Stories from Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Knotted 8-8 after giving up a second-half scoring drive to Forest City on Friday night, fifth-ranked Spirit Lake was looking for a spark. Mathew Moody dropped a nuke. The senior gathered the ensuing kick at the Spirit Lake 9-yard line, slid right, found a crease in the coverage, and exploded upfield 91 yards for a score. The return touchdown fueled a 21-point Spirit Lake swing that resulted in a 29-14 home-opening victory...

Okoboji got out to a shaky start in its home opener Friday night, as Cherokee marched 70 yards for a score in the game's first possession. However, the Pioneers responded with a 7-yard pitch and catch from Matt Eckard to Brandon Svoboda late in the first quarter. The play was one of three touchdown connections for the Pioneers' dynamic duo on the night, as Okoboji improved to 2-0 on the year with a 25-12 win over the Braves...

Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson likes to talk about balance. On Friday, however, his team only threw three passes -- two of which went for touchdowns -- as the Wolves rushed for 291 yards and eight touchdowns in a lopsided 74-0 road win over River Valley...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire put all its eggs in the Kolton Roth basket Friday night, and the junior back delivered. Roth carried the ball 31 times for 156 yards and four touchdowns while leading the seventh-ranked Titans to a 38-14 road win over Northwood-Kensett...

Okoboji raced to victory at Woodlyn Hills on Thursday night. The Pioneer girls, led by a trio of top-seven finishes, edged Emmetsburg by just four points to earn a team title in front of their home crowd. "Our girls had a fantastic night," Okoboji coach Brad Peter said. "We had three runners making their varsity debut at our home course against very strong girls competition and each one ran a career best time."...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire volleyball dropped a pair of matches at a road triangular at Lake City with Storm Lake St. Mary and South Central Calhoun on Thursday, Sept. 1. The Titans lost to South Central Calhoun in straight sets, but took St. Mary to a fifth set before eventually dropping the match...

September is truly a month of transition. School has begun; high school athletics, college and pro football take over the weekend sports scene. At the same time, crops are turning, farmers are harvesting silage and the Clay County Fair sporting its title as the "World's Greatest County Fair" opens in mid-September. It's also the time of year when even after the lawn is mowed that falling leaves quickly dot the landscape...

There are lots of signs that fall is not far away. You can listen to the locusts at night, notice that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler, or you can just look at the calendar. No doubt, another fall is starting to make its entrance...

Jeff Ronsiek of Okoboji caught this 42-inch Northern Pike on Rainy Lake, located on the border of Minnesota and Canada. Ronsiek caught the fish on Sunday, Aug. 28 on a fishing trip with friends.

Bur oaks are native to all 99 counties in Iowa and are arguably one of Iowa's toughest native trees. However, this year, many of these trees are showing signs of bur oak blight. Bur oak blight is a leaf fungus that causes severe defoliation. While the effects of the blight have been recognized more recently, the fungus that causes the disease has been around for a long time. ...

State officials covered more than 6,000 miles of county roads counting upland game during the first two weeks of August and after all the species were counted, data compiled and numbers crunched, what can Iowa pheasant hunters expect to find this fall?...

Despite years of slogans and public service announcements from virtually every Government Agency, litter is still a problem. Litter is not just an eyesore; litter also poses a threat to wildlife and fish. For example, in a recent study, scientists with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimated that fish living at intermediate depths in the North Pacific Ocean, "swallow as much as 24,000 tons of plastic debris a year."...

Spirit Lake, Okoboji and Esthervile Lincoln Central volleyball teams competed in a triangular in Milford on Tuesday, Aug. 30. The 10th-ranked (3A) Indians topped the Pioneers and Midgets to go 2-0 on the night, while ELC beat Okoboji to go 1-1 and force the Pioneers to an 0-2 record on their home court...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at a home triangular with West Sioux and No. 3 (2A) Unity Christian on Tuesday, Aug. 30. The Wolves lost to the Falcons (25-17, 25-21, 25-20) and Knights (25-9, 25-17, 25-13) in straight sets...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire volleyball team was swept Tuesday, Aug. 30, in a home match with Southeast Valley. The Titans lost three close sets, falling 25-21, 25-23 and 25-20. "The girls played really hard tonight," GT/RA coach Ashley Dreeszen said. ...

The Spencer girls swim team swept the Sioux City Metro Girls Pentathlon on Tuesday, Aug. 30, earning first place finishes in each of the five events. The Tigers got the night started by placing three swimmers at the top of the 50-yard freestyle standings...