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.