Northwestern Hires Coordinators

Northwestern logoOrange City, Iowa—Northwestern College Athletic Director Earl Woudstra has announced the hiring of its football coordinators who will serve under head coach Matt McCarty. McCarty, appointed the head of the Red Raider football program in December, will continue to serve as the defensive coordinator, a role he has served since 2005.
Billy Kirch will fill the role of assistant defensive coordinator after serving as an assistant for the Red Raider defense last season.

Kirch has past head coaching stops at both Forest Lake (Minn.) High School (2012-13) and Waverly-South Shore (S.D.) High School (2008-11), where he led the team to the nine-man state championship in 2011. He was also the linebackers coach for North Iowa Area Community College in 2007 and served as a student assistant for South Dakota State University in 2006.

“My family and I are very blessed and extremely excited about this opportunity to be a full-time coach at Northwestern College,” said Kirch. “I have been really impressed with the strong Christian staff and tradition of excellence that Northwestern represents. I am looking forward to working side by side with such great coaches and faculty here at Northwestern. With God’s help, we will use athletics as a vehicle to develop young people with a heart for Christ.”

Kirch, a 2006 graduate of South Dakota State, played linebacker for the Jackrabbits for four years (2002-05). He and his wife, Natalie, live near Rock Rapids, Iowa, and have three children; Brady, Aubrey and Clayton.
“I am excited to work with Coach Kirch,” commented McCarty. “Billy did an outstanding job with our linebackers last spring and with our safeties in the fall. He is a great teacher who understands how to challenge and encourage our players to be their best each day.”

Josh Davis has been hired as the Red Raiders’ offensive coordinator. Davis served as the wide receivers coach at South Dakota State University for seven years while also being the team’s co-special teams coordinator in 2014. During his tenure, Davis helped direct the Jackrabbits to four playoff appearances and coached six players who earned all-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors. Six players who Davis coached rank among the Jackrabbits’ career top 10 for receptions.

“I am honored and blessed to be joining Northwestern College and building upon such a great tradition of academic and athletic success, in God-honoring fashion,” said Davis. “Surrounding myself with great people and quality student-athletes makes me extremely excited to join the Red Raider athletic department.”

Davis also served as a graduate assistant under current SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier in 2007 and was a student intern in 2006. In addition, he worked with the receivers at Iowa Western Community College in the spring of 2009.
“I am excited to see the Red Raider offense under the leadership of Coach Davis,” commented McCarty. “He comes from an outstanding program at SDSU and knows what it takes to compete and be successful at a very high level. I am confident he will help our program continue to pursue excellence in all we do.”

During his playing career, Davis was a record-setting wide receiver from 2002-05, owning the record for career receptions (225) and ranking second in career yards (3,192). He totaled at least 40 catches all four years and was named all-conference two seasons.


Mustangs and Orabs Split Basketball Doubleheader in Sheldon

basketballSheldon Iowa — George Little Rock and Sheldon split a Siouxland Conference basketball doubleheader in Sheldon Friday night. G-LR took the girls game 56-39 with the boys game going to Sheldon 64-49.

Sheldon took a 14-10 first quarter lead in the girls game only to see the Mustangs move in front 28-23 at the half. At the end of the third quarter lead was down to 35-32. G-LR took control in the fourth quarter to get the win 56-39. A big key for the Mustangs was four players combining to go 11-of-12 at the free throw line in the final quarter of the game.

The Mustangs had three players in double figures with Mia Graham hitting for 21 points. Mariah Terhark hit for 15 with Taylor Jumbeck pumping in 10 fourth quarter points to end the night with 13.

Sheldon was led by Kayla Van Meeteren who tied for game high honors with 21 points. Sydney Iedema was just out of double figures with an 8 point night.

With the win G-LR goes to 6-6 on the year and 4-6 in the conference. Sheldon stands at 3-11 for the year and 2-10 in the Siouxland.

 

In the boys game Sheldon led at all the breaks leading 18-11 at the end of the first quarter and 38-27 at the half. At the end of three the lead was up to 52-36 with the Orabs going on to win 64-49. Kyle Boerhave of the Orabs and the Mustangs Jayden Mauldin shared game high honors with 17 points apiece. Ian Jongewaard hit a trio of threes and finished the night with 15 for Sheldon. Austin Jensen hit for 9 points in the fourth quarter and ended the night with 13 points for the Mustangs.

With the win Sheldon is 6-7 on the year and 6-4 in the conference. G-LR falls to 4-8 on the season and 3-7 in the conference. Up next for the Orabs is a trip to Okoboji next Tuesday. The Mustangs will host Rock Valley on Tuesday night.


