Iowa takes a 4-2 record on the road to Michigan State. After a successful run at Oregon State Jonathan Smith is in his first season as Spartan coach.

That’s Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. Dual threat quarterback Aidan Chiles leads a Spartan team that like last week’s opponent, Washington, has several new faces.

Ferentz says the Spartans are much better than their 3-3 record.

Sitting on 200 wins, Ferentz is five away from legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes as the Big Ten’s all-time leader.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell hopes experience can help the Cyclones handle one of the best starts in program history. The ninth ranked Cyclones will try to match the 7-0 start of the 1938 team when they host Central Florida Saturday night.

Campbell says they will lean on the experience of how they handled success in the past.

Campbell says whether it is today or 84 years ago sustained success is difficult.

The Cyclones have used three different running backs this season. Abu Sama, Jaylon Jackson and Carson Hansen have combined for more than 900 yards and the work horse has varied from week to week.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith says the Spartans need to run the ball better during the second half of the season. Michigan State is averaging 120 yards of rushing in a 3-3 start to the season heading into Saturday night’s game at home against Iowa.

Michigan State’s run defense has been good the first half of the season and Smith says that will be a key against the Hawkeyes and running back Kaleb Johnson.

Smith talks about the Iowa defense.

Struggling Central Florida looks to get things turned around Saturday night at ninth ranked Iowa State. After starting 3-0 the Knights have dropped three straight after a 19-13 loss at home to Cincinnati.

That’s UCF coach Gus Malzahn who is still searching for a starting quarterback. Sophomore Jacurri Brown passed for 207 yards and a touchdown last week but the Knights still struggled in the redzone.

The challenge gets even tougher against an ISU defense that is one of the nation’s best.

The Atlantic Trojan volleyball team dominated the Exira-EHK Spartans by a score of 3-0. In a night where both teams were playing their final games of the regular season, it was an intriguing and important non-conference matchup. Although the Spartans were the first to put up points in each of the first two sets, the trojans would go on to grab control winning the sets 25-15, 25-21, and 25-7. Throughout the night Atlantic played a clean game and limited mistakes and miscommunications from start to finish.

In set one, Exira-EHK got a quick 3-0 lead. The teams would go to trade points before the Trojans went on a run and eventually grabbed their first lead at 7-6. Atlantic’s defense was superb throughout the night led by  Taylee Hagen and Morgan Botus the Trojans were all over the court keeping plays alive. They would only allow 7 more points in the first set.  Head Coach Alyssa Boltz says the defense was a big reason they were able to make plays.

Set two started much like set one. The Spartans got out an early lead, but Atlantic would go on a run, putting Exira-EHK on the defensive. This set would be the closest of the two as Exira-EHK was able to tie the game at 16 with some back-and-forth play. But once again Atlantic went on a run, and the Spartans could not keep pace. One of the main reasons was the consistency of the Trojans from the service line. Many of Atlantic’s servers, including Lila Wiederstien and Peyton McLaren, were able to keep service errors at a minimum and go on extended runs. Boltz stated that their aggressiveness and consistency helped lift the Trojans to victory.

Unlike the first two sets, Atlantic jumped out to an early lead and never looked backed. After starting with a 5-0 run, the Trojans would only surrender seven points and roll to a 25-7 victory in set 3.  For much of the night, it was clear that Atlantic was more in sync, communicated better, and ultimately were the better team on Monday night. Boltz echoed that focusing on cleaning up self-inflicted wounds was a focal point for Trojans leading up to the game.

Atlantic will play their last game of the regular season at St. Alberts on Thursday before heading to Clarinda for their 3A region 7 quarter-final against Clarinda next week.

