MONDAY SPORTS, SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels football lost its third straight game on Friday with a 47-14 loss at No. 1 Watertown. The Kernels had a 14-7 lead halfway through the second quarter before Watertown scored the final 40 points of the game. Parker Denne gained 102 total yards (67 rushing, 35 receiving), while QB T.J. Jellis was 11-of-21 for 138 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. LB Kaiden Allen was the KORN Player of the Game with 10 tackles, including five for loss with two sacks, Mitchell, 1-3 on the season, will be at Tea Area for homecoming on Friday at 6 pm. The KORN pregame show starts at 5 pm.
— Kernels boys golf finished third at the Mitchell Invite on Friday at Lakeview Golf Course, highlighted by a hole-in-one for Brady Reiners. Mitchell finished at +13 (297) as a team, 10 shots behind second place Brandon Valley (+3) and 11 shots behind first place Pierre (+2). Reiners had a hole-in-one on the eighth hole and shot an 80. The Kernels were led by Asher Dannenbring with a -2 (69) to finish in a tie for third, one shot behind Nick Bothun of Pierre and Charlie Swift of Harrisburg. Bothun (-3, 68) won on the second playoff hole against Swift. Everett Morrison tied for sixth overall at +1 (72), while Carter McCormick shot a +5 (76) to finish in a tie for 17th. Mitchell is back in action on Tuesday for an invite at Watertown at 10 am.— Mitchell Kernels volleyball, 1-8 on the season, are at Brookings on Tuesday at 7 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels girls soccer host Brandon Valley on Tuesday at 4 pm at Joe Quintal Field.
— Mitchell Kernels boys soccer host Brandon Valley on Tuesday at 6 pm at Joe Quintal Field.
— Mitchell girls tennis, 15-2 on the season, host Watertown next Tuesday at 11 am at Hitchcock Park. The Class AA state girls tennis tournament takes place in Rapid City on October 10-11.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan volleyball was swept by No. 1 Northwestern on Saturday, 25-14, 25-14, 25-20. The Tigers fall to 7-7 on the season and will be at Dordt on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan football, 0-3 on the season, play at Midland on Saturday at 1 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s soccer stayed undefeated in its last five matches with a 1-0 home win vs. the SD School of Mines on Saturday. The Tigers, 4-2-2 on the season, host Northwestern on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s soccer, 1-2 on the season, will be at Mt. Marty on Wednesday at 5 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— Backup running back Kirby Vorhees ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns while the South Dakota State defense shutout Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday 41-0. SDSU is off this week and opens Missouri Valley Football Conference action next Saturday, Oct. 5 at Northern Iowa at 4 pm.
— South Dakota State volleyball finished its non-conference season with an 11-0 record after three wins at the Jackrabbit Invite over the weekend at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls. SDSU swept Idaho on Thursday, defeated Toldeo in five sets on Friday, while sweeping Belmont on Saturday. South Dakota State is 11-0 for the first time since 2000. The Jackrabbits open the conference season at Oral Roberts Thursday in Tulsa.
— The SDSU women’s soccer, 7-2-1 on the season, be at Omaha on Sunday, September 29 at 1 pm to start Summit League play.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD Football had over 400 yards of total offense and five offensive touchdowns in the 42-3 win over Drake on Saturday to wrap up non-conference play for the season. QB Aidan Bouman threw for 219 yards and a TD, while Travis Theis ran for 94 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. The Coyotes will open Missouri Valley Football Conference play next weekend when they play host No. 7-ranked Southern Illinois at 1 pm.
— USD volleyball ended its non-conference schedule winning two of three matches over the weekend in Iowa, with four set victories over Drake and St. Louis. The Coyotes, 8-3 on the season, start Summit League play on Thursday at Denver 7 pm, followed by a trip to Tulsa to take on Oral Roberts on Saturday on 1 pm.
— USD women’s soccer, 2-5-2 on the season, are at St. Thomas on Thursday at 4 pm to start its Summit League schedule.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Boston’s Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats on Sunday in the opener of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins. The 24-year-old Casas drove in seven runs in Boston’s 8-1 victory. Romy Gonzalez hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in game two to lead the Red Sox to a 9-3 victory. Losing for the 13th time in 19 games, the Twins fell one game behind both Detroit and Kansas City for the AL’s final two wild-card spots with six games left to play.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
— Sam Darnold matched his career high with four touchdown passes as the undefeated Minnesota Vikings used another dominant performance on defense to defeat the Houston Texans 34-7. Jonathan Greenard had three of the four sacks on Houston QB C.J. Stroud as the Vikings intercepted the Texans twice. Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones for scores in the first quarter on third down plays inside the 10. In the second half, he delivered a touchdown to Jalen Nailor and tight end Johnny Mundt. The Vikings will be in Green Bay on Sunday to face the Packers at Noon.
NASCAR
— Kyle Larson dominated the first elimination race of NASCAR’s 10-race playoff portion of the season by leading all but 38 of the 500 laps in his win Saturday at Bristol. It moved him into the second round of the playoffs, while former NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were eliminated from the 16-driver field. NASCAR opens the second round of the playoffs at Kansas on Sunday.
MLB
— The Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell on Sunday night after six seasons. The team announced the move hours after a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates and named bench coach Freddie Benavides as interim manager for the final five games of the season. With a week left in the season, the Reds are 76-81 and in fourth place in the NL Central, 13 1/2 games behind division champion Milwaukee.
