(3-0) East Mills 25-25-25, Essex 16-14-19
(3-0) North Tama 25-25-25, Coon Rapids-Bayard 10-18-18
(3-0) Sidney 25-25-25, Clarinda 17-22-13
(3-0) St. Albert, Council Bluffs 25-25-25, Woodward-Granger 11-17-23
(3-0) Unity Christian 25-25-25, Treynor 22-18-11

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs were back to forcing turnovers in their Monday night win over the Broncos. They had struggled to take the ball away through their first seven games, but picked off Trevor Siemian three times and recovered two fumbles in a 29-19 victory. It was a positive sign for a Chiefs defense that had been underperforming much of the season.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — At 5-3 overall and just 2-3 in the Big Ten, Iowa hasn’t lived up to its annual expectation of competing for the West division title. Just imagine where the Hawkeyes might be if it wasn’t for their defense. The Hawkeyes are ranked 12th nationally at just 17.4 points allowed per game, and they’ve held their last four opponents below that. They host third-ranked Ohio State on Saturday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa freshman point guard Connor McCaffery has decided to play this season instead of redshirt. The star recruit and son of Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery had planned to sit out as a freshman and play baseball for Iowa in the spring. But backup point guard Christian Williams left the program last week, leaving Iowa thin at that position.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Brian Hardin has been hired as Drake’s athletic director at Drake. He will replace Sandy Hatfield-Club in early December. Hardin is a native of Des Moines and was a deputy athletic director at Marquette. He also worked at Ball State and Notre Dame.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa freshman point guard Connor McCaffery has decided to play this season instead of redshirt. The star recruit and son of Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery had planned to sit out as a freshman and play baseball for Iowa in the spring. But backup point guard Christian Williams left the program last week, leaving Iowa thin at that position.

The 6-foot-5 McCaffery scored nearly 20 points a game in leading Iowa City West High to the state title in 2016-17. He was ranked the nation’s No. 90 recruit in last year’s class.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Brian Hardin has been hired as Drake’s athletic director. President Marty Martin said Tuesday that Hardin will replace Sandy Hatfield-Club in early December. Hardin, a native of Des Moines, was a deputy athletic director at Marquette. He also worked at Ball State and Notre Dame. Martin cited Hardin’s “reputation for success and integrity in all facets of athletics administration at Division I institutions.”

Hardin inherits a new men’s basketball coach in Niko Medved. But perhaps his two biggest short-term challenges will be to oversee the Drake Relays, an international track and field meet held every April on campus, and to retain women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk. Baranczyk led the Bulldogs to a Top 25 ranking last season.

Regional Finals. All set for 7:00pm starts

Class 1A

Region 1: Gehlen Catholic vs. Harris-Lake Park (@ George)
Region 2: Essex vs. East Mills (@ Tabor)
Region 3: Newell-Fonda vs. Janesville (@ South Hamilton)
Region 4: North Tama vs. Coon Rapids-Bayard (@ Nevada)
Region 5: Kee vs. Tripoli (@ Cresco)
Region 6: Starmont vs. Iowa Valley (@ Center Point)
Region 7: HLV vs. Springville (@ Williamsburg)
Region 8: Holy Trinity Catholic vs. Southeast Warren (@ Ottumwa, Evans Middle School)

Class 2A

Region 1: Western Christian vs. Central Lyon (@ Hull)
Region 2: Unity Christian vs. Treynor (@ Sioux City East)
Region 3: St. Albert vs. Woodward-Granger (@ Atlantic)
Region 4: Sidney vs. Clarinda (@ Shenandoah)
Region 5: Grundy Center vs. Pella Christian (@ Grinnell)
Region 6: Lake Mills vs. Wapsie Valley (@ Nashua)
Region 7: Dike-New Hartford vs. Bellevue (@ Delhi)
Region 8: Iowa City Regina vs. Wilton (@ West Liberty)

Class 3A, 4A, 5A State Volleyball Brackets

Class 3A Regional Finals

(3-1) Red Oak 25-20-27-25, Gilbert 21-25-25-20
(3-0) Kuemper Catholic 25-25-25, South Central Calhoun 15-14-10
(3-0) Sioux Center 25-25-25, Humboldt 20-14-10
(3-0) Osage 25-25-25, Forest City 16-15-16
(3-1) Columbus Catholic 26-25-20-25, New Hampton 24-21-25-18
(3-2) Iowa Falls-Alden 13-25-10-26-15, Mount Vernon 25-22-25-24-10
(3-1) Beckman Catholic 25-20-25-25, Davenport Assumption 17-25-19-22
(3-0) Tipton 25-25-25, Davis County 14-18-11

