HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Hutchinson High School varsity volleyball team earned 2 big wins over avctl teams Tuesday evening at the Salthawk Activity Center.

Hutch swept Haysville-Campus 2 sets to 0, 25-10, 25-10 in the 1st match and won match #2 over Maize High 23-25, 25-23 and 25-12.

Hutch goes 2-0 on the evening and run their record to 7-3.  Next action for the Salthawks is the Maize Triangular next Tuesday, September 17th at Maize vs Maize and Derby.

GODDARD, Kan. – The Hutchinson High School boy’s soccer team won over Rose Hill 2-1 on Tuesday at the Goddard Invitational.

The next game is in Goddard @ 7pm on Thursday versys Buhler.  Buhler won over Goddard 4-1 in action on Tuesday also.

Scoring goals for Hutchinson was Eric Mendoza and Wyatt Johnson.

CHICAGO (AP) — Two young sluggers who are considered pillars in the Chicago White Sox rebuilding plan came through with impressive drives on the same night.

Eloy Jiménez hit his first career grand slam, Yoán Moncada launched a monster two-run homer and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Tuesday night.

Adam Engel added a solo shot for as the White Sox won their second straight, but just their fourth in 14 games.

The White Sox expect Jiménez and Moncada to play prominent long-term roles as the team reshapes itself into a contender after a lengthy drought. Jiménez thinks their power show could continue for years.

“It was really cool,” Jiménez said. “I hear it was the first game Moncada and me hit home runs in the same game. That is the first of many to come and it feels really good.”

White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing spoke after the game in place of manager Rick Renteria, who left early from his first contest back after undergoing shoulder surgery last Friday.

“It’s nice that they’re going to be in the lineup hopefully for the next 10 years,” McEwing said.

Jimenez drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis to the opposite field and into the right-field visitors’ bullpen in the first inning for his 25th home run and a 4-1 Chicago lead.

“Threw a sinker down and in that was a pretty good pitch and he just sliced it opposite way for a homer,” Junis said.

Moncada’s 23rd homer, off Kevin McCarthy in the seventh, landed high in the batter’s eye and was measured at 452 feet.

“He put that one almost in the scoreboard,” Jiménez said.

Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Gordon and Ryan O’Hearn went deep for the Royals on a warm night when the ball carried well and every run was scored on a homer.

Ivan Nova (10-12) allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings to snap his three-game losing streak. The right-hander yielded six hits, including the Royals’ three solo shots, while walking none and striking out five.

“That’s the game,” Nova said. “You hit me, my team is going to hit you.”

Junis (9-13) permitted five runs in five-plus innings in losing for the third time in four decisions.

Mondesi homered in the top of the first to put Kansas City ahead.

The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning when Moncada’s hot comebacker glanced off the heel of Junis’ glove for an infield single. Jiménez followed with his slam.

Gordon and O’Hearn went deep back-to-back to start the second. O’Hearn’s blast bounced high off the center-field batter’s eye.

Engel homered on the first pitch in the bottom half.

SOUTH SIDE CROWN?

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson entered the game with an AL-leading .334 batting average, but went 0 for 4 to drop to .331. Other numbers are at play as the 26-year-old seeks to become the third batting champion in White Sox history, following Hall of Famers Frank Thomas (1997) and Luke Appling (1936 and 1943).

Anderson has only 435 at-bats because he missed five weeks with a right ankle sprain. To qualify for the batting title, a hitter needs 502 at-bats. Chicago has 18 games remaining.

Manager Rick Renteria said he’ll try to get Anderson the at-bats he needs, but not at the expense of his “physical well-being.”

“Obviously you know that something is at stake for him as well and you try to balance it as best you can,” Renteria said.

FIRST LOOK

First baseman Andrew Vaughn, drafted No. 3 overall and signed by the White Sox out of Cal-Berkeley in June, made his first trip to Guaranteed Rate Field and met with players and coaches. Rated by Baseball America as the top hitter in the 2019 draft, Vaughn played for two Class A teams this season.

RUFF NUMBERS

In addition to 15,196 human fans, 1,236 canines attended on Dog Night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Jake Newberry (shoulder) was reinstated from the 10-day IL. He last pitched on Aug. 19.

White Sox: Renteria was back in the dugout — with his right arm in a sling — after undergoing right rotator cuff surgery on Friday and missing Chicago’s weekend series against the Angels. Renteria attributed the injury mostly to “wear and tear,” but said one throw earlier this year worsened his shoulder to a point where he needed surgery.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Glenn Sparkman (3-11, 5.97 ERA) faces White Sox RHP Reynaldo López (9-12, 5.17) on Wednesday night. López threw an 11-strikeout one-hitter at Cleveland last Thursday.

