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Iowa running back situation continues changing

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Damon Bullock

The one constant the past few years with the Iowa running back position is that things will change.

De’Andre Johnson was dismissed from the team last week after two arrests, continuing a string of running backs who have left the team or have been injured.

Sophomore Damon Bullock opens fall camp listed in the number one spot along with junior Brad Rogers and two freshmen. Bullock says seeing someone dismissed from the team is an eye opener.

“It’s a wake up call, you just basically just want to go in every day knowing that anything can happen. And as long as you keep your head straight and you stay focused, you should be good. That’s what we try to do and try to carry it on to the freshmen as well,” Bullock says.

He says regardless of who is on the roster, you have to do the same thing when it comes to preparing. “Everybody has the same goal, we’re just trying to get better each and every day and get ready for September first,” Bullock says.

Damon Bullock answers questions during media day.

One thing that is different is new offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who comes from Bullock’s home state of Texas.

“I love it, you know coming up here to Iowa you’ve got all of these Iowa accents, and just getting coach Davis to come in…I kind of feel like home,” Bullock explains. “I’m loving it.”

He says Davis’ offense is a lot like what he ran in high school, which is something else he likes.

Jordan Canzeri played in Iowa’s bowl game last season, then injured his knee. Canzeri is trying to recover to get back on the field in the season opener.

“I am hoping that I can actually improve fast enough to be in the first game. I’m just gonna keep working as hard as I can and just try to work my way in as fast as I can,” He says.

Canzeri is not sure how likely it is that he would be ready to play in the first game.  “Anything can really happen, you can always have setback days, you never know when that can come up. So far I’ve been moving ahead fast and going in the good direction, so I’m really happy about that,” Canzeri says.

He says it’s tough to be working hard and not be able to get into the action. “It’s frustrating, but you just always have to look at the positive, you can’t have any negative really stay ahead of your life. Life will get hard, it will throw some tests at you, but you just have to show your good character and pick yourself up,” according to Canzeri.

Freshmen Barkley Hill, who played at Cedar Falls and Greg Garmon, are also listed as potential starters. Freshmen are not allowed to talk with the media. The Hawkeyes open the season at Soldier Field in Chicago against Northern Illinois.

High School football practice gets underway

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High school football teams with games on what is called “week zero” can begin practice today. English Valleys is one of the teams with a game on August 17th. The Bears will open at Iowa Valley.

English Valleys coach Bronson McCulley says it’s been kind of fun and exciting to get back in the groove of things with practice. McCulley says they agreed to the early game last winter and it will allow them to play a ten game schedule. He hopes that will be beneficial for the team and help them in the end.

More than 50 teams will play their opener during Week zero.

By Chris Varney, KGRN, Grinnell

“Suspicious” fire destroys Des Moines East football equipment

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A central Iowa high school football team has lost its helmets, pads and uniforms in a fire just one week before the start of practice. Des Moines School District spokesman Phil Roeder says the fire happened Tuesday night at the stadium Des Moines East shares with Grand View University.

“The good news is no one was injured,” Roeder said. “The bad news is (the fire) destroyed a lot of the equipment of the Des Moines East Scarlet football team.” Damage is estimated at $70,000 to $100,000.

Grand View’s football gear is stored in a separate facility. Roeder believes football practice for East will still begin next week.

“We’re working fast and furious now with athletic suppliers to get new equipment lined up for the team right away,” Roeder said.

Investigators are calling the fire “suspicious” as witnesses reported seeing two vehicles leave the stadium parking lot shortly before firefighters arrived. The fire was contained to offices and locker and equipment rooms. The football field was not damaged.

Fort Dodge beats Dowling to finish game suspended by weather

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The State high school baseball tournament resumed this morning with the completion of the 4A opening round that was suspended after thunderstorms hit Des Moines.

Isaac Lehman’s single into right center scored the game winner as 4th ranked Fort Dodge scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge 6th ranked Dowling Catholic 5-4 in a weather-delayed Class 4A quarterfinal.

Fort Dodge led 1-0 on Wednesday night when the weather forced the game to be shut down. Lehman says they got to bed at midnight.

“So we only got about 5 hours of sleep, it was kind of rough…it was a late night, but it feels good now,” he said.

When the game resumed Dowling scored a run in the second and added two more in the third to take the lead. Fort Dodge coach Matt Elsbecker says they did their best while operating on little sleep. “The reality was we survived…these guys have been dreaming about this, these seniors have been dreaming about this for four years and we were going to do whatever it takes,” Elsbecker said.

Dowling led 4-3 going into the bottom of the seventh but Maroon pitchers walked one batter, hit two others and Dowling also failed to get the lead runner at third on a bunt.

Dowling coach Tim O’Neil was upset with a couple of calls in the bottom of the seventh. He stormed out of the interview area following the game without taking any questions.

4A baseball tournament game suspended after storm hits

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With lightning spotted, play in the Fort Dodge vs. West Des Moines Dowling game was stopped at 8:53 p.m. Wednesday after 15 minutes of play. Fort Dodge scored in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-0 lead. After an hour delay with rain and continued lightning, the Iowa High School Athletic Association decided to suspend the game. Play will resume with Dowling at bat in the top of the second.

Alex Hayden of the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars shut down Linn-Mar to defeat the Lions by a score of 13-1 at Principal Park. five innings of shutout baseball. Top ranked Ankeny scored seven runs in the first enroute to a 14-4 win over Davenport North.

Third ranked West Des Moines Valley jumped out to a 6-0 lead then held off a rally by fifth rated Iowa City West for a 10-5 victory in a class 4A quarterfinal round game. Tiger first baseman Austin Stephens had a two run homer to left as part of a four run fifth inning.

Stephen says the Tigers are playing their best at the right time. He says it’s nice to get the first state tournament win under their belts and they can hopefully keep it rolling.

West rallied with four runs in the bottom of the fifth and the Trojans got to within 6-5 before Valley put the game away by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh.

West coach Charlie Stumpf says his team gave a great effort to get back into the game. “I thought we did a good job at the plate like usual…from where we were to have the tying runs on is all you can ask,” He says. Stumpf says Valley is a deep team that hits well and played better than his team.

Umpire retires after 40 state tournaments

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Umpire Gary Paulsen has worked 40 state tournaments.

A central Iowa man who has appeared in more state high school baseball tournaments than anyone else stepped off the diamond for the final time Monday.

Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis reports :Gary Paulson story :53

Gary Paulsen of Ogden umpired his last game during a record 40th appearance at the State Baseball Tournament. He’s been calling balls and strikes for more than five decades. Paulsen called his first game as a junior in high school, joining his father and uncle on the diamond.

“I was fortunate to work in the 50s and 60s with my dad and my uncle, in the 80s and 90s with my son and then, in the summer, I broke down and trained my grandson. So, that’s four generations of stupidity or whatever you want to call it,” Paulsen said with a laugh.

“It’s been fun and I’ve actually been (umpiring) since probably 1957.” In addition to his family, Paulsen credits his long, successful career to good health and a lot of luck.

“My mother’s dad lived to be 94 and he was an active runner, so I think I have some of those genes in me,” Paulsen said. “I’ve been fortunate, other than one year I developed a blood clot during football season, otherwise I’ve been very fortunate to stay healthy.”

Paulsen is also an accomplished basketball, track and football official. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 1993.

Shrine football game moving to the UNI-Dome

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The Iowa Shrine Game will have a new home starting next year. The annual high school football all-star game will move to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

The game has been played at Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium for the past dozen years, but was forced to move because of a new NCAA rule.

Jim Marlin, Executive Director of the Cedar Valley Sports Commission says the rule prevents “non scholastic football” games from being played on Division 1-A campuses. It does not impact high school playoff games.

Marlin says that the Shrine Bowl board and U.N.I. had a mutual interest in putting the game on in the Dome. He says the Shriners were already thinking of holding the game there and it was an obvious alternative once the rule started.

Marlin says that there is a week’s worth of activities surrounding the game that will also move to the Cedar Valley. “It really is amazing the amount that they pack into the week. The kids will spend time out during the week for social activities…there’s a parade Saturday morning before the parade…there’s a banquet of almost 800 people…so it really is a community-wide 7-day event,” according to Marlin.

Marlin doesn’t have a specific dollar amount that the events will bring to the area, but says that the money will be spread across the Cedar Valley. “It’s significant in that they’re coming in and spending money at the water park, and spending money with the Bucks and spending money at the convention center, and then renting the Dome. And that doesn’t include the money they’re spending on housing all the players and the cheerleaders in the dorms for 7 days,” Marlin says.

Next year’s Iowa Shrine Game will the be 41st edition of the all-star competition.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

Martensdale St. Marys begins title defense with a win

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J.D. Nielsen on the mound.

Martensdale St. Marys opened its bid for a third consecutive state high school baseball title with an 8-2 win over Treynor in a Class 1A quarterfinal today in Des Moines.

Left hander J.D. Nielsen pitched five innings for the Blue Devils, holding Treynor scoreless while giving up just one hit, walking two and striking out six.

“I was just trying to get it over the plate and let my defense do the work,” Nielsen said. “Our bats came out firing, so it’s pretty easy to pitch when you do that.”

