October 2014 – Page 51 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Bishops scrap welcome to gays in sign of split

Posted on October 19, 2014October 18, 2014

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic bishops have scrapped their landmark welcome to gays, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.

The bishops failed to approve even a watered-down section on ministering to gays that stripped away the welcoming tone contained in a draft document earlier in the week.

Two other paragraphs concerning the other hot-button issue at the synod — whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can receive communion — also failed to pass.

Francis insisted in the name of transparency that the full document be published with the voting tally. The document is to serve as the basis for future debate leading up to another meeting of bishops next October.

Griffons score early and often in 40-14 win at Washburn

Posted on October 18, 2014

The Missouri Western football team scored early and often in the first half of a 40-14 win at Washburn Saturday afternoon.

The Griffon defense held the Ichabods scoreless for three quarters, extending their shutout streak to five quarters dating back to last week at Fort Hays and collected five Washburn turnovers, including two for scores. The defense held Washburn to 289 yards of offense, most of that coming in the second half. It was also a career-day for quarterback Skyler Windmiller. The redshirt-freshman threw for 264 yards, which was also a season high for the Griffon offense through the air.

Raphael Spencer got things started on Missouri Western’s first drive with a four yard touchdown run. Spencer finished with 20 carries for 58 yards in the Griffons first win of the year without a 100-yard rushing game from the junior running back.

Mike Jordan put the Griffons up 14-0 on Washburn’s next possession with a 39-yard pick-6. Stephen Juergens added the defense’s second td in the second quarter on a 15-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. It was the Griffons’ fifth defensive touchdown of the season.

Windmiller put MWSU up 24-0 in the first quarter with a 71-yard touchdown pass to Brandynn Clark – his longest pass of the season. Windmiller finished 18-24 passing with one touchdown and an interception. John Schmiemeier had his best game of the season, going 4-5 on field goal attempts.

The win is the third straight for the Griffons over the Ichabods and improves the team’s 2014 record to 5-2. Missouri Western returns to Spratt Stadium next week for homecoming when they host Emporia State.

— MWSU Sports Information —

MSHSAA releases High School football district brackets

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

The high school football district brackets were released Saturday by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, including the match ups for the St. Joseph high schools.

In Class 5 District 8, St. Joseph Central got the No. 6 seed and will have to go on the road Friday night against third-seeded Liberty North. If Central wins, they’ll play the winner of the match up between No. 2 seed Staley and No. 7 seed Oak Park. Park Hill is the No. 1 seed and receives a bye, while No. 4 seed Liberty host fifth-seed Park Hill South.

In Class 4 District 8, Lafayette receives the No. 5 seed and Benton is the No. 7 seed. The Fighting Irish play at No. 4 seed Van Horn, while the Cardinals go to second-seeded Platte County on Friday. The other game in the district feature No. 1 seed Kearney play No. 8 Excelsior Springs and No. 6 seed Savannah traveling to third-seeded Smithville.

In Class 2 District 8, Bishop LeBlond is the No. 3 seed after a 4-5 regular season and they will host Lathrop at Eagles Stadium Friday night. The winner will play the winner of the match up between No. 2 East Buchanan and No. 7 Carrollton. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Brookfield battles 8th-seeded Trenton and No. 4 seed Lawson will host No. 5 Lexington.

And in 8-Man District 3, St. Joseph Christian is the No. 2 seed and they get a bye in the first round along with No. 1 seed North Andrew. Christian will play the winner of the Stewartsville/South Holt game, while North Andrew will host either Pattonsburg or DeKalb.

All first rounds game will be played Friday, October 24, the district semifinals will take place on Friday, October 31 and the district championship games are on Friday, November 7.

Western volleyball rallies to upset No. 5 Washburn for second time

Posted on October 18, 2014October 19, 2014

The Missouri Western volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit Saturday in Topeka as they won three straight sets to upset fifth-ranked Washburn 20-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-18, 24-22.

