The Friday night high school football schedule finds:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Miguel Sano’s hustle led Minnesota to a pair of early runs and his RBI double tied the game in the decisive seventh inning, helping the Twins dodge a series sweep by beating the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Wednesday night.
Brian Dozier didn’t hit a home run for Minnesota, ending his club-tying record at five straight games, but he singled and stole second before scoring on Sano’s double off Joakim Soria (4-8). Dozier also started a dazzling double play to finish the fifth inning, with a diving stop of Eric Hosmer’s grounder and a glove flick to second base to get the ball out while he was flat on the dirt.
Alex Wimmers (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of Kyle Gibson to record his first major league victory. Brandon Kintzler gave up Jarrod Dyson’s two-out RBI single before finishing the ninth inning for his 14th save in 16 attempts.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has only a bruise on his right wrist after getting hit by a pitch.
X-rays on Perez’s throwing hand showed no broken bone, but Perez was held out of the starting lineup at Minnesota on Wednesday, a night after getting plunked by Twins pitcher Ervin Santana. Manager Ned Yost told reporters he hopes to put the All-Star back behind the plate for the next game Friday at Chicago.
Drew Butera was catching for the series finale against the Twins.
Perez has 20 home runs and 59 RBIs in 121 games for the defending champion Royals, who started Wednesday four games out of the second AL wild card spot.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – After a dominant performance at the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last Friday, senior Morgan Wedekindhas been named Big 12 Runner of the Week, the conference office announced on Tuesday.
This is the first time that the Wichita, Kansas, native has been named Runner of the Week and the first time a cross country runner has been named to the honor since Laura Galvan earned it on September 23, 2014.
“On Friday, Morgan showed us once again that she is not afraid to go hard from the gun,” head cross country coach Ryun Godfrey said. “I admire her competitive spirit a great deal. The Augustana Twilight was a good opener for her.”
Wedekind won the season opener in the Mount Rushmore State with ease, cruising to her first-place finish with a time of 16:26.08, ahead of the second place finisher, South Dakota’s Megan Billington, who recorded a time of 16:43.48.
The women went on to finish in second place in the competition with 42 points. A complete recap of the entire competition can be found here.
The Wildcats return to action on September 17 when the team hits the road to Lincoln, Nebraska to compete in the Woody Greeno Invitational. The race is slated to begin at 10 a.m. CT.
For the latest on K-State cross country, follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
Josh Brunner
Graduate Assistant | Athletics Communications
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Kendrys Morales had two home runs, including a three-run blast in Kansas City’s seven-run ninth inning that propelled the Royals to a 10-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Morales hit a two-run shot in the first inning to help the Royals overcome the loss of catcher Salvador Perez, who left the game with a right wrist contusion after he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.
Brian Dozier hit his 39th home run of the season for the Twins, moving him into a tie with Rogers Hornsby (twice) and Alfonso Soriano for fourth-most home runs by a second baseman in a season. He has homered in five straight games, tying Harmon Killebrew and Marty Cordova for the longest streak in Twins history.
Former Twin Drew Butera’s bases loaded single off Brandon Kintzler (0-2) broke a 3-3 tie and got the Royals rolling in the ninth.
Head Coach Bill Snyder
On the play of the K-State defense against Stanford…
“I thought we played well, but we did not start well. At the end of the day, it was all the first 15 minutes of the ballgame. In the last 35 minutes of the game, we held them to 77 yards or something like that. It was an accumulation of not getting started well and giving up scores on the first three possessions. During that period of time we were not very good against the pass. We were not very good on third downs. We gave up three big plays through the course of the ballgame, which were all defensible plays. We got lost on the touchdown pass. We missed two tackles on the big run. And we had the angle on the guy and overran the ball on the other touchdown run that they had. Not any one of those plays created the outcome, but they all helped. There were about 12-15 snaps where any three of them would have altered the outcome of the game, in my mind. They were all three things that we did that we should not have done. From a defensive standpoint, those three big plays counted for a substantial number of points.”
On facing Christian McCaffrey…
“I think he is just what we talked about. He is a tremendously gifted player, but he is a wonderful young man as well. I admire him and appreciate him a great deal. He carried the ball 22 times, and we missed two tackles on him at the line of scrimmage to give him a long gain. We gave him another long gain by overrunning the tackle. In the other 20 snaps, he had 2.5 yards per carry. I thought we played well against him with the exception of two snaps.”
On third down defense…
“We just did not start well. We gave up a lot of things. We gave up first downs, second downs and third downs. That was a big part of it. We finished excellent, I thought. The last touchdown run that he had, we made a mistake prior to that which put them in position to do exactly that. They really should not have even had the ball. Again, that is on us and the fact that we had control in the outcome of the ballgame. Stanford is a very fine football team, but it really was in our hands.”
On the K-State offensive line…
“I thought what they did best was endure the first opportunity to get on the field. So many of them have never been on the field before and have that youth factor to them. I thought they did well in that respect. I think the negative things were that when we were going to throw it and they knew we were going to throw it, we had some difficulties in our pass protection. There were certain things that they did that created some problems that we have to get better at. I think from a talent standpoint and a mental preparation standpoint, we can overcome that. Maintaining and finishing blocks is something that we have to improve on. Sometimes the physicality was there, sometimes it was not. It is just that consistency factor, I guess. For guys that were on the field for the first time, I thought they did reasonably well.”
On Dante Barnett returning…
“I think it was significant to have him back in the lineup for a lot of different reasons. He played well. He did not really have assignment errors. He played reasonably well against both the run and the pass. I think his leadership, his guidance and his direction of his teammates was beneficial for us in the ball game.”
On Jesse Ertz…
“He left quite a bit out there. They recorded eight sacks. Sometimes he had difficulty getting the ball away, but he did a nice job on scrambles early in the ballgame. That is significant for us. He has to be able to do that for the quarterback running game. I think he had some decisions that he would like to have back in regards to checking or not checking and receiver selection. He had never been in that position before. I tell our players and coaches all the time that you have to study everything. There are certain things that happen in the ballgame that have probably never happened to you before and may never happen again to you, like when we were coming out of our own end zone and we take a safety and then he throws the ball up for grabs. It is quite conceivable that they might not have called it a safety and that was an interception that put them in a great position to score. It was late and he just had not been in that situation before. That is my fault for not putting him in that situation so he could have reacted better.”
Senior Safety Dante Barnett
On the early bye week…
“A lot of bye weeks happen around week seven or week eight when you have been through half the season, but it is only week two right now. I think it will be beneficial for our team having a bye week this early so that we can improve before we start our next game.”
On being energized to start the Stanford game…
“I loved it. The atmosphere just made me feel at home. That is another thing that we want our defense to focus on is playing with energy. I feel like we play better when we play with energy.”
On defense playing close to perfect…
“I think we were very close. It was just when we messed up, it cost us. Stanford took full advantage of our mistakes and scored touchdowns. I think we played a pretty good game, but we still lost and that is not something that we want to do.”
Junior Place Kicker Matthew McCrane
On missing a field goal…
“It is always disappointing to miss a kick. We were not able to do it, and I think it hurt our team. It was the situation that we needed to put the field goal in and we did not do it. I failed on it.”
On improvement this year…
“I think it is evident during practice. We have been hitting the ball further and deeper than we have before. It is a big confidence for me because I think I was a little bit short last couple of years.”
On what he needs to work on during the bye week…
“I think it is that we get more reps in practice, which is a positive impact from that standpoint. We just have to keep focus. We have to watch the games next Saturday and watch our opponent. Bye weeks are tough. We have long practices with full pads most of the time but that is part of football.”
Sophomore Defensive Back D.J. Reed
On what Duke Shelley has said to help him transition to Division I football…
“He just told me to relax because he was also nervous his first game, which I believe he started against TCU last year. He said he was feeling the same thing. Dante (Barnett) also helped me out by just saying to relax and that you have already practiced for this so you are ready to take a deep breath and play football.”
On his competitiveness with Cedric Dozier…
“Cedric (Dozier) is my roommate and he is a good football player. We push each other at practice, same with Duke (Shelley). None of us are really relaxing because we have to work hard to keep the spot. So that is how I approach every practice.”
On Dante Barnett…
“He is very smart. He emphasizes watching film and doing the little things kind of like Coach Snyder empathizes those things. He is like a big brother to me. He looks out for me and tells me to relax before the game and he gives me little pointers.”
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RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics
St. X Middle School vs. Manhattan Chief MS “A” Teams – Chiefs wins in 2 (25-17; 25-7).
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez left Tuesday night’s game against Minnesota night in the sixth inning after he was hit on the right wrist during an at-bat against Ervin Santana.
Santana’s pitch ran in on Perez’s hands and hit him right on the wrist of his throwing hand. Perez leaped out of the batter’s box and crouched to his knees as he winced in pain. After several minutes Perez left the field and went back into the clubhouse for further examination.
The Royals said he had a right wrist bruise.
Perez has 20 home runs and 59 RBIs in 121 games for the defending champions, who started the day two games back of the second AL wild card spot.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – With the 2016 NFL season set to kick off this Thursday, 10 former Kansas State players made active rosters as teams were mandated to trim their rosters to 53 active players on Saturday.
The longest-tenured former Wildcats include cornerback Terence Newman, running back Darren Sproles and wide receiver Jordy Nelson.
Newman is entering his 14th NFL season as the former first-round draft pick is set to start his second campaign as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Sproles, a Pro Bowler in 2015, is going into his 12th professional season, including his third with the Philadelphia Eagles. Nelson, who missed all of the 2015 campaign with an injury in the preseason, is set for his ninth season with the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Making active rosters for the first time in their respective careers are rookie fullback Glenn Gronkowski (Buffalo), first-year offensive lineman B.J. Finney (Pittsburgh) and rookie offensive lineman Cody Whitehair (Chicago), who was drafted in the second round this year.
Players who are on new teams in 2016 include Emmanuel Lamur, a fifth-year linebacker who spent the first four seasons of his career with Cincinnati before signing with the Vikings in the offseason. Linebacker Arthur Brown was waived by Baltimore on Saturday but quickly claimed by Jacksonville on Sunday.
Wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie last season, is back for his second year with Seattle, while offensive lineman Cornelius Lucas begins his third NFL season with Detroit.
Other former Wildcats could be signed as NFL teams begin to announce their practice squads this week.
Kansas State and Bill Snyder Family Stadium host the Wildcat Kickoff music festival featuring Zach Brown Band and Train, on Saturday. The eighth annual K-State Family Reunion is on Saturday, Sept. 17, as the Wildcats host Florida Atlantic. The game, which kicks off at 1:30 p.m., will be aired by FSN.
There are less than 500 total tickets – including less than 325 contiguous seats – available for the FAU game, while ticket availability for the Missouri State on Sept. 24, is down to scattered singles and standing-room only. Tickets can be purchased through the K-State Athletic Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or in person at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Former Wildcats on NFL Rosters
Name Position Team
Arthur Brown LB Jacksonville
B.J. Finney OL Pittsburgh
Glenn Gronkowski FB Buffalo
Emmanuel Lamur LB Minnesota
Tyler Lockett WR Seattle
Cornelius Lucas OL Detroit
Jordy Nelson WR Green Bay
Terence Newman CB Minnesota
Darren Sproles RB Philadelphia
Cody Whitehair OL Chicago
RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs claimed linebacker Sam Barrington and offensive tackle Bryan Witzmann off waivers Sunday and made roster space for them by waiving linebacker Ramik Wilson and offensive lineman Jordan Devey.
Barrington had been with the Packers and Witzmann had been with the Cowboys.
The Chiefs were looking to upgrade the linebacker spot after Josh Mauga sustained a season-ending hip injury. Wilson was a fourth-round draft pick who started two games a year ago.
Kansas City also filled out its practice squad by signing linebackers Terrance Smith and Tyrell Adams; offensive linemen Daniel Munyer and Jarrod Pughsley; defensive backs Shak Randolph and Brock Vereen; wide receivers Frankie Hammond Jr. and Seantavius Jones; defensive tackle David King and running back Darrin Reaves.