2015-16 SIXTH Iowa Girls’ High School Basketball Rankings

ighsauDes Moines, Iowa — The latest Iowa Girls High School Basketball Rankings are out and defending 2A Champion Unity Christian continues to hold down the top spot in the poll. Western is in the five spot with Okoboji ranked number 6. Sioux Center is ranked 5th in 3A with Cherokee and Spirit Lake four and seven respectively.

 

Class 1A

School

Record

LW

1

Turkey Valley

12-0

3

2

Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton

12-0

2

3

Springville

10-1

1

4

Burlington Notre Dame

13-0

6

5

Kingsley-Pierson

10-1

4

6

Newell-Fonda

8-4

7

7

Kee

10-1

8

8

Grand View Christian

9-0

9

9

Adair-Casey

12-1

10

10

Lynnville-Sully

14-0

11

11

Nodaway Valley

10-1

13

12

Bedford

11-1

5

13

Westwood

10-2

14

14

Rockford

9-2

15

15

Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn

10-0

NR

Dropped Out: Northwood-Kensett (12)

Class 2A

School

Record

LW

1

Unity Christian

12-0

1

2

Iowa City Regina

11-0

2

3

Pekin

11-0

3

4

West Branch

13-1

4

5

Western Christian

7-2

5

6

Okoboji

12-0

6

7

Interstate 35

12-1

9

8

Manson-NW Webster

7-3

7

9

Central Decatur

11-1

10

10

Des Moines Christian

10-1

12

11

Treynor

10-0

13

12

Van Meter

11-2

8

13

Lawton-Bronson

8-3

11

14

Grundy Center

13-1

15

15

Durant

9-5

14

Dropped Out: None

Class 3A

School

Record

LW

1

Pocahontas Area

10-0

2

2

Center Point-Urbana

13-0

3

3

Nevada

10-2

1

4

Cherokee

11-0

4

5

Sioux Center

10-1

6

6

Union

12-1

7

7

Spirit Lake

8-3

5

8

Forest City

11-1

13

9

Monticello

7-3

8

10

Mount Vernon

8-4

9

11

Cascade

8-3

14

12

Hampton-Dumont

8-2

11

13

Mid-Prairie

7-3

NR

14

Osage

9-3

12

15

West Marshall

10-1

NR

Dropped Out: Humboldt (10), Davenport Assumption (15)

Class 4A

School

Record

LW

1

Harlan

10-1

2

2

Western Dubuque

12-0

3

3

Lewis Central

10-1

7

4

Keokuk

9-1

5

5

Mason City

6-6

4

6

Ballard

11-1

1

7

Marion

8-4

6

8

Pella

9-2

11

9

Fairfield

8-5

12

10

North Scott

9-3

8

11

Grinnell

10-3

12

12

Waverly-Shell Rock

11-3

15

13

Dallas Center-Grimes

9-3

10

14

Boone

9-2

14

15

Central DeWitt

9-3

NR

Dropped Out: Bishop Heelan (9)

Class 5A

School

Record

LW

1

Cedar Rapids Kennedy

13-1

2

2

Indianola

12-0

3

3

Ankeny Centennial

9-2

5

4

Waukee

9-2

6

5

Johnston

8-3

1

6

Iowa City High

10-1

7

7

Dowling Catholic

8-3

8

8

West Des Moines Valley

9-3

4

9

Southeast Polk

9-2

9

10

Davenport North

10-2

10

11

Cedar Falls

10-1

12

12

Linn-Mar

8-3

11

13

Iowa City West

8-3

NR

14

Ames

7-4

15

15

Pleasant Valley

9-3

13

Dropped Out: Sioux City West (14)


Weekly DNR Fishing Report

Iowa DNRSpirit Lake, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issues a weekly fishing report on Thursdays in an effort to provide the latest information heading into the weekend. The weekly fishing report is compiled from information gathered from local bait shops, angler creel surveys, and county and state parks staff. For more information contact the Spirit Lake fish Hatchery at 712-336-1840.

