IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa is expected to snap its longest losing streak in 13 years on Saturday when it hosts Missouri State. The Hawkeyes certainly can’t afford to let a shot at a win over an FCS school pass them by. Iowa (0-1) showed signs of progress in last week’s opener against Northern Illinois. But a late interception by new quarterback Jake Rudock paved the way for a 30-27 win for the Huskies.

The loss made it seven straight since last season for the Hawkeyes, who haven’t been on such a skid since dropping 13 in a row in 1999-2000.  Missouri State (0-1) is 1-28 against FBS schools, and last week the Bears lost at home to Northwestern State.

Pre-game coverage begins at 9-a.m. Saturday on KJAN, with the kick-off from Kinnick Stadium at 11.

(3-1) Adair-Casey 25-16-25-25, Boyer Valley 19-25-20-22
(2-0) A-D-M 21-21, West Central Valley 3-17
(3-1) Ar-We-Va 22-25-25-25, CAM 25-15-22-11
(2-1) Bedford 25-19-15, Essex 15-25-6
(2-0) Bedford 25-25, Riverside 23-9
(3-0) Coon Rapids-Bayard 25-25-25, Charter Oak-Ute 11-8-15
(3-2) Earlham 13-25-23-25-15, Van Meter 25-19-25-19-13
(3-0) Glidden-Ralston 25-25-25, West Harrison 21-21-16
(3-1) Kuemper Catholic 25-25-25-25, Red Oak 17-12-27-16
(3-2) Madrid 20-25-25-18-16, Guthrie Center 25-22-22-25-14
(2-0) Maple Valley-Anthon Oto 25-25, Missouri Valley 23-19
(3-0) Martensdale-St Marys 25-25-25, Lenox 11-12-12
(2-1) Missouri Valley 25-23-15, West Monona 15-25-9
(2-1) Missouri Valley 27-26-15, Sioux City, North 25-28-12
(3-1) Shenandoah 16-25-25-25, Denison-Schleswig 25-18-16-17
(3-2) Southwest Valley 21-16-25-26-15, East Mills 25-25-19-24-9
(3-0) Stanton 25-25-25, South Page 9-6-11

CINCINNATI (AP) — Todd Frazier hit two homers, including the first of Cincinnati’s three off Lance Lynn, and the Reds recovered from a 16-inning loss by overpowering the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Thursday night, taking three of four in their final series of the season. Jay Bruce and Shin-Soo Choo also hit solo homers off Lynn, who lasted five innings and gave up three homers for only the second time in his career. Frazier also connected off Seth Maness for the third multihomer game of his career.

Left-hander Tony Cingrani returned from a sore back and did a little bit of everything. He pitched into the sixth inning, gave up two runs, bunted for a hit, stole a base and scored. David Freese homered for the Cardinals, who have lost six of eight.

*****

St. Louis first baseman Allen Craig has a sprained left foot but no fracture, a big relief for a Cardinals team that feared it had lost its cleanup hitter for the rest of the season. Craig hurt his foot while rounding first base during a 5-4, 16-inning win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. He stayed on the ground for a long time and walked off gingerly.

X-rays in Cincinnati were inconclusive. He was sent back to St. Louis for an MRI and more X-rays that indicated nothing was broken. Manager Mike Matheny says it’s a relief that he can return at some point. The Cardinals were in second place in the NL Central, a game behind Pittsburgh, heading into their game on Thursday night.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Smith is finally getting his chance to start in the NFL again.    After getting hurt and then benched last season in San Francisco, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs this past offseason. Now, Smith doesn’t have to look over his shoulder at guys like Colin Kaepernick nipping at his heels. He’s the unquestioned starter as the Chiefs head into their opener Sunday at Jacksonville.

It’ll be the first game that Smith has started since last Nov. 11, when he took the opening snaps in a 24-24 tie with St. Louis. It was in that game that Smith sustained a concussion, and when he was cleared to return two games later, Kaepernick had seized the starting job. Smith never started again during the 49ers’ NFC championship run.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Matchups and tipoff times for the 2013 Hy-Vee Big Four Classic have been determined as the state of Iowa’s four NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams prepare to take center stage at Wells Fargo Arena on Dec. 7. Northern Iowa and Iowa State will open the doubleheader event with a 5 p.m. tipoff followed by Drake and Iowa renewing their series at 7:30 p.m.

One of the marquee basketball events in the Midwest, the Hy-Vee Big Four Classic is in its second season after a successful debut in 2012 that saw 13,180 fans stream through the Wells Fargo Arena turnstiles. The 2014 edition promises to be just as attractive to basketball fans in Iowa as three of the Big Four teams appeared in the postseason in 2012-13.

