Dave Riggert – Page 396 – St. Joseph Post Archive

K-State’s Elijah Lee named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

Posted on October 3, 2016

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a career-high 14 tackles and his fourth-career interception last weekend at West Virginia, Kansas State linebacker Elijah Lee has been named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday morning.

Lee, who picked up his first-career player of the week accolade, gave K-State its third-consecutive weekly conference honor as Dominique Heath (Florida Atlantic) and Byron Pringle (Missouri State) picked up the special teams honors the previous two weeks.

A product of Blue Springs, Missouri, Lee bettered his previous career high of 12 tackles achieved last year against Louisiana Tech and in the 2016 season opener at eighth-ranked Stanford. He tallied eight of his 14 tackles in the first half as the Wildcats shut out the Mountaineers over the first 30 minutes, K-State’s first shutout in a half of a Big 12 road game in two years.

Lee also recorded his fourth-career interception in the first quarter, which led to a Wildcat touchdown. He became the first Wildcat linebacker since Bryan Hickman (2000-03) with four career interceptions, while he is one of four K-State linebackers under head coach Bill Snyder with at least four picks.

The Wildcats host their first Big 12 home game this Saturday as they take on Texas Tech at 6 p.m., in Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a game that will be televised by ESPNU.

— K-State Athletics —

MIAA hands out weekly football honors

Posted on October 3, 2016October 3, 2016

Kansas City, Mo. – Emporia State’s Braxton Marstall has been named the MIAA Football Offensive Athlete of the Week. He is joined by two Pittsburg State Gorillas as Deron Washington earned the honor on defense and Lorenzo West on special teams.

MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week
Braxton Marstall, QB, Emporia State

Marstall set career highs going 29 of 41 for 354 yards with five touchdowns and also added 56 yards on ten carries in the Hornets 35-21 win over Central Oklahoma. He had a QB efficiency rating of 183.5 for the game. He led the Hornets to a score on their first drive for the fourth time in five games and had two drives of over 90 yards in the first half. The Hornets converted a season high ten of 16 third downs on the day. He became the first Hornet to throw for over 300 yards with five touchdowns since Brent Wilson did it against Minnesota State in last years playoffs. The 6-2 sophomore quarterback is a native of Emporia, Kan. where he competed at Emporia High School.

MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week
Deron Washington, S, Pittsburg State

Deron Washington returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown – one of two “pick sixes” for the Pittsburg State defense – as the Gorillas claimed a 45-27 road win over Washburn Saturday (Oct. 1). Washington’s return gave Pitt State a 21-13 lead with 1:07 to play in the second quarter. He made six tackles (four solo) in the game. He also forced a fumble and recovered it at the PSU 10 to halt a WU scoring threat early in the second quarter. The Pitt State defense forced four turnovers in the game and halted another WU drive on downs in the contest. The 6-1 senior safety is a native of Raymore, Mo. where he competed at Raymore-Peculiar High School.

MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Lorenzo West, RS, Pittsburg State

West returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to give Pittsburg State the lead for good as the Gorillas pulled away for a 45-27 road win over Washburn Saturday (Oct. 1). The Ichabods had taken a 13-7 lead when West received the kick, found a seam up the middle and jetted into the end zone with 8:41 to play in the second quarter. West averaged 50.0 yards on a pair of kickoff returns in the contest. The redshirt freshman prepped at MacArthur High School in Lawton, Okla.

— MIAA Press Release —

MWSU men in 6th place after day one in Minnesota

Posted on October 3, 2016

Lake City, Minn. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team is tied for sixth place after one round at the JR Watkins Invite in Lake City, Minnesota.

Kevin Kim, who is sitting tied for twelfth after shooting a 74, currently leads the Griffons. Jakob Rudosky is in nineteenth with a first round score of 75.

Jakob Majeske and Patrick McCarthy both shot a 77 on the opening day as Lucas Horseman finished with a 78 for MWSU.