Class 4A Regional Finals

(3-0) Sergeant Bluff-Luton 25-25-25, Glenwood 14-9-17
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, Dallas Center-Grimes 13-13-19
(3-0) Bishop Heelan 25-25-25, LeMars 22-22-7
(3-0) Pella 25-25-25, Bondurant-Farrar 22-11-22
(3-0) Waverly-Shell Rock 25-25-25, Charles City 9-17-14
(3-0) Independence 25-25-25, Center Point-Urbana 18-20-22
(3-0) Cedar Rapids Xavier 25-25-25, Fort Madison 18-18-16
(3-0) Dubuque Wahlert 25-25-25, North Scott 15-12-17

Class 5A Regional Finals

(3-0) WDM Valley 25-25-25, Abraham Lincoln 10-20-13
(3-0) Ankeny Centennial 25-25-25, Sioux City East 14-9-13
(3-2) Urbandale 26-25-27-21-20, Pleasant Valley 28-22-25-25-18
(3-0) Cedar Rapids Jefferson 25-25-25, Johnston 16-19-16
(3-0) Linn-Mar 25-25-25, Waukee 11-19-22
(3-0) Cedar Falls 25-25-25, Marshalltown 10-15-9
(3-0) Dubuque Hempstead 28-26-25, Iowa City West 26-24-22
(3-1) Dowling Catholic 25-21-25-25, Bettendorf 19-25-19-20

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Harrison Butker kicked five field goals and Marcus Peters returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 29-19 win against the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs picked off Trevor Siemian three times and forced five turnovers in snapping a two-game skid. It was also their fourth straight victory over their AFC West rival.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs renamed the broadcast booths at Arrowhead Stadium in honor of Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Len Dawson before their game against the Denver Broncos. The 82-year-old Dawson went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and a broadcaster in 2012. He announced this year that he would retire as a radio color analyst after the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have activated cornerback Steven Nelson from injured reserve, where he has been since training camp, and he could make his season debut against Denver. Nelson had core muscle surgery just before the start of the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Broncos did enough defensively to beat the Chiefs, but the offense floundered again in a 29-19 loss. Denver held the NFL’s third-ranked offense to 276 yards, kept league rushing leader Kareem Hunt from running wild and even forced a pair of turnovers against a team that hardly ever loses one. But it wasn’t enough to overcome five turnovers and numerous mistakes by the Denver offense.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State’s rise to the top of the Big 12 has been one of the nation’s biggest surprises this fall. The main reason the Cyclones are suddenly winning has been their vastly improved defense. The 14th-ranked Cyclones have the league’s top-rated defense through five games, allowing just 13.6 points in league outings and holding each of their opponents to at least 10 points below their season average. They face another big test on Saturday with a visit to West Virginia.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska quarterback Tanner Lee has gone from being a liability the first month of the season to giving the Cornhuskers their best chance to win. He threw nine interceptions through the first four games but only one the last four. He threw for more than 400 yards in a win over Purdue and might be called on to keep throwing a lot the rest of the season because of a struggling run game. The Huskers host Northwestern on Saturday.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced today that Iowa State sophomore linebacker Marcel Spears was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row.

A native of Olathe, Kan., Spears played a huge role in Iowa State’s fourth-straight win, a victory against No. 4 TCU on Saturday. He clinched a Cyclone victory for the second-straight week with a fourth quarter interception. Spears, who had nine tackles and one TFL in the game, sealed the victory with a pick with 1:16 left in the contest as the Cyclones were clinging to a 14-7 lead. The week before at Texas Tech, Spears perfectly read a TTU screen pass and ran untouched 61 yards for the pick-six to put the game out of reach.

Spears is having an outstanding season, ranking fourth in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in tackles per game at 8.8. He is also tied for the team lead in forced fumbles with two.

This is the fourth-straight week an ISU player has been honored by the league: Joel Lanning (Def. PoW- Oklahoma), Kyle Kempt (Off. PoW- Oklahoma), Trever Ryen (ST PoW- Kansas) and Spears (Def. PoW- Texas Tech)

No. 14 Iowa State, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play, will travel to West Virginia on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2.