It will be a playoff type football game on Friday night in Exira as the Exira-EHK Spartans (4-2, 3-1) play host to the Fremont-Mills Knights (4-2, 3-1). Both teams come in with one loss in 8-man District 7 play, and that loss was to the Sidney Cowboys for both teams. With the squads tied for the second spot in the district, the winner has a strong chance to take that second playoff spot.

Fremont-Mills Head Coach Jeremy Christiansen said he feels like the playoffs start the instant you get that first loss in district play with just two teams making the postseason.

The Knights have dealt with some injuries and suspensions early in the season but Coach Christensen said this week they should be back to pretty much a full squad. The Knights have been led by Junior quarterback Mason Vanatta who has thrown for 818 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also leading the team with 684 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Coach Christensen said Vanatta just finds a way to get things done.

Coach Christensen said the defensive side of the ball is where his team has shown the most improvement throughout the season and this week they will face a balanced Spartan attack. Exira-EHK quarterback Josh Pettepier has thrown for 867 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Spartans have run the ball by committee with Cole Burmeister, Cole Madsen, and Jayden Goodwin all over 45 carries on the year.

Cole Madsen and Ian Leader have forged the way for the Spartan defense. Madsen leads the team in tackles and has two fumble recoveries on the year. Leader is the second leading tackler and has one interception to his name.

We’ll have the Spartans and the Knights on KJAN Friday night. Chris Parks and Mike Smith will have the call from the top of the hill in Exira with pregame at 5:30pm and kickoff at 5:45pm. Catch the action on AM1220, FM101.1, online at kjan.com, on the KJAN mobile app, and on KJANTV.  Tune in for our pick ’em show Who’s Gonna Win? to start the night at 5:00pm.

The Atlantic Trojans (3-3, 1-3) return home this week to face the ADM Tigers (1-5, 0-4) in a Class 3A District 7 football game. Atlantic is coming off a gutty effort in a 42-20 loss at Glenwood last week. Trojan Head Coach Mike McDermott said his team was disappointed with the loss but they gained some confidence in that game from the way they were able to fight back.

The Trojans were able to get a number of guys involved in the offense against the Rams and they hope to carry that over to this week. The weather outlook is wet for Friday night and Coach McDermott said due to that, they are focusing a little more on the run game this week.

ADM has been in a number of close games this season and dropped a 14-13 game last week to Denison-Schleswig on a late score. The Tigers like to spread the field and let Quarterback Matthew West distribute the ball around and take off on the run as well. Coach McDermott said the Trojan defense will need to be ready to play sound assignment football.

You can hear a full interview with Coach McDermott on Friday afternoon at 4:45pm on Trojan Preview. The Trojans and Tigers are set for a 7:30pm kickoff at the Trojan Bowl Friday night.

Atlantic is set to play host to a large Co-Ed cross country meet today at the Atlantic High School. The meet was moved from the Atlantic Golf and Country Club to the High School grounds due to recent wet weather and they are hoping the weather cooperates to get the meet in today which is set to begin at 4:00pm. 25 Varsity teams are entered to compete along with 26 middle school teams. 900-1,000 runners are expected to participate.

In the boys race top ranked Dallas Center-Grimes will be the team to beat. The field also includes other tough 3A teams in 12th ranked Sargent Bluff-Luton, Glenwood, and Lewis Central. Two Class 1A ranked teams will also be in the mix: 12th ranked Tri-Center and 15th ranked St. Albert. Other teams in the mix are Abraham Lincoln, Harlan, Winterset, and Atlantic.

The boys race will also feature four top ten ranked runners from various classes. 6th rated Scott Miles of Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 9th ranked Jacob Waymire of Dallas Center-Grimes, Class 1A 2nd ranked Evan Wilson of Exira/EHK and 3rd ranked Jerry Jorgensen of Treynor.  Ranked 2A runners Adam Thompson of Southwest Iowa (15th) and Gage Graeve of Missouri Valley (22nd) also figure to be in the mix.

The girls race will feature 6 top 15 rated teams. Out of Class 3A is 8th ranked Dallas Center-Grimes, 12th ranked Glenwood, 14th ranked Denison-Schleswig, and 15th ranked Atlantic. 2A 10th ranked Shenandoah and 1A 13th ranked Tri-Center also look to contend.

Individually for the girls Class 3A 7th ranked Raegen Andersen of Denison-Schleswig and 12th ranked Sadie Juergens of ADM will be the favorites. Brielle Baker of Creston, 1A 16th ranked Peyton Pogge of Tri-Center, Taylor McCreedy of Atlantic, and several others are expected to compete towards the front of the pack.

The schedule for the meet at the Atlantic High School tonight looks like this: 4:00pm Middle School boys, 4:15pm Middle School Girls, 4:30pm JV boys, 5:00pm Varsity girls, 5:30pm Varsity boys, 6:00pm JV girls.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – An NCAA committee is developing a proposal that would eliminate a school’s ability to essentially block an athlete from transferring while an idea to allow some undergraduate athletes to switch schools and be immediately eligible to compete will not be considered.

The NCAA said Wednesday that the Division I Council could introduce legislation as early as January. The Division I Transfer Working Group met this week and considered feedback on transfer reforms from more than 2,000 administrators, coaches and faculty members.

The NCAA says the most significant change that would be considered this year is taking away from coaches and schools the ability to restrict aid to athletes after transferring. The possibility of tying academic benchmarks to immediate eligibility will not be considered.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs coach Andy Reid denounced cornerback Marcus Peters’ direction of profanities at fans during Monday night’s game against Washington, saying “we can’t go in that direction.”

Reid says the situation, which was caught on camera, has “been addressed.” But he declined to say Wednesday what kind of punishment, if any, was meted out and refused to take questions.

Peters was burned for a pair of touchdowns by the Redskins during the Chiefs’ 29-20 victory. After the game, he spoke for about 50 seconds in another profanity-filled exchange with reporters. He called his performance “hella weak” before saying he was going to “go get loaded” and leaving the locker room.

Peters drew the ire of some fans for sitting during the national anthem again. He stood for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

To see a list of all our Pigskin Payoff winners so far this year check out our Contests/Promotions page. All winners up to this week are listed and we will continue to update the list each week after Iowa Football contests!

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More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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