The Griffons shot a team score of 303 for the first round and are just 12 strokes off the lead. Missouri Western will look to continue its strong play in the second and third rounds tomorrow morning and afternoon.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals get swept by Indians, finish season 81-81

Posted on October 2, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Indians manager Terry Francona sat in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, moments after a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, and knew only that Boston awaited his club in the postseason.

He didn’t know where the series would begin. That was still to be determined by games elsewhere, as was whether Cleveland would need to make up a rained out game in Detroit on Monday.

“Well,” Francona said with a grin and a shrug, “we’re either going to shower and go home or shower and go to Detroit. Either way, I’m showering.”

Suds up that loofah, Tito. You’re heading home.

The Tigers’ loss to the Braves coupled with Boston’s loss to the Blue Jays gave Cleveland (94-67) homefield advantage in the divisional round. The newly minted AL Central champions open against Boston (93-69) on Thursday at Progressive field with Trevor Bauer slated to take the hill.

“You get to the last weekend of the year, you see a lot of guys kind of tailing off,” said Francona, who has yet to win a postseason game in Cleveland. “Our guys never did that.”

Not even in their regular-season finale.

Josh Tomlin (13-9) dueled with the Royals’ Ian Kennedy (11-11) into the eighth before finally pulling ahead. Carlos Santana drew a walk off Kennedy to start the inning, Jason Kipnis followed with a double and Frnacisco Lindor hit a fly ball deep enough to right field for the lead.

Tomlin got the first batter in the eighth before Andrew Miller finished it up, and Cody Allen handled the ninth to earn his 32nd save and give the Indians a nice boost heading into the playoffs.

“I’ve never really experienced the postseason,” said Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter,” so I know I’ll be ready when that time comes. We knew we put ourselves in good position.”

It was a frustrating finale to an injury plagued season for the Royals, who had been to the past two World Series and were coming off their first championship since 1985. A dismal July nearly buried them, an inspired August got them back into contention, and a stumbling finish left them at 81-81.

It was their first non-winning season in four years.

“We were just one win away from having a winning season. We had four cracks at it at the end of the year and just couldn’t get it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Offensively, we just couldn’t do it.”

Meanwhile, there were so many playoff permutations riding on the final day of the regular season that Francona was still trying to sort everything out 3 hours before first pitch.

The only thing he knew was his club was playing Boston on Thursday — somewhere.

They fell into a 1-0 hole when Jarrod Dyson and Whit Merrifield opened the game with doubles off Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter in the divisional series, but the lead didn’t even last the two innings.

The Indians answered in the third when Tyler Naquin was plunked by a pitch from Ian Kennedy, and Yan Gomes went deep to left field on the first big league pitch he’d seen since July 17.

Kansas City tied it up when Cheslor Cuthbert homered leading off the fifth inning, but the Indians were able to coax across one more run to once more beat a team they’ve dominated this season.

“One mistake, I gave up a home run and it kind of cost me,” Kennedy said. “Overall, I was really happy how the outing went. At least, I gave our team a real solid chance.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: Gomes, activated from the 60-day DL on Friday, started for the first time since breaking his right hand in a rehab game Sept. 14. “It’s been a long way back,” Gomes said. “They said I can’t hurt it any more. You’ll just have to play through it, play through the pain.”

Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer missed the finale with a wrist issue he’s been battling for weeks. C Sal Perez was the DH to protect an ailing hamstring. … RHP Dillon Gee is scheduled to have another procedure Oct. 11 for blood clots in his shoulder and lung. The issue popped up during a start in Detroit.

UP NEXT

Indians: The chase begins for their first playoff victory since 2007, when they lost to the Red Sox — managed by Francona — in a seven-game AL championship series.

Royals: Time to think about next season. General manager Dayton Moore has some roster decisions to make, including whether to exercise team options on SS Alcides Escobar and RHP Wade Davis.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals defeat Pirates, but miss playoffs for 1st time since 2010

Posted on October 2, 2016

ST. LOUIS (AP) — All season long, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny set 10-games over .500 as a target for his team.

St. Louis, on its tenth try, finally reached that mark with a 10-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, but the Cardinals still missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Matt Carpenter homered and Randal Grichuk keyed a six-run seventh-inning with a two-run double to lead St. Louis to its fourth win in a row.

But the Cardinals (86-76) were eliminated while still on the field when San Francisco (87-75) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 and earned the second NL wild card.

“That’s the danger when it’s not in your hands anymore,” Matheny said. “Our focus was to take care of our own business, and we did that.”

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright allowed two runs and six hits over six innings. He did not get a decision.

“To miss the playoffs by one game — that’s tough to swallow,” Wainwright said. “You think about how many times you could’ve won games, or just one or two games, and you didn’t. It gets you to thinking back a little bit.”

St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday was brought into the game briefly to play left field in the ninth inning. He was given a standing ovation and taken out before the first pitch. The Cardinals announced Friday they plan to decline his 2017 option and allow him to become free agent.

“How special was that?” Matheny said. “What instigated it was the response of the fans, so badly they wanted to see him one more time.”

St. Louis was a big league-best 100-62 last year but lost to the Chicago Cubs in the Division Series. The Cardinals never led the NL Central at any point this season and finished with a losing record at home (38-43) for the first time since 1999.

“Anytime you don’t win the World Series, it’s disappointing,” said infielder Aledmys Diaz. “But we kept coming and never let down.”

“To get close, it definitely makes it a little more disappointing,” Carpenter said. “But that’s the nature of the business. There’s only team that doesn’t have this day.”

After making the playoffs for three straight years, Pittsburgh dropped from 98-64 to 78-83.

Yadier Molina had three hits for the Cardinals. Stephen Piscotty singled in Molina to break a 4-4 tie in the seventh.

Carpenter hit his 21st homer of the season off Antonio Bastardo for a 4-2 lead.

Jonathan Broxton (4-2) won despite allowing two runs in one inning of relief.

Juan Nicasio (10-7) gave up three runs without recording an out in the seventh.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run single in the fifth to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle is ready to move on from the disappointing campaign.

“Forty-one years in the game and I honor the game, I respect the game,” Hurdle said. “And I’ve also gotten very good on closing the book when it’s time to close the book.”

Pittsburgh catcher Eric Fryer had two hits in a losing cause.

“I think down the stretch we definitely competed,” Fryer said. “There’s a lot of optimism here with a lot of young arms.”

PACK THE PLACE

A crowd of 44,615, the 19th sellout of the season, watched the final game.

St. Louis drew 3,444,490, second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in major league home attendance. It was the fifth highest attendance total in franchise history and the 13th successive year the team has drawn at least three million.

— Associated Press —

Griffons snap two-game skid with big win over Northeastern State

Posted on October 1, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western football team broke its two-game losing streak Saturday as they defeated Northeastern State 45-14 at Spratt Stadium.

MWSU staked a 38-0 lead in the third quarter before Northeastern State got its first touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter on the Griffons’ second-string defense. The RiverHawks would add another fourth quarter score on a 51-yard fumble recovery against Missouri Western’s reserve offense.

The Griffons rushed for 281 yards and limited Northeastern State to 280 total yards on the day. Kendall Short had a career-high three rushing touchdowns and Josh Caldwell added another, giving the Griffons four rushing TDs. Skyler Windmiller connected with Jesse Dickens for a 53-yard TD strike a little more than four minutes into the game, Missouri Western’s only passing TD on the day. Ray Winters made it 14-0 in the first quarter with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Missouri Western’s defense returned to early season form, forcing four Northeastern State turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble. Northeastern State passed for 215 yards in the game, but most of that coming late in the game.

Caldwell finished with 22 carries for 123 yards and the touchdown. Short rushed 10 times for 83 yards and three scores. Windmiller finished early in the second half, 9-15 for 199 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Dickens was one of a handful of Griffon receivers to pull in two catches. He led the team with 75 receiving yards and the TD.

The win lifted Missouri Western to 3-2 on the season and dropped Northeastern State to 1-4. The Griffons travel to Lindenwood next Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri gets blown out at LSU 42-7

Posted on October 1, 2016

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Ed Orgeron held both arms in the air as he emerged from the Tiger Stadium tunnel for his first game as LSU’s interim coach. Derrius Guice’s long, crowd-thrilling touchdown runs ensured Orgeron would have every reason to leave Death Valley in an even better mood.

In the first game since the firing of coach Les Miles, and with star running back Leonard Fournette sidelined with ankle soreness, Guice rushed for a career-high 163 yards and three touchdowns, leading LSU to a 42-7 victory over Missouri on Saturday night.

Orgeron walked of the field beaming after his players gave him a celebratory drenching with a bucket of sports drink and handed him a game ball.

Guice scored the game’s first touchdown on a zig-zagging, 42-yard run in which he left several would-be tacklers grasping at air before using his speed to race away for the final yards. He added TDs from 4 and 37 yards before the first half ended.

Darrel Williams added a career-high 130 yards and three short touchdowns for LSU (3-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), which finished with 418 yards on the ground.

Missouri (2-3, 0-2) struggled to sustain drives and didn’t score until executing a reverse pass from receiver Eric Laurent to quarterback Drew Lock with 6:11 left in the game. LSU dominated time of possession, 42:42 to 17:18 and ran 82 plays to Missouri’s 60. LSU also finished with 634 yards — the school record for an SEC game- to Missouri’s 265.

Getting rid of the ball quickly, Lock limited LSU’s formidable pass rush to two sacks. But LSU’s secondary didn’t give the quarterback many easy throws. Lock, who came in averaging 377 yards passing, finished 17 of 37 for 167 yards and was intercepted once by Tre’Davious White on a long, over-thrown pass.

Miles, arguably the most successful coach in LSU history after winning 77 percent of his games in 11-plus seasons — including the 2007 national championship — was fired last Sunday, the day after an 18-13 loss at Auburn. That game marked the second time this season LSU’s offense looked stagnant in a loss to an underdog that was not ranked at the time of the game.

Orgeron promised a different look on offense and delivered early with four wide-receiver sets and enough passes to keep Missouri’s defense honest. But statistically, LSU looked a lot like some of Miles’ most dominant teams, with more yards and scoring on the ground than through the air.

LSU QB Danny Etling completed 19 of 30 for 216 yards and did not turn the ball over.

THE TAKEAWAY

MISSOURI: Stats can be deceiving. Mizzou’s offense, which came into the game leading the SEC, has looked far less prolific against teams from Power 5 conferences than the overmatched Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference and Delaware State of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.

LSU: Les Miles may be out as coach but there’s no questioning the talent he brought in when LSU gets rolling. And it’s clear the Tigers were ready to play under Orgeron. LSU could be a tough out for a number of their remaining opponents.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

After falling out of the AP Poll last week, LSU could very well jump right back into the ranking with its emphatic rebound from its last-second lost at Auburn.

UP NEXT

MISSOURI: After a bye next weekend, Missouri will visit Florida on Oct. 15.

LSU: A clash with historical rival Florida in the Swamp next weekend is on tap for LSU, marking the first road game of the Orgeron era.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western volleyball earns four-set win at Pitt State

Posted on October 1, 2016

Pittsburg, Kan. – Missouri Western Volleyball beat Pittsburg State 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23) for their seventh win in eight games.

The Griffons overcame a slow start for the first set victory. Trailing 21-20, MWSU got back-to-back kills from Rachel Friedrichs to take the lead as Kelsey Olion’s kill would be the set clincher. Down 14-12 in the third set, Stephanie Doak would pound home a kill to spark a 9-2 run to propel Missouri Western to take a 2-1 match advantage.

After battling back from an early deficit, Rachel Friedrichs took over in the fourth set. Friedrichs would get a kill to even the score at 23-23 and then aced the Gorillas with the next serve to force match point. A block assist from Rachel Losch and Stephanie Doak would allow Missouri Western to secure the win.

The Griffons received a dominating performance from Friedrichs has she finished with 18 kills and four aces. Stephanie Doak added 15 while Rachel Losch ended with 11 kills. Doak and fellow freshman Tiana Butler ended with two aces apiece. Kourtney Blaufuss dished out 49 assist, her second highest total in a four set match this season.

Missouri Western returns home after an eight road stretch as they host rival #22 Northwest Missouri on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. and #6 Central Missouri on Friday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

K-State comes up short at West Virginia 17-16

Posted on October 1, 2016

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Skyler Howard was waiting for something good to happen to West Virginia’s offense.

That occurred in the fourth quarter, when the Mountaineers came from 13 points down to beat Kansas State 17-16 on Saturday in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

“You know the snowball effect where you get one thing going wrong and the snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger?” Howard said. “You’re looking around like, man, we need a spark. We need something to happen.”

“Our guys came together and kept fighting. Nobody was down or pointing fingers.”

Despite being held scoreless in the first half for the first time in three seasons, West Virginia improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2012. The Mountaineers broke a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats since joining the league that year.

“I just couldn’t be more proud of our team for having the courage to go out there and do that in the second half,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.

Kansas State (2-2) had a chance to win it. But Matthew McCrane, who earlier made three field goals, missed a 43-yarder wide left with 2:03 left. West Virginia got the ball at its 26 and ran out the clock.

Kansas State was limited to 108 yards of offense in the second half.

“Our execution was not as good as it needs to be,” said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. “We just probably didn’t move the ball like we should. We struggled offensively in the second half when we had to have some movement. Couldn’t get first downs.”

West Virginia’s turnaround began when Shelton Gibson caught a 52-yard pass near the end of the third quarter and Ka’Raun White caught a 7-yarder on fourth-and-6 four plays later. Justin Crawford ran nine yards on first-and-goal and he finished the drive with a 1-yard TD run with 13:41 left to cut the deficit to 16-10.

A 31-yard punt later gave West Virginia the ball back at its 43, and Howard converted a third-down pass to Ka’Raun White at the Kansas State 9 before scrambling to find Jovon Durante in the right corner of the end zone from 7 yards out with 6:11 left for the final margin.

“I saw a little window and we took it,” said Howard, who finished 24 of 41 passes for 298 yards with one interception. “In the grand scheme of things, we make that play a lot in practice. But to finally do it in a game, it paid off.”

West Virginia squeaked by for the second straight game. A week ago the Mountaineers were ahead of BYU by 16 points in the fourth quarter and needed Maurice Fleming’s interception to seal the 35-32 win .

“Finding a way to win is the most important thing,” Holgorsen said.

THE TAKEAWAY

KANSAS STATE: The Wildcats entered the game with the nation’s top defense but gave up 422 yards to the Mountaineers. Kansas State was held to 286 total yards of offense and Jesse Ertz completed 10 of 30 passes for 166 yards.

Snyder said Ertz was “not like he has been in the last couple of weeks. But once again, West Virginia had an awful lot to do with that.”

WEST VIRGINIA: The Mountaineers left plenty of points off the board. Rushel Shell fumbled the ball away at the Kansas State 3 late in the third quarter, and Josh Lambert earlier missed a 30-yard field goal.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

West Virginia could get enough votes to sneak into the AP Top 25 poll but needed a more convincing win to ensure that happens. The Mountaineers entered Saturday’s game four spots out of the poll.

UP NEXT

KANSAS STATE: Hosts Texas Tech next Saturday.

WEST VIRGINIA: Heads into a bye week before playing its first true road game of the season at Texas Tech on Oct. 15.