The Griffons are off to their best start through 21 matches since the 1987 squad that finished 5th at the NAIA Tourmanent with a 63-6 overall record.

It was the second time MWSU defeated Washburn this year, both times with the Ichabods ranked No. 5 and the first time the Griffons have swept a season series from Washburn since 2000. Missouri Western is now 17-4, 11-2 in the MIAA and remains in a three-way tie for first place with Central Missouri and Nebraska Kearney.

With nine matches left in the regular season, MWSU has surpassed last season’s win total and have matched the most wins for the program since 2005.

Missouri Western had seven match points in the fifth set, including the first at 14-13 before eventually pulling out their second win of the season against Washburn. The Ichabods drop to 18-3 and 10-3 in the MIAA.

Washburn led 13-11 in the fifth set before Western scored three straight to get to match point at 14-13.

Three Griffons finished the night with double-doubles. Erica Rottinghaus had 22 kills, 12 digs and hit .327. Kelsey Olion had 17 kills and 12 digs. Jordan Chohon had 60 assists and 14 digs. Sarah Faubel led the team with 24 digs and Jessie Thorup finished with 20 kills. The Griffons had 18 total team blocks, led by Amanda Boender’s 10 block assists.

Missouri Western hit .197 overall as MWSU edged Washburn in kills, 73-69 and in digs, 87-79.

The entire match featured 45 ties and 18 lead changes.

The Griffons are back in action Friday at the MWSU Fieldhouse as they host Missouri Southern at 7:00 PM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri bounces back as they dominate Florida at the Swamp

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Marcus Murphy scored three touchdowns, including two on special teams, and Missouri embarrassed Florida 42-13 Saturday night.

The Tigers (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) scored on a kickoff return, a punt return, a fumble return and an interception return. They managed just seven first downs and 119 yards of offense, including 20 passing, and essentially let the Gators self-destruct in nearly every way imaginable.

And they did.

Mizzou bounced back from a shutout loss at home to Georgia, remained in the hunt in the muddled Eastern Division and extended their road winning streak to eight.

The Gators (3-3, 2-3) lost for the second time in eight days, fueling speculation that Will Muschamp has coached his final game in Gainesville. “Fire Muschamp” chants broke out in third quarter and could be heard throughout an emptying Florida Field.

Florida has dropped 12 of its last 19 games and trails the division-leading Bulldogs by two games with three remaining.

Athletic director Jeremy Foley said in September that he wouldn’t make any decisions about Muschamp’s future until after the season finale. But he also has said repeatedly over the years that if something must be done eventually, it must be done immediately.

The Gators could be 0-5 in conference play. They eked by Kentucky in triple overtime and edged Tennessee 10-9 two weeks ago. Their latest setback was their worst home loss since falling 37-7 to rival Florida State last season.

So questions surrounding Muschamp have lingered and may have reached an apex Saturday. Missouri led 20-0 at halftime despite gaining just 99 yards, and Florida looked like it had no idea how it wanted to use a two-quarterback system featuring Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris.

With a bye week on tap and Georgia up after that, few would be surprised to see Foley make the move by Sunday. Then again, there doesn’t seem to be a number of strong candidates out there for the choosing.

Missouri, meanwhile, surely will be able to enjoy the next few days. The Tigers were miserable last week after a 34-0 loss to Georgia. Now, they finish league play with a seemingly soft stretch against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Of course, Mizzou has little chance of getting anyone else to collapse like Florida did.

Murphy returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and added a 5-yard scoring run later in the first — after one of Florida’s six turnovers.

Driskel fumbled on Florida’s first series and threw an interception in the second quarter that led to a field goal. He also had a fumble returned 21 yards for a touchdown by Markus Golden and an interception returned 46 yards for a score by Darvin Ruise — both in Missouri’s 22-point third quarter.

Harris, a freshman who played for the first time since a female student withdrew a sexual assault complaint that kept him off the field last week against LSU, fumbled on his first drive and threw an interception in the fourth.

He finished 8-of-12 passing for 98 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Westbrook late in the third. Harris threw the ball up for grabs to avoid a sack, and Westbrook came down with it in a crowded end zone. He also scored from 3 yards out in the final minute.

Driskel completed 7 of 19 passes for 50 yards, with two fumbles and two interceptions. He also was sacked four times. He now has 12 turnovers in the last four games.

Missouri’s numbers weren’t staggering, but they certainly were better than last week’s five-turnover fiasco.

Maty Mauk was 6-of-18 passing for 20 yards, with an interception, and added 38 yards on the ground.

Russell Hansbrough ran for 35 yards.

Murphy was the star of the night. He finished with 224 all-purpose yards: 101 on punts, 96 on kickoffs and 27 rushing.

— Associated Press —

No. 14 Kansas State survives at 11th-ranked Oklahoma, 31-30

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — With a short field goal the only thing standing between Oklahoma and the lead late in the game, Michael Hunnicutt just had to do what he’s done for more than three years: Be automatic.

No. 11 Oklahoma, trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, had finally seized momentum after playing catch-up for much of the game. The Sooners drove to the Kansas State 1-yard line, but couldn’t punch in the ball.

Neither could Hunnicutt.

Hunnicutt missed a chip-shot field goal that would have put the Sooners ahead with 3:53 remaining. A stunned home crowd gasped and groaned, and No. 14 Kansas State took possession and ran out the clock, defeating Oklahoma 31-30 on Saturday.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was just as surprised as Oklahoma’s fans about the mistake by Hunnicutt, Oklahoma’s all-time scoring leader and a preseason All-Big 12 pick.

“The youngster that missed the field goal, he will go another hundred years without missing another field goal,” Snyder said. “So we were just lucky. That happens.”

Hunnicutt missed a total of two short field goals and had an extra point blocked. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he’d trust Hunnicutt again in a pressure situation.

“I feel for Michael,” Stoops said. “He’s been an excellent kicker for us and a great young man. We all love him. I feel that for him, because unfortunately, the kicker, that just kind of sticks out.”

Oklahoma tight end Blake Bell said it wasn’t all Hunnicutt’s fault.

“Hunnicutt’s a great kicker,” Bell said. “I mean, he makes every single kick that I’ve ever seen — it’s ridiculous — so you can’t blame it on him. Hunny, the type of guy he is, he’s going to bounce back and be great and make field goals for us.”

Jake Waters passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats (5-1, 3-0), who also beat Oklahoma in Norman two years ago.

Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard tied a school record with 15 catches and had 197 yards receiving. Trevor Knight passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns for Oklahoma (5-2, 2-2), which saw its playoff hopes take a severe hit.

Knight headed to the locker room with 8:44 left in the first quarter after taking a hit to the back. Backup quarterback Cody Thomas stepped in for the rest of the drive and led the Sooners to a touchdown. Samaje Perine’s 2-yard scoring run gave the Sooners a 7-0 lead.

Kansas State answered quickly when Glenn Gronkowski caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Waters.

Back in the game, Knight threw out of his end zone, and Kansas State’s Danzel McDaniel stepped in front of Durron Neal and returned the interception 5 yards for a touchdown to put Kansas State ahead a minute into the second quarter.

Knight came right back and found Blake Bell over the middle for 22 yards, then found Shepard deep for a 47-yard touchdown that tied the score at 14.

Waters connected with Tyler Lockett in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard score that gave Kansas State a 21-14 lead.

Hunnicutt made a 38-yard field goal to cut Kansas State’s lead to 21-17. He could have cut the Wildcats’ lead again, but a 32-yard field goal attempt went wide left as time expired in the first half.

A 28-yard catch by Shepard helped set up Bell’s 4-yard touchdown catch that tied the score at 24.

Waters’ 3-yard touchdown run gave Kansas State a 31-24 lead.

Oklahoma reached the Kansas State 17, but Neal, a receiver, was intercepted by Morgan Burns late in the third quarter to end the threat.

Neal made up for it with his first career touchdown catch, a 9-yarder that cut Kansas State’s lead to 31-30, but Kansas State’s Travis Britz blocked the extra point, and that turned out to be the difference.

The Wildcats emerged as contenders for the Big 12 title, and perhaps, a spot in the college football playoff. It was their first win over a ranked team this season, and it came against a marquee opponent on the road. Kansas State’s only loss was a close call at home against Auburn.

Though Oklahoma outgained the Wildcats 533-385, Kansas State took advantage by avoiding mistakes and taking advantage of opportunities.

“Turnovers, those are significant,” Snyder said. “In all reality, that is the difference in the ballgame. We get a turnover and get seven points out of it and we don’t turn the ball over. The right numbers can tell you something, but not yardage.”

— Associated Press —

Nebraska man says feds price eagles too high

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Macy man charged with killing a bald eagle is arguing in federal court that prosecutors have greatly overvalued the bird at $10,000.

Lamar Bertucci says the eagle he shot in February is worth only about $2,000.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the bird’s worth could make a difference in Bertucci’s sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Sharp says that in federal cases, the costlier the crime, the longer the time.

Bertucci pleaded guilty this year to shooting a bald eagle and a rough-legged hawk near Macy, crimes that carry up to 30 months in prison and $350,000 in fines.

Bertucci argues in his latest cast that when he was convicted in 2009 of possessing eagle parts, the bird was valued at $2,000.

Abdullah leads No. 19 Nebraska past Northwestern

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah had four 1-yard touchdown runs and quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. scored on a 16-yard reception, leading No. 19 Nebraska to a 38-17 victory at Northwestern on Saturday night.

Abdullah finished with 146 yards on 23 carries as the Cornhuskers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) bounced back from a 27-22 loss at Michigan State. Abdullah had only 45 yards in the loss to the Spartans on Oct. 4.

Northwestern (3-4, 2-2) wasted another big game for freshman Justin Jackson in its second consecutive loss. Jackson had 128 yards and two touchdowns in his third straight 100-yard game.

The Wildcats got a scare in the third quarter when receiver Miles Shuler had his head down when he slammed into Nebraska safety Corey Cooper after a short reception. Shuler held up his right arm to acknowledge the cheers as he was taken off the field on a stretcher. The school said he was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Led by Abdullah, the Cornhuskers improved to 3-1 against the Wildcats since joining the Big Ten. The three previous meetings were decided by seven points, including Nebraska’s 27-24 win last season on Jordan Westerkamp’s 49-yard touchdown reception on a tipped Hail Mary as time expired.

This one wasn’t that close.

Abdullah scored three times in the second half and Drew Brown kicked a 33-yard field goal as Nebraska scored 24 unanswered points to erase a 17-14 halftime deficit. Northwestern had just 28 yards in the second half.

The four touchdowns set a career high for Abdullah, who also passed Ahman Green for second on the school’s career rushing list. The senior also became the first player in school history with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

The first half was more in line with the close history in the series. The Wildcats and Cornhuskers were tied at 7 before they combined for 17 points in the final 1:52 of the second quarter.

The scoring spree started with a flashy move by Jackson on a 5-yard touchdown run that gave Northwestern a 14-7 lead. Josh Mitchell was going in for the tackle on Jackson near the line of scrimmage when the freshman spun away from the defensive back and went in for his fifth TD of the season.

De’Mornay Pierson-El, another true freshman, then led Nebraska right down the field. He had a 46-yard catch-and-run down to the Northwestern 27, showing off impressive speed.

After an 11-yard reception for Abdullah, Pierson-El took a pitch on a reverse and threw across the field to a wide-open Armstrong for a tying 16-yard TD.

Northwestern got the ball back with a little more than a minute to go. But Trevor Siemian had a 15-yard pass to Cameron Dickerson and found Treyvon Green for 23 yards to help set up Jack Mitchell’s 29-yard field goal with 3 second left.

Jackson had 15 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns at the break, compared to nine carries for 39 yards and a score for Abdullah.

