Western Iowa:

• Audubon 65, Riverside 37
• IKM-Manning 70, Logan-Magnolia 26
• Missouri Valley 49, Griswold 44
• Treynor 59, A-H-S-T-W 26
• Tri-Center 60, Underwood 48

Others:

• Earlham 70, Guthrie Center 25
• Murray 49, Lenox 42
• Nodaway Valley 73, Martensdale-St. Marys 34
• Sidney 59, Tarkio, Mo. 17

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — John Dorsey likes to say that it takes several years before a verdict can be returned on a draft pick. There is a learning curve for rookies, often a steep one. The pro game is faster, players are stronger and the plays more complex. If that’s the case, the first two draft classes of the Chiefs’ general manager — panned so often by fans and pundits — may actually be right on track.

First-round pick Dee Ford played nearly half of the snaps in Sunday’s win over Oakland, a vast improvement over early in the season, when the linebacker barely got on the field.

Third-round pick Phillip Gaines is now starting at cornerback. Fourth-round pick De’Anthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against the Raiders. Sixth-round pick Zach Fulton has been starting at guard. Kicker Cairo Santos and wide receiver Albert Wilson, a pair of undrafted rookies, have become key components of the Chiefs’ playoff run.

Class 5-A
1. Waukee 4-0 2
2. West Des Moines Valley 6-0 3
3. Dowling Catholic 5-2 1
4. Iowa City West 7-0 4
5. Southeast Polk 4-1 8
6. Johnston 5-1 5
7. Iowa City High 6-1 9
8. Linn-Mar 5-1 6
9. Ankeny Centennial 3-2 7
10. Cedar Falls 6-1 NR
Dropped Out: Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10)

Class 4-A
1. Harlan 3-0 1
2. North Scott 6-0 2
3. Western Dubuque 5-0 3
4. Ballard 7-0 4
5. Bishop Heelan 3-0 5
6. Carlisle 6-1 7
7. Perry 5-2 6
8. Keokuk 6-0 8
9. Waverly-Shell Rock 6-0 9
10. Davenport Assumption 3-3 12
11. Indianola 5-2 10
12. Lewis Central 6-1 11
13. Davenport North 6-0 15
14. Cedar Rapids Xavier 4-3 13
15. Pella 5-2 14
Dropped Out: None

Class 3-A
1. Pocahontas Area 7-0 1
2. Mediapolis 6-0 2
3. Hampton-Dumont 7-0 4
4. Spirit Lake 5-1 3
5. Sioux Center 5-1 5
6. Kuemper Catholic 4-1 8
7. Red Oak 5-1 9
8. Nevada 6-1 7
9. Crestwood 5-1 10
10. Shenandoah 4-2 6
11. Solon 7-0 13
12. Osage 6-0 15
13. Saydel 7-1 11
14. Cherokee 4-2 14
15. Center Point-Urbana 5-3 12
Dropped Out: None

Class 2-A
1. Western Christian 5-0 1
2. Unity Christian 6-0 2
3. North-Linn 7-0 3
4. South Central Calhoun 8-0 4
5. Panorama 7-0 6
6. Dike-New Hartford 6-1 7
7. IKM-Manning 4-1 8
8. Cascade 5-0 9
9. Okoboji 7-0 11
10. Iowa City Regina 6-0 12
11. Maple Valley-A-O 5-1 13
12. Des Moines Christian 5-3 14
13. Fort Dodge St. Edmond 2-2 5
14. Manson-NW Webster 5-2 15
15. Hinton 7-0 NR
Dropped Out: West Branch (10)

Class 1-A
1. Burlington Notre Dame 8-0 1
2. Colo-Nesco 7-0 2
3. Bedford 7-0 3
4. Grand View Christian 5-0 4
5. Kingsley-Pierson 6-0 5
6. Fremont-Mills 6-0 6
7. Newell-Fonda 5-2 8
8. Exira/EHK 6-0 9
9. Lynnville-Sully 8-0 11
10. AGWSR 5-1 NR
11. Rockford 6-1 7
12. Central Lyon 4-2 14
13. Springville 5-0 15
14. Tripoli 5-1 10
15. Midland 5-2 12
Dropped Out: Marquette Catholic (13)

Jim Field has the call of the games played at Audubon High School.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A podcast of the 7:20-a.m. Sportscast, with Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers’ slowly improving run defense will face a stiff test on Sunday against Kansas City. Pittsburgh is 11th in the league against the run and has given up less than 100 yards on the ground in five of its last seven games. The Steelers won each of those contests, one of the big reasons they can clinch a playoff berth with a victory over the Chiefs (8-6).

Kansas City counters with running backs Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis, who have combined for nearly 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns. Pittsburgh linebacker Arthur Moats says the injury problems that bothered the Steelers early in the season are paying off now because so many players have gained valuable experience

AMES, Iowa (AP) – The national junior college defensive player of the year from 2013 highlights the latest list of football recruits signed by Iowa State. Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads announced three signings on Wednesday, including defensive lineman Demond Tucker. The 285-pound Mississippi native was named the NJCAA defensive player of the year two years ago for Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He had 9.5 sacks last season.

Iowa State also signed junior college defensive back Jomal Wiltz, who Rhoads says is capable of playing corner back, safety and returning kicks, along with offensive lineman Patrick Scoggins. Scoggins, a transfer from Long Beach Community College in California, could either fill in for departed center Tom Farniok or play guard.

All three players have signed letters of intent and will enroll at Iowa State next semester.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The annual basketball doubleheader featuring Iowa’s four Division I teams has been extended through 2017. The athletic directors at Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake announced Wednesday that the Big Four Classic will be held in Iowa’s capital of Des Moines for two more years.

The Big Four Classic replaced the home-and-home series that Iowa and Iowa State had with their Missouri Valley Conference counterparts in 2012.  This year’s doubleheader, which will feature No. 13 Iowa State against Drake and Northern Iowa against the Hawkeyes, is set for Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. This year’s event is a sellout, with a crowd of just over 15,000 expected.

Jim Field and Chris Parks have the call of the games played at Atlantic High School.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (133.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The shotgun deer season is well underway and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is again monitoring for signs of Chronic Wasting Disease in the animals taken by hunters. D-N-R wildlife research supervisor, Willy Suchy, says they’ve been testing for C-W-D since 2002. “We’ve had a couple of positives now, one in a wild herd and a couple in captive situations, so we are doing enhanced surveillance in those areas to see if there’s anything on the landscape that we need to look for,” Suchy says.

The main effort will concentrate on portions of northeast and eastern Iowa near Wisconsin and Illinois, south-central Iowa near Missouri, as well as in Pottawattamie, Cerro Gordo and Buchanan counties. The one positive in the wild population came in Allamakee County in 2013.  “The good news is that we’ve sampled up there for 12 years and this is the first positive. We’ve had over thousand samples within five miles of where this deer was detected, and when we look at the genetics — Iowa State examined it — and it looks likely, you can’t say 100 percent for sure, but it looks likely that it was a Wisconsin deer that actually emigrated into Iowa,” according to Suchy. While C-W-D is fatal to deer, Suchy says it is not a concern for hunters.

“If a deer tests positive, the C-D-C does encourage people to not eat those deer, but there is no proven health risk,” Suchy says. The C-W-D sampling involves removing and testing the brain stem and lymph nodes of the deer. Hunters willing to provide samples may contact a D-N-R regional office to arrange collection. For more information, check the Iowa D-N-R’s website at: www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa)