Former Colfax-Mingo standout Jared Myers is one win away from a national championship.
Myers plays for the Morningside College football team out of Sioux City. The Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 in NAIA since Oct. 1. They take a 14-0 record into the national championship game against seventh-ranked Benedictine College.
Myers is a sophomore and is listed as a J-back on the Morningside roster. On the season, Myers has 20 catches for 222 yards and four touchdowns.
Morningside hasn’t been tested much this season but did need overtime to beat the University of St. Francis 34-28 in the semifinals.
The Mustangs defeated Rocky Mountain College 49-20 in the first round and blasted Saint Xavier University 51-14 in the second round.
I covered Myers during his prep days at Colfax-Mingo. He’s a tough kid who played every snap like he loved the game.
Good luck to him and the rest of his Morningside teammates on the national championship game. The game is still a week and a half away. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Nov. 15 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Moving to the Cy-Hawk Series. This is a big week of competition when it comes to Iowa vs. Iowa State.
The Iowa wrestling team already picked up a narrow one-point win over the Cyclones last weekend. That put the Hawkeyes up 7-6 in the annual Cy-Hawk season standings.
The women’s basketball game went to the Hawkeyes on Wednesday to extend Iowa’s lead to 9-6. Tania Davis nailed a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds to go to push the Hawks to a 73-70 win.
The men’s teams play Thursday night and the swim teams face off on Friday. All three events were or will be in Iowa City, and the Hawkeyes can create some serious separation with a trio of wins.
Iowa got its nine points from wins in women’s basketball, football, volleyball and wrestling. Iowa State has wins in soccer and women’s and men’s cross country.
Iowa State won a tight 14-13 matchup last year. Iowa claimed a 20-7 win two years ago.
The women’s game featured two of the best players in the country.
Megan Gustafson is a sure-fire first team all-American at this point. She’s shooting 77 percent from the floor and is a monster inside the lane. The Cyclones held her to 13 on Wednesday, but she had 16 rebounds to set the all-time career mark at Iowa.
Bridget Carleton also is leaving quite the legacy at Iowa State. She came into the game averaging 17 points per game, and hit some big shots in the second half to keep the Cyclones in the game.
Carleton did miss a big a free throw late in the game that would have given the Cyclones the lead. I am sure she wants that one back and may be thinking about that miss for awhile.
The men’s teams will have a hard time living up to the result of the women’s game. The Hawkeyes are narrow favorites at home. Iowa’s men are sitting in a two-game losing streak but both games came to top 25 teams.
Iowa State won’t have Lindell Wigginton but it may not matter. The Cyclones are playing well right now.
The homecourt advantage usually takes shape in this series, but I do think the Cyclones win the game Thursday.
Contact Troy Hyde
at thyde@newtondailynews.com