NORTHWEST

Clear Lake

Clear Lake has about 7-9 inches of ice on both the little lake and the main lake. There is a little bit of current flowing into the little lake from Ventura Marsh, so anglers should be aware of possible thin ice on the south side of the little lake. A few smaller permanent shacks have been moved on with 4 wheelers this past week. Use caution if considering using vehicles on the ice as the ice thickness is not uniform. Yellow Bass – Excellent: Action is good if anglers move often if they are not catching fish; anglers doing the best are fishing in 8-12 feet of water and moving till they find schools. Anglers will catch a few different year classes but anglers are catching 8.5-9.4 inch fish consistently. Walleye – Fair: No reports of any keepers yet; try Farmers Beach or the Baptist camp area for some active walleye. Early ice is the better time of the year to try for walleye. Crappie – Good: Crappie have been caught mixed in with some of the yellow bass catches in 8-12 feet of water but the better locations would be in the deeper 15-24 feet holes early morning (7-9 AM) or evening (3-8 PM). Good numbers of 10-12 inch fish.

Big Spirit Lake

Ice conditions: 8-10 inches of ice covered with some slush pockets. Ice conditions varied. Use caution while on the ice. Yellow Perch – Slow: A few perch have been caught in front of the pump house and off of buffalo run. Black Crappie – Fair: Templar lagoon has been producing some small crappies. Walleye – Slow: A few small walleyes have been picked up north of the foot bridge.

Center Lake

Ice conditions: 9-11 inches of ice. The aeration system is in use. Anglers should use caution while on the ice. Fishing activity has been minimal.

East Okoboji Lake

Ice condition: 10-12 inches of ice with some slush. Use caution while on the ice. Yellow Perch – Slow: A few perch on the main lake basin. Yellow Bass – Slow: Some yellows are being caught north of the narrows

Minnewashta Lake

Ice conditions: 9-10 inches of ice. Use caution while on the ice. Fishing activity has been minimal.

Silver Lake (Dickinson)

Ice conditions: 9-12 inches of ice with slush pockets. Ice thickness varied. Use extreme caution during ice activities. The aeration system is in use. Fishing activity has been minimal.

West Okoboji Lake

Ice conditions: 8-10 inches of ice in the bays. Use caution while on the ice. Bluegill – Good: A few bluegills are being caught in Millers and Emerson bay. Spencer beach has also been producing some nice bluegills. Yellow Perch – Good: Some nice perch have been picked up east of Triboji and in Browns bay.


Spencer Takes Two From Sheldon in Non-Conference Basketball

GPAC Mens BasketballSheldon Iowa — The Spencer Tigers swept a non-conference basketball double header in Sheldon Tuesday night. The girls final was 63-41 with the Tigers winning the boys contest 73-69.

In the Girls game Spencer led at all the breaks 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, 35-16 at the half and 53-27 at the end of the third quarter. Spencer got a game high 20 points from Keely Petzenhauser and 15 from Ally Schlaeger. Sheldon was led by Kayla Van Meeteren with a 15 point effort. With the win Spencer improves to 6-4 on the year while Sheldon stands at 3-10.

 

In the boys game it was tight through out with the Orabs in front 16-15 at the end of the first quarter. Spencer took a 31-29 lead at halftime and moved to a 50-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The two teams continued to trade points and the Tigers eventually earned a hard fought 73-69 win.

Spencer scoring came from five players with four of them hitting for double figures. Jake Kluender scored a game high 24 points. Preston Funderburg hit for 17. Riley Maschino hit 4 three-point buckets as part of a 13 point night and Blake Illg added 12 points off the bench.

Sheldon was led by Colby Kleinhesselink with 17 points followed by Kyle Boerhave with 16 and Jaden Kleinhesselink with 14. With the win Spencer improved to 8-2 on the season while Sheldon moved to 5-7 on the season.

The Orabs return to conference play Friday night hosting George Little Rock. Spencer resumes conference play as well hosting Estherville Lincoln Central Friday night.


Boys District Basketball Assignments out for 1A and 2A

basketballBoone Iowa — Boys District Basketball Tournament assignments are out. Brackets will be coming out later in the regular season.

Class 2A District 2 includes the Sheldon Orabs along with Emmetsburg, Okoboji, Sibley Ocheyedan, West Lyon and Western Christian.

Class 2A District 1 includes Alta Aurelia, Cherokee, Hinton, Rock Valley, Sioux Center and Unity Christian.

 

Class 1A District 1 includes Akron Westfield, Kingsley Pierson, Lawton Bronson, Marcus Meriden Cleghorn, River Valley, Siouxland Christian, South O’Brien, Westwood Sloan, Whiting and Woodbury Central.

Class 1A District 2 is made up of Boyden Hull, Central Lyon, LeMars Gehlen, George Little Rock, Harris Lake Park, Hartley Melvin Sanborn, Remsen Union, Remsen St Mary’s, Trinity Christian and West Sioux.