NFL
— Mercury Morris, who starred for the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins as part of a star-studded backfield and helped the team win two Super Bowl titles, has died, the team said Sunday. Morris was 77 years old. Morris was the starting halfback and one of three go-to runners that Dolphins coach Don Shula utilized in Miami’s back-to-back title seasons of 1972 and 1973, alongside Hall of Famer Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick. Morris led the Dolphins in rushing touchdowns in both of those seasons, finishing with an NFL-best 12 in 1972 and then 10 more in 1973.
WNBA
— Alyssa Thomas had the 15th triple-double of her career to spoil Caitlin Clark’s playoff debut as the Connecticut Sun beat the Indiana Fever 93-69 on Sunday in Game 1 of their best-of-three series. Thomas finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Clark finished with 11 points and eight assists. Game two is Wednesday night at 6:30 pm on ESPN.
— Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson was the unanimous choice as the WNBA MVP, the league announced Sunday. The Aces’ forward averaged 26.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. She’s only the second player to win the award unanimously, joining Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets, who did it in the league’s inaugural 1997 season. Wilson received all 67 first-place votes from a national media panel, making her a three-time award winner (2020 and 2022.)
NFL
— Patrick Mahomes threw a pair of touchdown passes and Kansas City’s defense made a couple of late stands to keep the Chiefs unbeaten with a 22-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incompletions in the end zone to end one late drive and the final Atlanta drive ended with Bijan Robinson being thrown for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-1.
— Malik Willis ran for a touchdown and threw for a score in his best performance as a pro, leading the Packers to a 30-14 win over his former team, the Tennessee Titans. Willis finished with 202 yards passing and 73 rushing.
— Denver rookie QB Bo Nix ran for an early touchdown and Will Lutz kicked four field goals to help the Broncos avoid starting 0-3 for the second straight season with a 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nix completed 25 of 36 passes for 216 yards without an interception, but still hasn’t thrown for a TD through three games.
— Rookie Joshua Karty hit a 37-yard field goal with 2 seconds to play as the L.A. Rams rallied for a 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The Rams came back from a 14-point deficit in the second half. 49ers WR Jauan Jennings set career highs with 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns.
— Baltimore’s Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, while Lamar Jackson accounted for two scores as the Ravens held on for a 28-25 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has allowed 120 points in their past three home games, including a 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay in January.
— Detroit’s Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes and David Montgomery ran for 106 yards and a score as the Lions held on late to beat the Arizona Cardinals 20-13. Goff completed his first 14 passes before an incompletion in the third quarter.
— Saquon Barkley rushed for fourth-quarter touchdowns of 65 and 4 yards as the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New Orleans Saints 15-12. TE Dallas Goedert had a career-high 170 yards on 10 receptions.
— Justin Fields threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the L.A. Chargers 20-10. Pittsburgh improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2020 behind Fields, who completed 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass and a 5-yard touchdown run.
— Jonathan Taylor had two touchdown runs as the Indianapolis Colts held on for a 21-16 victory over the Chicago Bears. Taylor ran 23 times for 110 yards. Bears QB Caleb Williams went 33 of 52 with 363 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
— Daniel Jones threw two touchdown passes to rookie Malik Nabers as the Giants held off the Cleveland Browns 21-15. Nabers at 21 years and 56 days became the youngest wide receiver in NFL history to have two TD catches in a game.
— Seattle’s Geno Smith threw for 289 yards and a 71-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf in the Seahawks 24-3 win over Miami 24-3. A week after losing QB Tua Tagovailoa to his third concussion in the past two years, the Dolphins watched Skylar Thompson suffer a chest injury in the second half, leaving Tim Boyle to try and lead a second half comeback.
— Andy Dalton gave the Panthers the quarterback play they’ve been sorely lacking, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns to lead Carolina past the Raiders 36-22. Promoted to the starting job in place of the ineffective Bryce Young, Dalton guided the Panthers to their first win of the season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— Tennessee moved up to No. 5 in the AP college football poll Sunday as the Volunteers defeated Oklahoma this weekend 25-15, and No. 25 Boise State returned to the Top 25 for the first time in four years. Texas was No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving 44 of 62 first-place votes as the top four teams remained the same. Georgia held at No. 2, while Ohio State is at No. 3 and Alabama is No. 4.
MLB
— The Chicago White Sox tied the post-1900 MLB record of 120 losses by the 1962 New York Mets on Sunday when the San Diego Padres won 4-2 by rallying for three runs in the eighth inning. The White Sox fell to 36-120 on the season with six games left.
— Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter homered twice and Parker Meadows made a home run-saving catch as the Tigers gained ground in the American League wild card race with a 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
— Blake Snell struck out nine in six innings as the San Francisco Giants completed a three-game series sweep with a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City was shut out for the second straight game and lost its seventh straight.
— Shohei Ohtani hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning and Mookie Betts followed with a game-ending HR as the Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies to maintain their three-game lead in the National League West. Ohtani had four hits and added two stolen bases, giving him 53 home runs and 55 steals on the season.
— Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 55th homer of the season as the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7-4 for a three-game sweep that moved New York to the verge of an AL East title. Already assured of a playoff berth, the Yankees can clinch the division with one victory over second-place Baltimore during a three-game series in New York that starts Tuesday night.
— Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking, sixth-inning home run off Zack Wheeler as the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 2-1 to prevent the Phillies from clinching the NL East. New York took three of four from the Phillies and has won 18 of its last 23 games to move a season-high 18 games over .500. The Mets and Arizona are two games up on Atlanta for the final two NL playoff spots with six games left.
— Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers drove in the go-ahead run with a pinch-hit infield single that capped a four-run eighth inning as the Brewers overcame an eight-run deficit for a 10-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers trailed 8-0 in the third before tying that game at 9 by scoring three runs with two outs in the eighth inning.