MIAMI, Fl. (AP) – New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has been accused of rape by a former trainer.

Britney Taylor says Brown sexually assaulted her on three occasions, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida.

Brown has denied the allegations. Darren Heitner, a lawyer representing Brown, told The Associated Press his client plans to countersue.

“He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name, but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations,” Heitner said in a statement.

Heitner said Brown and Taylor had “a consensual personal relationship.”

The New York Times first reported about the lawsuit.

The AP does not ordinarily name the alleged victims of sex assaults, but Taylor was identified in the federal lawsuit and was quoted in a statement provided by her lawyer, David Haas.

“As a rape victim of Antonio Brown, deciding to speak out has been an incredibly difficult decision,” Taylor said. “I have found strength in my faith, my family, and from the accounts of other survivors of sexual assault. Speaking out removes the shame that I have felt for the past year and places it on the person responsible for my rape.”

Taylor also said in the statement she will cooperate with the NFL and any other agencies.

A spokesman for the NFL declined comment, but the Patriots said the league told the team it will launch an investigation.

“We are aware of the civil lawsuit that was filed earlier today against Antonio Brown, as well as the response by Antonio’s representatives,” the Patriots said in a statement. “We take these allegations very seriously. Under no circumstance does this organization condone sexual violence or assault. The league has informed us that they will be investigating. We will have no further comment while that investigation takes place.”

The 31-year-old Brown, a Miami native, was released by Oakland last week after clashing with the team throughout training camp. He agreed to a contract with New England on Saturday, but has yet to play for the Patriots.

Brown and Taylor met through a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group at Central Michigan University, according to the suit.

Taylor said Brown reached out to her via Facebook in June 2017 and asked the former gymnast for help with improving his strength and flexibility.

According to the lawsuit, Taylor was sexually assaulted by Brown on separate training trips to Pittsburgh and Florida that same month. The suit includes what it says are text messages from Brown bragging about the second assault.

Taylor says in the suit she then cut off ties with Brown. But she agreed to work with him again after she says he apologized and agreed to provide hotel accommodations for each training trip.

According to the lawsuit, Taylor and Brown were in Miami in May 2018 when he raped her in a bedroom at his home. Taylor says she shouted “no” and “stop,” but Brown refused.

Heitner said in his statement Taylor invited herself to join Brown and his friends on a night out on the town, and then came on to Brown before they engaged in consensual sex at his residence.

Brown was approached by Taylor in 2017, according to Heitner, about making a $1.6 million investment in a business project. But he declined.

Heitner said Taylor reached out to Brown again last year, and she traveled to his residences on multiple occasions. Heitner said she asked for tickets to a Pittsburgh Steelers game.

“Mr. Brown, whose hard work and dedication to his craft has allowed him to rise to the top of his profession, refuses to be the victim of what he believes to be a money grab,” Heitner said in his statement.

Brown was originally traded from Pittsburgh to Oakland in the offseason. But a bizarre foot injury, fight with the NFL over his helmet, skipped practices, multiple fines, a run-in with general manager Mike Mayock and his social media posts ultimately led to the decision to release him.

Brown agreed to a deal with the defending Super Bowl champions hours after the Raiders let him go, granting his request.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and players met with members of the media on Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex as the Wildcats prepare for their first road contest of the season at 23^rd-ranked Mississippi State.

A complete transcript of Klieman’s press conference (also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and archived here) are posted below, in addition to select comments from players.

The Wildcats and Bulldogs kick off Saturday at 11 a.m., inside Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. The game will be shown to a national audience on ESPN with Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Orlovsky (analyst) and Allison Williams (sidelines) on the call.

CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH

Opening Statement…

“We’re excited about the preparation this week to go to Mississippi State and play an exceptional football team. We’re starting that process right now. We had a good practice yesterday and we’ll get into the pads and nuts and bolts of the game plan today. Going back to last week, I was pleased with the way the guys played. I thought our energy was really good, especially starting the game. We challenged the guys to start really fast, which we were able to do. We did not have any let ups, which I was really pleased with. Coming out of halftime with a big lead the week before we gave up a pretty easy touchdown. This week our guys had a different mentality coming out of halftime that we continued to put the hammer down, and we were able to do that. So, I’m excited about the win, now we’ve got to turn our focus to nothing but Mississippi State because it’s an exceptional football team, and it will be a tough environment. It’s a good measuring stick. We need this game. We need to find out as a coaching staff and as players kind of where we are.”

On long scoring drives…

“We’d take the explosive plays for touchdowns too. If you have the opportunity for explosive plays, we have to get them. Without a question, it’s going to be harder to do this, to sustain 12-play drives against a defense of their caliber. We just have to do a great job of mixing things up, from efficiency in the passing game to being able to control the line of scrimmage, which, obviously, will be a difficult task. Plus just the noise and the operation will be more difficult. It’s easy to do that stuff at home. It will be a big challenge for our offense this week.”

On what is most surprising about the offense so far…

“How well they’ve understood the system, understood what we’re trying to do, but we are also having a really good success on third down, which keeps those drives alive, obviously, and keeps the time of possession and grinds out more first downs. It’s been really pleasing to us as a coaching staff to see for two-straight weeks what we’ve done offensively and sustain that. This will be a different deal this week. We are going against a defense that’s got a lot of veterans on it, a lot of size and speed. This will be a big challenge for us offensively.”

On the message to the team after two successful games…

“We haven’t gotten there yet. It’s just the same thing we talked about before here – we aren’t worried about Saturday today. We have to have a great Tuesday and getting our preparation ready offensively, defensively and on (special) teams. We don’t worry about Saturday on Tuesday, we don’t worry about it on Wednesday. The first two weeks, I think the reason we’ve had success is we haven’t looked ahead. We’ve stayed on task over the course of each day in our preparation. That’s what we are trying to build here. We talk about stacking great days, and that’s what we have to do to be successful.”

On Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill…

“He’s a great player. It’s fun to watch him, hopefully it’s not going to be fun to watch him live, but he’s tremendous. Coach (Van) Malone, obviously, was around that team last year. Just seeing the way that he runs, he breaks tackles, he beats you with speed, he’s a great jump cut guy. He does everything, and they’re giving him the ball enough to make plays. I know that he’s going to be a focal point to what we are doing on defense to try and slow him down.”

On responding to pressure…

“They’ve responded pretty well, we did a two-minute drill yesterday. Today we will do some red-zone stuff and some third-down situations just to try to get the best wide receivers going against the best defensive backs and Skylar (Thompson) under pressure from our starting defensive line and linebackers. It’s going to make us better just having that competition on a daily basis. It’s still going to be an ongoing process; it just doesn’t happen on one day. It’s going to be each of those days that we do it, which are Monday and Tuesday throughout the entire year. Hopefully that’ll season us when we get into those pressure moments.”

On having players and staff on opposite sides from a year ago…

“With Van (Malone), I think he can just tell the guys about the environment, what it was like in the locker room before playing K-State, just little things like that. He may know some of the personnel. On the flip side of it, with Isaiah (Zuber) there – and there I wish him the best; I enjoyed my brief  time with Isaiah –  I think it is just the personnel piece. He didn’t practice last spring. From understanding our offense, I think it’s more the personnel. He knows these guys really, really well.”

On what stands out from last year’s game between K-State and Mississippi State…

“Kansas state had a great opportunity early on, but just weren’t able to capitalize on some things. The quarterback from Mississippi State (Nick Fitzgerald) was a tremendous football player that made a ton of plays and kept drives alive. He made plays with his arm and his feet. It’s a game that we’re watching, but systematically some of the things have changed. So, we aren’t putting all of our emphasis into that. We’re looking at more of these first couple games. With what they are doing, obviously, they are looking at more our first two games rather than last year as well.”

On the quarterback uncertainty for Mississippi State impacting preparation…

“I don’t think it is going to impact it a whole lot because I think they’re going to do what they’ve done. They played a couple quarterbacks last year and they still stayed with the same system. In the middle of a game, you typically don’t change, but when they had the change to start the second half or the ending of the first half, I didn’t see much difference. I thought the young quarterback came in and did a phenomenal job and was really sharp. I’m sure for Coach (Joe) Moorhead, he was really excited because the moment wasn’t too big for that young man. He came in and played really well. Whomever they put out there at quarterback, I’m assuming it’s going to be the same formula for success – get the ball in (Kylin) Hill’s hands and be efficient in the passing game. The quarterback is always going to be a threat running the football.”

On Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill getting K-State’s attention…

“Absolutely. He’s a difference maker, he’s a phenomenal tailback and can beat you in so many different ways. We need to do a good job keeping the cup and keeping our leverage on him and doing a good job of tackling him because he breaks so many tackles. He’s a real physical runner.”

On Mississippi State’s defensive line…

“Just through two games it’s probably like us – learning a little bit more about their personnel. They’re 2-0, so however you want to look at it, they’re having success. Just different pressure packages, letting their guys go up front. I’m sure that each game that the guys played, just like each game our new guys play, they got better and better. They’ve had really good production on both sides of the ball. Obviously, they always have tremendous athletes with really good speed. They run to the football so well, and they hit you when they get to the football. That’s the thing I really see on defense for them.”

On emulating noise at practice…

“We do the jet noise, and we’ve done it for a long time and done it each week so far leading up. We did it two weeks before Nicholls, the week before Nicholls and last week. Since we were in the stadium the last couple weeks because of the weather, both the offense and defense had to deal with the noise. We’re out more on the grass right now so we can confine some of that noise just to the offense. It’s nonverbal communication that we have to get really good at. Fortunately for us, our offense has had to deal with it these last two weeks because we do it for our defense every Wednesday and Thursday.”

On Wyatt Hubert’s status for Saturday…

“I would hope so. He didn’t participate yesterday. We’ll see him today even if it is limited, but hopefully he can.”

On the true freshmen catching his eye on Saturday…

“Jax (Dineen), like I mentioned because of his physicality. I thought Josh Youngblood kind of just emerged and felt more comfortable probably because he had so many snaps in the first game. A number of guys that are just getting their feet wet, whether it is Logan Wilson and Will Jones, to both the running backs, Joe (Ervin) and Jacardia (Wright). We’ve played a number of guys now. Will that continue on? We’ll have to look each week from a game-plan standpoint. Jax was the one that I think had the most production.”

On keeping Skylar Thompson level or if he seems calm…

“He’s been really calm. It’s still his daily preparation. The thing I appreciate about Skylar is he’s not getting ahead of himself. On Monday, here’s what he watches, and here’s what he makes sure from the base down and distance and choice downs what we are wanting to run. Today, he’ll look at more third-down stuff and more situational stuff. That’s what I have been really pleased with Skylar is that he is so level headed. He’s attacking today’s game plan, which is some of our third-down stuff as well as some of our choice situations.”

On playing true freshmen and its benefit in recruiting…

“I think that’s the landscape of college football now, too, more and more young players are going to play for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s the fact of the four game rule, that’s the number one reason to the fact that so many people are entering the transfer portal that rosters are depleted a little bit. We tell everybody they have the opportunity to play, nobody’s going to promise them playing time, but they have the opportunity to play. If they do the right thing and understand what they are doing physically and mentally, then they have an opportunity to help us. Once again, every week is going to be different from here on out. Of those 11 guys (that played last week), I think five or six are in the plan this week, but maybe none will be next week or just a couple. Every week is going to be different. Part of that is still the broad perspective of are we going to stay healthy at certain positions.”

On Mississippi State’s secondary…

“They’ve got tremendous speed and athleticism in the secondary. They can play zone coverage and break on the ball. They’re tremendous tacklers in both settings. But they can lock you up too and play exceptional man coverage. We have to be prepared for both. There’s certain games you watch from last year where they are playing a lot more man coverage and having really good success. Then there’s other games when they’re sitting more in their base defense and the ball is caught in front of them but there is not much after the catch because they have such tremendous team speed. I have been so impressed with their ability to tackle and not let people have much after contact.”

On John Holcombe II, Jacardia Wright and Joe Ervin getting on the field together…

“Every snap that John (Holcombe II) gets is great for him from an experience standpoint – forget just carrying the ball – it’s just understanding defenses, seeing the reads. Maybe he’s handing the ball off, maybe he’s throwing quick game. Just seeing those pictures – is it single high? Is it two-high? All looks help John immensely. It helps him more than what the running backs are seeing right now. With the running backs, those two young guys, we’re just wanting to get them carries. They weren’t in there to pass protect very much. We were just late in the game, we were ahead, so let’s see what those guys could do. Could they break tackles? Could see the holes and those things? Our hope is with Joe and Jacardia is that experience will make them better. Will it make them better in the near future in playing some more games or will it make them better in the distant future for next year in just getting them those snaps for experience.”

On Reggie Walker’s Mississippi State connection…

“Reggie will have a lot of people down there. I know he’s excited about the opportunity to see a lot of family. Reggie’s a very competitive guy. I’ve really enjoyed being around Reggie and getting to know him, how his peers feel about him electing him as captain. It’s going to be a big week for Reg.”