The Blue Devils scored four runs in the 4th and three in the 5th, taking advantage of six Treynor errors. Martensdale St. Marys coach Justin Dehmer noted Treynor starting pitcher Cole Chapin lasted just four innings after throwing over 100 pitches.

J.D. Nielson leaves the field.

“I thought we had a good plan in place to wear (Chapin) down and in this heat, it’s going to be tough for anybody to go an entire game,” Dehmer said. “Our bats came alive, they made a few mistakes and we capitalized.” The temperature in Des Moines topped out at 104 degrees during the game.

Dehmer said his team re-focused its attention on a third state title after having their 88-game winning streak snapped by Des Moines East back in May. The Blue Devils fell one victory short of tying a national record with their 88 straight wins.

Treynor coach Bob Mantell said it’s tough to win any game – but especially a state tournament contest – with six fielding errors. “That…is probably the tell-tale of the game,” Mantell said. “I mean, they swing the bat well enough anyway, so if you’re booting (the ball) around a bit and you’re not throwing strikes consistently, you’re going to face an uphill battle. That really hurt us.”

Treynor’s season ends with a record of 30-5. Martensdale St. Marys, at 38-5, advances to the 1A semifinals and will face either Algona Bishop Garrigan or Traer North Tama at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Despite the six errors by his team, Treynor coach Bob Mantell was quick to give credit to Martensdale St. Marys. “They had some good at-bats, they battled well at the plate, they’re a good team, there’s no doubt about it. But you know I’ll say this we weren’t intimidated by ’em.,” Mantell says. He says they just didn’t play well enough to win.

All classes continue play at state softball tournament

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Championship bracket competition resumes at the state high school softball tournament in Fort Dodge on Thursday with the semifinal round in all five classes. In class 1A, third ranked Martensdale-St. Marys will take on tenth rated Charter Oak-Ute.

This is the fifth straight year that Martensdale-St. Marys has reached the semifinal round but the Blue Devils are still in search of their first title.

Martensdale-St. Marys coach Todd Verwers says they have a lot to contend with as their baseball team has won titles, “Five times in a row that’s great, but until you have the one big trophy, it’s not good enough.” The Blue Devils will be out to snap a three game losing streak in semifinal round games but Verwers says pressure is not an issue.

“These girls have been in big games since they were in 7th and 8th grade,” Verwers says. He says they’ve been to the state tournament in other sports and they have been bless to have good athletes.

Charter Oak-Ute is 28-12 and upset fourth ranked Newell-Fonda 4-3 in the quarterfinal round.

Right fielder Ashley Goslar drove in the winning run against Newell-Fonda with a single in the top of the seventh and says the Bobcats are thrilled with the chance to play in the semifinals. “This is the biggest deal ever, like, I’m so excited, I’m like I’m nervous already, but I think we can take it all the way for sure,” Goslar says.

Second ranked Earlham will play sixth ranked Don Bosco in the other 1A semifinal. Earlham senior catcher Amy Wright says the Cardinals are motivated by last year’s first round loss to eventual champion Akron-Westfield. “We got beat and we know what it felt like and we didn’t want the feeling again.”

Wright was a freshman third baseman on the 2009 Earlham team that won the state championship. She would like to end her high school career in the same manner. “I remember that dogpile at home plate, I remember that vividly, I dream about that every day,” Wright said.

Don Bosco scores three runs in the bottom of the sixth to rally by Mason City Newman in the opening round. The Dons are in the semifinals for the first time since the 2000 season.

State softball first round complete

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The opening round of the state high school softball tournament is complete. Kendyl Lindamen slammed a pair of homers as top ranked Ankeny rolled to a 13-0 victory over Marshalltown in class 5A. Ninth ranked Iowa city West beat number 8 Ottawa 5-0.

Chloe miller slammed a two run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 8th as fifth ranked Pleasant Valley edged Dowling Catholic 2-0, and fifth ranked Des Moines East score four runs in the second and added 7 more in the fifth enroute to a victory over #10 Davenport West.

In class 4A, top ranked Clear Creek Amana scored five runs in the second and went on to a 10-0 victory over West Delaware, and fourth ranked Indianola scored four runs in the first in a 4-1 victory over 6th ranked Winterset. Second ranked Dallas Center Grimes blanked ninth ranked Sioux City Heelan 3-0. And it was #7 Washington over third ranked Carlisle 5-2.

In 3A, Kelly Bycroft slammed a two run homer, one of 13 hits for third ranked Bondurabnt-Farrar in an 8-1 victory over Davenport Assumption. Sydney fisher and grace hall had back to back rbi doubles in the top of the seventh as ninth ranked Ballard rallied past number four Mid-Prairie 5-4.