Tickets for Hy-Vee Big Four Classic range in price from $25-70. Each institution will have an equal number of game tickets to distribute. Tickets will be good for admission to both games of the doubleheader and will be made available first to each institution’s basketball season ticket holders. Tickets not sold by the institutions will be placed on sale for the general public through the Wells Fargo Arena box office at a date to be announced.

The Hy-Vee Big Four Classic opener between Iowa State and UNI features two teams that went a combined 44-27 last season with Iowa State advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and UNI winning three postseason games to advance to the semifinals of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament.

The nightcap includes an Iowa team that went 25-13 in 2012-13 to earn a berth in the National Invitational Tournament and streak through the field to earn runner-up honors after falling to Baylor in the title game at Madison Square Garden. Drake, which went 15-17 a season ago, will feature a re-tooled roster under first-year head coach Ray Giacoletti, who previously served as an assistant at Gonzaga for the past six seasons.

Potential television broadcasts of the Hy-Vee Big Four Classic will be announced at a later date.

The event’s sponsor, Hy-Vee, Inc., is an employee-owned corporation operating 234 retail supermarkets and drug stores in eight Midwestern states. With sales of more than $7.7 billion, Hy-Vee ranks among the top 20 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. As representatives of the famous “helpful smile in every aisle” brand, Hy-Vee’s 66,000 employee-owners take pride in meeting customers’ desire for quality products, outstanding values and superior customer service. Additional information about Hy-Vee is available at hy-vee.com.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green says Wednesday evening’s action by the City Council pertaining to an amendment of an ordinance allowing bow hunting of deer within the City limits, means anyone interested in hunting this season, and did qualify to do so last season, should contact the Police Department to acquire a permit. Hunters who did not shoot qualifying scores last season may contact Lt. Dave Erickson at the P-D, to set-up a time to qualify.

Green says the department has the permit applications and hunting instruction packets available. Both may be picked up during normal business hours (8-a.m. to 4-p.m., Monday through Friday). In addition, land owners who would like to allow bow hunters to hunt on their land, should contact the Police Department at 712-243-3512 during business hours, to sign-up.

The Council’s action Wednesday, was an effort to entice hunters to actively assist in the reducing of an excessive number of deer that have plagued the City in recent years. Last year, over 30 hunters qualified for the right to hunt within the City limits of Atlantic, but only two deer were taken. The greatest change to the Ordinance, according to Green, is that hunters will be reimbursed for the cost of the State Deer Tag for taking their first doe within the City limits. Subsequent to taking an antlerless deer and having it verified that it was taken within the City limits, hunters will be given a permission slip allowing them to use their next “any sex” tag, to take one of the many large bucks that frequent the community.

w/ Jim Field

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Matt Adams’ second homer sent St. Louis to a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in 16 innings on Wednesday night, protecting the Cardinals’ hold on second place in the NL Central. Adams broke an 0-for-17 slump by connecting in the 14th. After St. Louis let that lead get away, he homered again off Logan Ondrusek, ending the Reds’ longest game of the season.

The Cardinals had dropped the first two games in the series, letting the Reds get within a game and a half for second place. They finish their season series on Thursday. St. Louis leads it 11-8. Carlos Martinez escaped a threat in the 15th, when Shin-Soo Choo reached third with two outs but was caught in a rundown.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig sprained his left foot while rounding first base and left the game in the fourth inning on Wednesday night. Craig hit a grounder to Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who threw too high to pitcher Bronson Arroyo covering the base. Craig twisted his foot and ankle while rounding the base and fell hard, allowing the Reds to retrieve the ball and tag him out while he was still down. He walked off slowly. Matt Adams replaced him in the field. Craig will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

The Cardinals have been bothered by nagging injuries while losing five of their last six games. Right fielder Carlos Beltran missed two games with a stiff back, and catcher Yadier Molina left one game with a sore left wrist.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Nothing seems assured for Iowa State after it lost to FCS school Northern Iowa last weekend. The lower-tier Panthers exposed issues on both sides of the ball for the inexperienced Cyclones, who showed that those who picked them to finish ninth in the Big 12 might end up being right. At least Iowa State has an extra week to fix what went wrong before hosting Iowa on September 14th.

Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham says missed alignments and tackles plagued his unit. The Cyclones’ offensive line struggled to establish the run or protect quarterback Sam Richardson, who sprained his ankle late in the game. Offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham says Richardson will be ready to play by the time the Hawkeyes visit Ames.