Jackson helped Northwestern get off to a fast start. Wearing new black uniforms with an architecture theme, the Wildcats put together a 15-play, 89-yard scoring drive on their first possession. Dan Vitale grabbed two big third-down receptions and Jackson had six carries for 39 yards, including a 2-yard TD with 5:58 left in the first.

Abdullah got his 11th rushing touchdown of the season in the second quarter, a 1-yard plunge that capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive. Armstrong set up the score with a 17-yard run to the 1.

— Associated Press —

Kansas stays winless in Big 12 with 34-21 loss at Texas Tech

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Davis Webb threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns to lead Texas Tech to a 34-21 win over Kansas on Saturday, snapping the Red Raiders’ eight-game Big 12 skid that dated to last season.

The loss for the Jayhawks was their fourth straight conference defeat this year and keeps interim coach Clint Bowen still in search of his first win.

Webb threw TD passes of 13, 8 and 6 yards. He also threw his 12th interception of the year, one of two errors the Jayhawks capitalized on with touchdowns.

But it wasn’t enough for Kansas, which has won just one conference game in its last 34 outings.

Red Raiders (3-4, 1/3 Big 12) freshman Justin Stockton scored on a 21-yard run to put the game out of reach.

Michael Cummings completed 20 of 32 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Jayhawks (2-5, 0-4).

The Red Raiders dominated offensively, getting 507 total yards to the Jayhawks’ 363.

Webb, the second-best passer in the Big 12 coming into the game, completed 28 of 44 passes. Running back De’Andre Washington finished with 164 yards on 23 carries.

Ben Heeney, a standout linebacker on Kansas’ defense, had a career-high 17 solo tackles. His previous high was 15 last year against Duke.

Texas Tech lost five straight conference games to close its regular season last year. The Red Raiders opened Big 12 play this season with losses to Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia.

The Jayhawks made it a one-possession game late in the third quarter when Cummings scored from 1 yard out to make it 27-21. The Red Raiders got their first rushing touchdown on their next possession, a 21-yard scamper up the middle by Stockton to put more distance, 34-21, between Texas Tech and Kansas.

Kansas got touchdowns off two mistakes by Webb, one in each half. The second came after Webb fumbled on the Red Raiders’ 40. Two plays later Cummings found Jimmay Mundine over the middle to pull within 20-14 with 8:34 remaining in the third quarter.

The Red Raiders answered quickly, with Webb capping a nine-play drive when he hit freshman receiver Ian Sadler on a 6-yard touchdown to go up 27-14.

Texas Tech led 17-7 at halftime off two touchdown passes by Webb. He got his first when he found Reginald Davis on fade route in near corner of the end zone to put the Red Raiders up 10-0. Webb’s second TD pass, an 8-yarder to Bradley Marquez, made it 17-0. It was Texas Tech’s largest lead of the season and gave Marquez his seventh touchdown for the season, a career high.

On the Red Raiders next possession, Heeney intercepted Webb and returned it 37 yards to the Texas Tech 39. Cummings found Justin McCay for a 16-yard touchdown pass to pull the Jayhawks within 17-7.

The interception extended the Red Raiders streak of losing at least one turnover to 19 games; Webb has 12 now in seven games, compared to the nine in 10 games he had last season.

— Associated Press —

Developer to build replica major league stadiums

Posted on October 18, 2014October 18, 2014

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Developers plan to break ground this fall on a series of replica Major League Baseball stadiums for Little Leaguers in the southwest Missouri tourism mecca of Branson.

Backers of the Ballparks of America project are banking on being able to lure the growing number of youth traveling teams to the two-thirds-scale versions of stadiums. They’ll include Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park, St. Louis’ Busch Stadium and Detroit’s former Tiger Stadium.

Ballparks of America CEO Hamilton Chang says work on the $15 million first phase is scheduled to be finished in May. It will include building six stadiums and converting part of a former outlet mall into a cafeteria and dorms for traveling teams. In future phases, developers plan to build another 10 stadiums at a cost of $9 million.