— Associated Press —

No. 15 Nebraska uses big 4th quarter to rally past Illinois

Posted on October 1, 2016

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s fourth-quarter dominance showed up again Saturday. This time it was Terrell Newby leading the way.

The senior ran for 113 of his 140 yards and scored two touchdowns in the last 15 minutes, just in time for the 15th-ranked Cornhuskers to turn back Illinois’ upset bid and win 31-16.

Newby touched the ball on 18 of Nebraska’s last 21 plays from scrimmage and the Cornhuskers (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) won going away after being down 16-10. They also avenged a 14-13 loss last year in Champaign.

“Newby, I thought, was a real man today,” Nebraska coach Mike Riley said.

Newby didn’t have much choice. Fellow running back Devine Ozigbo went out of the game late in the third quarter with an ankle injury, and backup Mikale Wilbon was banged up.

“I knew I had to kind of carry the load from then on,” Newby said. “I accepted it and wanted to do everything in my power to get the victory.”

Newby’s two TDs came as Nebraska scored 21 straight points to overcome a 16-10 deficit. The Huskers have outscored their five opponents 78-6 in the fourth quarter.

Illinois (1-3, 0-1) got off only 10 offensive plays after taking its six-point lead with 7:40 left in the third quarter. The Illini have lost 14 straight and 23 of 24 against Top 25 opponents.

“We got better today. We still have a loss but I think we made improvements,” Illinois coach Lovie Smith said. “We hung in there throughout, had a lead for most of the game, but it’s about finishing. We didn’t do that.”

Nebraska, favored by three touchdowns, turned over the ball on back-to-back possessions while falling behind. The Illini had to settle for field goals after each takeaway, allowing the Huskers to stay close.

The Huskers went 18 plays in 10:42 to take a one-point lead early in the fourth. Nebraska kept the drive alive because of two huge penalties on the Illini. Chunky Clements had Tommy Armstrong Jr. stopped for a loss on a third-and-12, but he was called for a horse-collar tackle, and Darius Mosley was flagged for pass interference on a fourth-and-4.

The biggest play, though, was when Newby picked up a first down by inches on a fourth-and-1 at the Illinois 4. The spot stood after a video review.

“It’s a game of inches,” Newby said. “I tried to do everything I could to stretch the ball out. I’m glad it went our way.”

Newby went into the end zone from the 3 on the next play, and he finished the scoring with a 63-yard burst.

Reggie Corbin led the Illini with 72 yards on nine carries, and Kendrick Foster scored their only touchdown on a 31-yard run. Wes Lunt was 13 for 22 for 133 yards.

“Definitely no moral victories,” Lunt said, “but we’re so close to breaking through. We’re leading all the way up to the fourth and battled through adversity all game. But at the end, they made a few plays and won the game.”

THE TAKEAWAY

ILLINOIS: The Illini, who have lost three in a row since winning their opener, gave Nebraska all it could handle. The offense couldn’t get going again once the Huskers took the lead, and the defense was on the field way too long.

NEBRASKA: The Huskers should feel good about getting out of this one with a win considering all their injuries. Jordan Westerkamp was taken to a hospital to be evaluated after he appeared to take a knee to the back while getting tackled. Tight end Cethan Carter injured his elbow early in the game.

“Looking at our team and watching that thing take place, it appears to be a real good time for a bye week,” Riley said.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Nebraska has a chance to move up, but the Huskers aren’t ready to break into the top 10 for the first time since 2011.

LAST WORD

“Well, did you all stay around for the fourth quarter? That didn’t look like much up until then.” — Riley.

UP NEXT

ILLINOIS: The Illini return home to face Purdue, which they beat 48-14 last season.

NEBRASKA: The Huskers have an open date next week before visiting Indiana on Oct. 15. It will be the Huskers’ first game against Indiana since they became Big Ten members in 2011.

— Associated Press —