On the status of Cody Fletcher and Johnathan Durham…

“Johnathan will be able to for sure. We’ll find out on Wednesday with Cody. He didn’t practice yesterday and he’ll be limited today. I’ll know more about Cody probably Wednesday or Thursday, but Jonathan should be good.”

On a blanket policy for number of practices needed for an injured player to be available…

“I don’t have a set policy. It’s all different. If it were Jacardia Wright and he couldn’t practice until Thursday, then that’s going to be a struggle for him. If it were James Gilbert and he couldn’t practice until Thursday, it wouldn’t be a struggle for him. It’s all based on your experience factor and how much you’re in the game plan and what position you’re playing. If you’re in a position where there is a lot of depth and we can use you for a dozen plays, we will. If it is a position where we don’t have a lot of depth, then we probably have to get the next guy ready to go for more extended time. I do not have a set policy on you have to practice a certain amount of times.”

On Joe Moorhead’s FCS experience at Fordham…

“He did a great job at Fordham. He had a great running back there, Chase Edmonds. We were at the same awards banquet in Philadelphia, and I was there with Kyle Emmanuel, who won the Buck Buchanan Award. We visited out there. (I have) a tremendous amount of respect for what Coach has done and done it the right way. He elevated that program at Fordham and had a great opportunity at Penn State, made the most of that. Obviously, he has the job at Mississippi State and doing a great job. I have so much respect for Coach. (I ) saw him at the convention this year, had a quick conversation with him. (I’m) looking forward to seeing him to pick his brain a little bit because he’s been doing this a little longer than I have at the Power Five level. (He’s) a tremendous coach, tremendous person and I’m excited to see him again.”

On measuring up against Mississippi State and facing more adversity this week…

“Wouldn’t it be fun if we didn’t face any adversity the whole year? Yeah, that would be great. We know it is coming. To the upperclassmen, to the captains, to their credit, they came out ready to play and jumped on these two teams early and made a statement. I’m so happy for those guys, which told me an awful lot about they don’t worry about who we’re playing, it’s just coming ready to play. We know there’s going to be adversity and probably going to be adversity this week. There’s so many guys that have played in big games that I’m counting those guys to rise up and raising their level of play, and, more importantly challenging those guys who have not played at this level yet that it’s no different than us going at each other on a Wednesday in August when tempers are flaring and we are going ones versus one and it’s a battle. It’ll be a different atmosphere for sure, but that’s the competitive spirit and excitement you want. I am excited because our upperclassmen and captains are doing a great job of leading.”

On the fourth-down play that went for a long touchdown against Bowling Green…

“I told him (Skylar Thompson) when he came off the field, I said, ‘I hope that shows you how much confidence we as a staff have in you.’ He knows we have tremendous confidence in him, but I knew that he was going to get us in the right play and he was going to execute it. If it wouldn’t have been successful, if they would have called it back or something, I wouldn’t have changed my thought. I think it’s really important, especially at that position, that you instill as much confidence in those guys as you can to say, ‘Hey this is your game. It’s 4th and 3, go make a play.’ One thing that we talking about prior to that snap is that the ball was going to be in his hands, whether it be a run pass option, we were just going to throw quick game. But, they ended up pressing and Skylar thought Malik (Knowles) could beat him on a fade route and gave him a shot. It shows you as much about Malik as well of making a big play on fourth down.”

On going for the home run on fourth down in other situations…

“It all depends. It depends on the field position, the situation, all those things. I can’t answer that based on week to week what we’d do.”

On the heat and humidity affecting the game…

“Absolutely it does. We’ve had some heat and humidity here, but not near enough and not as much as we’re going to have down in Starkville. We’re hoping that it is going to be hot. At least it is going to be humid here these next few days. We were outside yesterday, although the sun wasn’t out, it was at least humid, so we were able to get outside.  I’m hopeful and confident that all the training that these guys did in July when it was really humid, was hot with Coach (Chris) Dawson – when chips are down and you’re tired and gassed, boy you really have to fight through it. I’m hoping that helps us as well as these next few days. The fact that it’s a non-conference game and we can take a few more bodies helps us as well. We full well know that we are going to have to rotate a number of bodies in there early on so that we stay as fresh as we can in the second half.”

On the importance of getting pressure on the quarterback…

“That’s an area we know we have to continue the guys to challenge and improve, is our pass rush. I think we’ve had some really good individual pass-rush situations. Once again, we haven’t had that many plays to do it in that many critical situations. We’ve played a lot of backups and not the starters. Where we have to get better at is working together, whether it’s a tackle and an end in a gain or two tackles on a gain, whatever it may be. We’ve got to continue to improve upon in that area. I know there’s a lot of veteran guys who have had a lot of success, just not getting in the right situation. Maybe that’s no different than its a critical 3rd and 8 in the game on Saturday. Can one of those veteran guys made a big play for us?”