WESTERN IOWA CONFERENCE MEET

2. Logan-Magnolia (59 points) — 1. Allysen Johnsen (19:47.18), 2. Madison Sporrer (20:10.35), 12. Haedyn Hall (22:07.16)

3. Tri-Center (68 points) — 6. Quincey Schneckloth (21:00.10), 11. Addison Boden (21:38.91), 15. Isah VanArsdol (22:20.87) 

4. IKM-Manning (77 points) — 4. Raegan Garrison (20:47.41), 9. Emily Albertsen (21:15.88)

5. AHSTW (117 points) — 14. Ava Paulsen (22:18.59)

6. Riverside (134 points) — 13. Iviana Schechinger (22:10.80) 

NTS. Underwood

NTS. Missouri Valley

OABCIG MEET

4. Boyer Valley (98 points) — 4. Hailey Cue (20:15.80), 9. Mariah Falkena (21:38.34) 

7. Exira/EHK (164 points) — 12. Michelle Wilson (21:51.50), 25. Leah Boyson (22:54.24 19), 54. Ruby VanderWal (26:21.92), 59. Gracie Bartz (28:01.51)

WESTERN IOWA CONFERENCE MEET

1. Riverside (37 points) — 1. Dawson Henderson (16:34.08), 2. Brody Henderson (16:34.98), 8. Owen Fenner (18:05.11), 12. James McCready (18:13.13)

2. Tri-Center (38 points) — 3. Haven Weers (16:54.56), 4. Evan Wham (17:22.22), 6. Brennan Boden (17:53.91), 13. Nicholas Dahir (18:19.560, 14. Kyle McDonald (18:24.64)

3. Missouri Valley (70 points) — 5. Aiden Rangel (17:35.54), 9. Xavier Rangel (18:09.04), 11. Adam Meadows (18:12.68) 

4. IKM-Manning (76 points) — 10. Isaac Blankman (18:11.75), 15. Kasche Huehn (18:27.27) 

5. Treynor (152 points)

6. Underwood (159 points)

NTS. Audubon 

NTS. Logan-Magnolia 

OABCIG MEET

3. Boyer Valley (112 points) — 5. Dane Gorham (17:26.58), 

10. Exira/EHK (251 points) — 11. Austin Rasmussen (17:47.25), 45. Tim Reinhardt (20:32.04), 65. Carter Wiemann (21:43.73), 80. Ben Baggett (23:15.26)

CORNER CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT — FIRST ROUND 

East Mills 3, Griswold 1

Fremont-Mills 3, Bedford 0

Sidney 3, Hamburg 0

Stanton 3, Essex 0

WESTERN IOWA CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT 

Play-in: Logan-Magnolia beat AHSTW

First Round: Riverside 3, Logan-Magnolia 2

First Round: Underwood 3, Missouri Valley 2

First Round: Tri-Center 3, Audubon 0

First Round: Treynor 3, IKM-Manning 0

PRIDE OF IOWA CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT 

Play-in: East Union beat Nodaway Valley

First Round: Southwest Valley 3, East Union 0

First Round: Mount Ayr 3, Wayne 26-22-17-26

First Round: Southeast Warren 3, Martensdale-St. Marys 0

First Round: Lenox 3, Central Decatur 0

NON-CONFERENCE 

Atlantic 3, Exira-EHK 0

Rankings for Class 2A, Class 1A, Class A, and Eight-Player will be determined throughout the 2024 regular season by official rankings committees, as debuted in 2023. The committee rankings for 2A, 1A, A, and 8P will feature a top 10 consensus-built list as compiled by a six-person group: Two former head coaches and one media member – each representing different state regions – and three IHSAA staff members. The IHSAA will use the rankings as a primary tool for postseason assignments, while maintaining school and geographic considerations.

Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is a formula instituted in 2018 using records to determine a team’s relative strength in a single regular season.

PLAYOFF QUALIFIYING INFORMATION

Class 5A

Class 4A

Class 3A

Drake women’s basketball coach Allison Pohlman views lofty expectations as an opportunity and not a challenge. Reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Katie Dinnebier returns for a Bulldog team that is favored to win a third straight league title.

The Bulldogs will be in search of a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, but they have not won a tournament game since advancing to the “Sweet Sixteen” in 2002.

Pohlman says the style of play that has made Drake so successful will not change.

Drake opens the regular season November fourth at North Dakota State.