October 8, 2018 By Chris Varney
It has been a busy couple of weeks — I have neglected my blog but I am back now and trying to get back into the swing of things. This past weekend was crazy for sports and its only going to get crazier. October is the best month of the year for sports, you get a little bit of everything. Here are some observations:
— Can you remember a time when it did not rain? The weather has affected the high school football season more than anybody can remember. In Marengo, they had to postpone the big match-up between #1 New London and #2 Iowa Valley to Saturday afternoon. In the end, Iowa Valley won 22-12 and has taken over the top spot in the Radio Iowa poll. Last year, Garet Sims led the Tigers in rushing with 1,314 yards. Before the season this year, Sims went to Head Coach Cody Snitker and told him that if he moved to Guard, the team might be better in the long run. Sims is now blocking for QB Ben Smith and RB Noah Mumby who have combined for 1,261 yards in the first seven games. Sims, meanwhile, says he is now fresher on defense and is among the 8 man leaders in tackles for a loss with 20. Iowa Valley has two games left with rival opponents — at Montezuma this Friday and hosts HLV in a big game next week. They deserve their #1 ranking, now they got to hold onto it.
— Friday night, Newton pounded out 566 rushing yards against the Grinnell Tiger defense and the Cardinals won 50-39. Grinnell has not been able to put together a complete game of football this season. When the offense looks decent, the defense struggles and vice versa. That is typical of inexperienced teams. The Tigers are making incredible strides this year and Head Coach Brian Sauser is starting the rebuilding process by tearing everything down and then build it back up. Keep the faith Tiger fans.
— Speaking of no defense, where was the Northern Iowa D in the 4th quarter on Saturday? UNI had a slim lead going into the final quarter but North Dakota State dominated, scoring four touchdowns to win going away against the Panthers. It was not the fault of Eli Dunne, who played great. Dunne was 27–41 for 362 yards and 3 TD and 1 INT, his second highest total of his collegiate career. Dunne spread the ball around to 8 different receivers and was sacked three times. The Panthers surrendered way too many big plays in the game and simply did not finish strong. Next up for UNI is South Dakota who is 3-2 with a narrow loss to Kansas State.
— Who the heck is Brock Purdy? The Iowa State true freshman third string quarterback stepped on the field in Stillwater, Oklahoma and beat the Cowboys essentially by himself. Purdy threw for 318 yards and ran for another 84 yards, accounting for 5 TD and the Cyclones beat #25 Oklahoma St. 48-42. No Kyle Kempt. No David Montgomery. No problem. Its hard not to root for ISU.