On having any experience against an SEC team…

“I don’t. There was a game they were trying to schedule with Alabama when we were at North Dakota State, and I’m glad that they didn’t do that. Obviously, I’m excited about the opportunity. (I’ve) been down to that area and spoke at Georgia a couple of years ago. I got to see the environment and all that stuff. It’ll be a great experience for all of us. As a coaching staff, we’ve got a number of coaches that have been in and coached against the SEC for a number of years. Our players are excited about the opportunity to go down there. They know as well as I do that this is not a win-at-all-costs game. We need to play our best football to have a chance to be successful, but we’re going to go in there with the hope and the thought that if we play our best, we have an opportunity to be successful. That’s all I’m hoping for, that we play our best football on Saturday and see where we’re at.”

On the opportunity to showcase K-State on ESPN after College Gameday…

“Sure it is, but I think you hope that you measure yourself every week. I don’t care if we’re on whatever station. You get an opportunity to tee it up, and you only get 12 opportunities all year and none of them our guaranteed. We have a couple of guys that have lost their seasons whether it’s (Adam) Harter or Justin Hughes. You never know when it’s your last play. I don’t care where we’re playing, who we’re playing, you have an opportunity to play this game – it’s the greatest game out there – you make sure you’re prepared for yourself, make sure you’re prepared for your teammate and your brother next to you so we can put your best foot forward each Saturday.”

On the back-up quarterbacks…

“I was pleased with both of them being able to complete a pass or two. That was the big key for us. Obviously, there are some different things we do with John (Holcombe II) than we do with Nick (Ast), but I was pleased that we threw a couple of strikes outside in somewhat critical situations for them. Every situation, I don’t care if its fifth-year senior or a redshirt freshman or a true freshman, no matter what time of game it is, it’s your opportunity. I was really pleased. I know Nick had a really good completion to Seth (Porter) or to Landry (Weber) on a 3rd and 2 or a 3rd and 3, and he had another one on maybe a 4th and 1 or 4th and 2 to Josh Youngblood. Those are big plays for him from a confidence standpoint. Collin (Klein) and I visited again this week – each week we’ll just see who has the better week, but they’re both in the plan. We could use both of them.”

On what Skylar Thompson has to do to be successful against Mississippi State…

“He just has to play within himself, play within the system and the scheme and take what the defense gives him. Right now, he has been able to take some shots with some people that have been playing some press because of the fact that everybody had to come up closer to the line of scrimmage and try to stop the run. This week we don’t know, are we are going to see man or are we going see zone? He’s has to do a great job of just seeing the big picture, seeing what he sees, and between he, Mess (Courtney Messingham) and Coach (Collin) Klein, get us in the best play and play within himself.”

SKYLAR THOMPSON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK

On the leadership stepping up when the team has adversity…

“Our leadership is going to show. We have some great guys, all seven of our captains are upperclassmen or guys that do a great job of leading, and it’s going to be important for us to bring everyone together whenever that may present itself. I trust what I’ve done for this football team and the sacrifice that I’ve put in to lead this football team to know when things are going to get challenging. We experience some rough patches that there are going to be some eyes turned to me if not everybody’s eyes to see how I’m responding and how I’m dealing with it. I just have to keep on keeping on. That’s the biggest thing, and stay positive. That’s the most important aspect is just being positive. It’s so contagious being positive, even when it’s hard to be positive. I’m going to mentally prepare myself for how I’m going to handle those things if they do present themselves to where it’s not going to be brand new to me. I trust our leadership, trust my teammates and trust our coaching staff. We’ll be fine. It’s just very important that we stick together whenever we face some adversity because it’s going to happen.”

On facing little adversity thus far…

“I wouldn’t take back anything from the first two games. I feel like we played great, and we can’t control that stuff, obviously. But it’s just going to be something new to us if that is going to happen. We’ll be fine. Coach Klieman is a great leader, and he will get us prepared for that and our whole coaching staff will as well. It’s going to come down to our leadership and the guys on our football team sticking together. When times get harder, that’s when you have to come closer together and not pull apart and separate. It’s going to be important that I remind our team of that and James (Gilbert) and Adam Holtorf and (Dalton) Schoen and (Denzel) Goolsby, all those guys that are in leadership roles to step up and let’s bring it together and call people out if it’s not like that. When times get hard, if you are going to back out and fall away from our football team, then we don’t want you. We are going to keep going without you. Everybody on our team is so bought into our goals are and what our mission is. I know we will be ready to go whenever that happens.”

