT
Iowa hosts Iowa State on Sept. 8.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs Jefferson beat Sioux City North 99-81 on Friday night in the highest-scoring game in the history of Iowa high school football. Council Bluffs led 57-21 at halftime. North rallied to score 60 points in the second half but still managed to lose by 18, according to an unofficial box score provided to The Associated Press by Sioux City coach Brant Anderson.

Jefferson put up 99 points on the strength of a rushing attack that put up a staggering 749 yards on 67 carries. Cameron Baker had 358 yards and eight touchdowns. Jermaine Green added 209 yards and two touchdowns.

Sioux City North QB Matt Hagan threw for 310 yards and nine touchdowns in the losing effort. Neither team punted.

The Anita Masonic Night Golf event slated for 6:30-p.m. today (Saturday), has been postponed due to the weather. The event was rescheduled to 6:30-p.m., Sept. 15th.

w/ Chris Parks

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul DeJong closed out a rough August with two big swings. It’s another positive sign for the rolling St. Louis Cardinals. DeJong hit a three-run homer and a two-run single for a career-high five RBIs, helping Austin Gomber and the Cardinals pound the Cincinnati Reds 12-5 on Friday night.

Matt Carpenter hit his NL-best 35th homer as St. Louis pulled within 3 1/2 games of NL Central-leading Chicago. Gomber (5-0) pitched seven effective innings and also contributed a two-run double. The surging Cardinals have won eight of 10 to improve to 28-13 since the All-Star break. They also lead the NL wild-card standings.

The Cardinals have been getting some key hits from their pitching staff lately, including recent homers by starters John Gant and Miles Mikolas. The Reds dropped 1-18 in Bailey’s 19 starts this year.

Cardinals: OF Marcell Ozuna (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to be activated Saturday, but manager Mike Schildt said the outfielder will see limited action for the near future. … RHP Michael Wacha (oblique) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday. He has been out since June 21.

UP NEXT- Cardinals: RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (0-0, 2.08 ERA) returns as part of the team’s September promotions.

The Audubon Wheelers fought hard in a hard-hitting 8-man football game at Fremont-Mills on Friday night but came up short 39-21. It was a game of big momentum changes as the Knights raced out to an early 20-0 lead before the Wheelers rallied back to lead 21-20. The Knights then took advantage of some Wheeler mistakes to capture the win in the fourth quarter.

Jaeger Powers opened the game with a bang for F-M with a 65 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play. The Wheelers nearly answered right back on their first drive but Ethan Klocke had a ball squeeze through his hands in the end zone on a 4th down attempt. The Knights turned that opportunity into more points with a 51 yard pass play that set up a 13-yard Mason Vanatta touchdown run. The Knights got another TD run for Jaeger Powers to lead 20-0 after a botched PAT.

The Wheelers then started their rally with a Freshman at quarterback. Skyler Schultes was knocked out of the game with a concussion late in the first quarter and Freshman Gavin Smith and newcomer Kaiden Smith would take the snaps the rest of the way. Gavin Smith hooked up with Ethan Klocke on a 31 yard touchdown pass with 4:39 left in the first half to give the Wheelers some hope. They then started off the second half in flawless fashion. The Wheelers drove down the field in 11 plays and scored on a Kaiden Smith touchdown run to cut the lead to 20-14. The Wheelers forced a three and out by the Knights and rode Kaiden Smith down the field for another score to take the lead after the PAT 21-20.

Three straight possessions would end in fumbles with Audubon losing two and Fremont-Mills coughing up one. The Knights would benefit from great field position on the last fumble that set them up at the Audubon 21 with 11:21 left in the game. Mason Vanatta used a nifty run to punch it in and regain the lead for F-M at 26-21. The Knights then backed the Wheelers up deep on their next possession with a penalty and a play for loss. The Wheelers had to make Gavin Smith attempt to punt from the back of his own end zone and the kick was blocked and the Knights recovered on the Audubon 2 yard line. After a penalty stepped them back the Knights got it home with Jaeger Powers’ third TD of the game. A turnover on downs would set the Knights up for their final score, an 18 yard run by Seth Malcom.

The Knights were able to overcome losing a 20-point lead for the second week in a row and improve to 1-1 with the win. They take on Clarinda Academy in district play next week. Audubon falls to 1-1 and will open district play against Exira-EHK next Friday.