ADAM HOLTORF, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On quarterback Skylar Thompson…

“He’s got a ton of confidence out there. You can tell that he’s doesn’t get flustered by situations and he’s able to handle that extremely well this year. To know that he is going to go out there and give it his all is something that motivates a lot of us, and I think a lot of people feed off of that. I think it’s helped our offense out a lot this year.”

On the touchdown throw on fourth down…

“I was excited. I knew the play call, so I knew we were throwing the ball. I didn’t know we were taking a shot like that. You kind of just stop when you see the ball release and go, it’s a moment of pause then you see that he put the ball on him and Malik (Knowles) caught it. It was extremely exciting just because, I told Coach Klieman when they were reviewing the call before the PAT, I love the call. Not only going for it, but taking a shot like that on fourth down was extremely exciting.”

On coaches having confidence in the offense…

“I think the confidence is to put it in our hands to make the play. As long as we continue to execute and have success with it, there’s no reason for him to stray from that. He’s got a lot of confidence in us and I appreciate that confidence and it means a lot to all of us.”

Watch Coach Klieman’s Press Conference | Listen to Coach Klieman’s Press Conference and Select Players via “Wildcats Uncut”

—k-statesports.com—

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers sprayed each other with bubbly, emptied dozens of bottles of beer while drinking very little of it and essentially carried on in a fashion appropriate for a team celebrating its seventh consecutive NL West tile.

Certainly, the Dodgers were elated about becoming the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season. Yet, because the occasion was virtually a given since May and not nearly as emotional as their playoff win over Colorado in Game 163 last year, the party was, as manager Dave Roberts put it, “subdued.”

“It was one of those things that we expected it,” Roberts said Tuesday night after a clinching 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. “It’s obviously early in September, but it doesn’t take away what we as an organization accomplished.”

The Dodgers, with a power-packed lineup and imposing rotation, gained sole possession of first place on April 17 and never looked back. Their final pursuer was the Arizona Diamondbacks, who dropped 18½ games out of first place with a loss to the Mets.

After the last out, the players gathered around the mound for a wardrobe change for the soaking to follow the second-earliest NL West clinching behind the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, who accomplished the feat on Sept. 7.

Sure, the celebration was inevitable. So what?

“When we do get moments like this, I think we do a good job of appreciating what we have accomplished and it’s special. It really is,” Roberts said. ’To win one division, but to win seven in a row, the consistency of the organization, what we’ve done, a lot of credit goes to a lot of people. And now it’s the idea of refocusing and everything we do going forward is to win 11 games in October.”

Los Angeles, coming off consecutive World Series losses to Houston and Boston and seeking its first title since 1988, will likely begin the postseason at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 3 against the NL wild-card team.

“It’s something you don’t take for granted. You enjoy them all,” said third baseman Justin Turner, who received a beer drenching in the middle of his interview. “Obviously not as dramatic as last year, going to a Game 163, but it doesn’t take anything away from what we’ve accomplished. We’ve showed up trying to give ourselves another chance to make it to the World Series, and this is the first step.”

On the outskirt of the mayhem-filled clubhouse, former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda watched with a beer in his hand. Roberts came by to shake the hand of the 91-year-old face of the franchise, who ultimately was greeted by almost every beer-soaked player in striking distance.

Los Angeles (94-52) has never clinched the division earlier, both in terms of date and games. The 1977 team did it in Game 151, and the 2013 club clinched on Sept. 19.

Though an Arizona loss to the Mets would have clinched it for the Dodgers, Los Angeles emphatically took care of business on its own. Corey Seager homered with two on to cap a four-run first inning against Ty Blach (1-3) and added a two-run drive in the third for a 6-0 lead.

Gavin Lux hit his first career homer in the fifth to increase the Dodgers’ NL record for long balls in a season to 258.

Tagged by Colorado for six runs in five innings during his previous start, Walker Buehler (13-3) limited last-place Baltimore to four hits over seven shutout innings for the team with the lowest ERA in the league.

Buehler struck out 11, reaching double figures for the sixth time. He has 201 for the season.

“That was just a clinic from first inning through the seventh for him,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Four pitches for strikes, locating everything. I haven’t seen the video, but it didn’t seem like he missed a spot the whole night.”

The Dodgers can now coast to the finish, although they have a shot at breaking the franchise record for largest final first-place margin, 13½ games in 1955. LA is also in the running against Houston and the Yankees for best record in the majors and home-field advantage throughout October.

HAYS, Kan. — Mirroring its movement in the AFCA Top 25 Poll released on Monday, Fort Hays State dropped 14 spots in the D2Football.com Media Poll released on Tuesday. The Tigers moved from No. 8 in the poll down to No. 22 after their loss in the season opener at Central Missouri.

Fort Hays State is one of four MIAA teams in the latest D2Football.com Poll. Northwest Missouri State held steady at No. 6. Central Missouri jumped into the poll at No. 20, and Pittsburg State is right behind FHSU at No. 23.

The Tigers look for their first win of the young season on Thursday night (Sept. 12) when they play host to Missouri Western. Kickoff at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays is set for 7 pm.

Below is the D2Football.com Top 25 Media Poll for September 10, 2019.

Team		Record	Last Week
1	Valdosta State	1-0	1
2	Ferris State	1-0	2
3	Minnesota State	1-0	3
4	Ouachita Baptist	1-0	4
5	Tarleton State	1-0	5
6	Northwest Missouri State	1-0	6
7	CSU-Pueblo	1-0	7
8	Minnesota Duluth	1-0	9
9	Grand Valley	1-0	10
10	Notre Dame	1-0	11
11	Indianapolis	1-0	12
12	Texas A&M-Commerce	1-0	13
13	West Georgia	1-0	14
14	Lenoir-Rhyne	1-0	15
15	Colorado School of Mines	1-0	17
16	Midwestern State	1-0	18
17	Slippery Rock	1-0	22
18	West Chester	1-0	19
19	Wingate	1-0	23
20	Central Missouri	1-0	NR
21	Harding	0-1	16
22	Fort Hays State	0-1	8
23	Pittsburg State	1-0	24
24	West Alabama	1-0	25
25	Ashland	0-1	20

(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCH CC SPORTS INFORMATION)
AMARILLO, Texas – Freshman Tyler Trudo led a strong final-round charge by the No. 10-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team on Tuesday in the final round of the West Texas A&M Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational at Tascosa Golf Club.

Trudo shot a 2-under 69 on Tuesday to guide the Blue Dragons to a fifth-place tie in the 17-team field. The Dragons made a four-spot improvement in the team standings on Tuesday.

For the second time in three rounds, the Blue Dragons shot even par 284 and finished at 7-over 859. The Dragons tied with Colorado State-Pueblo and Arkansas-Fort Smith.

The Blue Dragons were the highest-finishing NJCAA team, finishing one shot ahead of No. 2 Indian Hills.

FINAL RYAN PALMER TEAM RESULTS
FINAL RYAN PALMER INVIVIDUAL RESULTS

The Blue Dragons were consistent in windy conditions on Tuesday. Trudo shot a 2-under 69 to lead the Dragons in the final round. Sophomore Nathan McCulloch carded a 1-under 70. The Blue Dragons also counted sophomore Charlie Crockett’s 1-over 72 and a 2-over 73 by freshman Trey McCrae. Sophomore Peyton Austin finished with a final-round 74.

Oklahoma Christian won the tournament by nine strokes with an 840 team title. OCU shot 280 in the final round, as did team runner-up St. Mary’s (TX), which finished 849.

The Blue Dragons had tournament rounds of 284 and 291 on Monday and finished with a 284 on Tuesday.

Crockett was the low Blue Dragon for the tournament. Coming into the final round at 4-under, the Hutch sophomore’s 72 on Tuesday gave him a 54-hole total of 210 and finished tied for seventh.

Trudo finished tied for ninth at 211. McCulloch jumped 12 spots in the individual standings with a tie for 23rd at 215. Austin tied for 58th at 224. McCrae tied for 72nd with a 228.

The Blue Dragons next compete at the Missouri Southern Invitational on Sept. 22-23 in Monkey Island, Oklahoma.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have returned De’Anthony Thomas to the active roster and waived fellow wide receiver Byron Pringle with the hope that they can sign him to the practice squad should he clear waivers.

The moves were announced Tuesday, a day off for the team.

Thomas, who re-signed with the Chiefs in mid-August, was suspended the first week of the season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Thomas had been arrested in January for suspicion of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in January. The case was closed last month.

The 26-year-old Thomas also is returning from a fractured leg that he sustained in the fifth game of last season. He has appeared in 55 games with Kansas City over the past five seasons.