Sports

Apparently the stakes of having it count in conference standings or district playoffs was the critical factor in Marceline’s decade-plus dominance of southern neighbor Salisbury on the football field.Fourteen times in a row between 2013 and 2023, when MHS’ Tigers tangled with SHS’ Panthers as fellow members of the Lewis and Clark Conference or as members of the same Class 1 district, the final whistle of their contests always found Marceline on top – usually by a comfortable margin.Last Friday, with the Tigers (3-3) now in their first year as members of the Grand River Conference East while Salisbury remains in the shriveled L&C, the schools’ first non-conference meeting in nearly a half-century produced a distinct reversal of form.The host Panthers – more than a decade removed from their most-recent halcyon days of gridiron prominence – did what Marceline had done to them so often, dominate with an overpowering running game and rugged defense, leading to a surprising 34-8 rout of their neighbor just north of the Linn-Chariton county line.According to MHS statisticians, Salisbury rolled over the black-and-gold defenders for 301 rushing yards and passed for 76 more, scoring three times by land and twice by air, while holding the Marceline attack to a single rushing score and barely 200 yards of total offense.The Panthers’ “D” kept the Tigers’ two biggest offensive threats caged.

With four victories in five outings, including three which gave them second place in the Nan Carter Tournament at Trenton last Saturday, pushed the Brookfield High School softball Lady Bulldogs’ 2024 wins total into double digits last week.Here’s a roundup of recent prep sports around the county…BROOKFIELD SOFTBALLBrookfield 15, Maysville 0 (4 inn.)After a scoreless first inning in which BHS winning pitcher Emma Sensenich allowed her only two hits, the Lady Bulldogs (7-4, 3-3 conf.) erupted for 10 runs in the top of the second and then positioned themselves for the Grand River Conference East 15-runs-rule victory in four with a 4-runs fourth.The bulk of the Brookfield scoring resulted from Maysville walks and errors, but sophomore Hadlye Sackrey had a 2-runs double in the second for the contest’s single biggest swing.Without having a hit, Tylynn Almond reached base in all three plate appearances and scored each time.Going the shortened distance, Sensenich struck out six in four innings.NAN CARTER TOURNAMENTThe Lady Bulldogs earned second place in last Saturday’s tourney at Trenton, winning three of four games to improve their season record to 10-5.Gallatin 8, Brookfield 6 (5)In their opening game of the day, starting a few minutes before 9 a.m., the Lady Bulldogs were still slumbering and gave up four runs in the top of the first inning, an outburst capped by a 3-runs home run.Startled to awareness, BHS tried to battle back, getting a 2-outs, 2-runs homer of its own from H.

The Brookfield High School football Bulldogs gave young head coach Cory Luke very little to nit-pick about last week, coupling a second-consecutive shutout by their defense with a quick-strike attack that resulted in a 62-0 crushing of the Cougars of host Ewing: Highland.According to Luke, the meeting of former fellow members of the Clarence Cannon Conference ended with the blue-and-white defense never permitting Highland to snap the ball from midfield or on the BHS end of the gridiron.

Early teal season closed last week, but firearms turkey season opens this coming week (Oct.

Walk-off victories are relatively commonplace in high school softball, but game-ending home runs are much more of an outlier.Brookfield’s Lady Bulldogs experienced being on the wrong side of one Sept.

BROOKFIELD — With a defensive veteran getting in on the act, Brookfield High School’s football Bulldogs surpassed the half-century mark in points for a second game in a row last Friday, clubbing Polo 54-20.While they could have a tougher time tonight, they might do it a third time in a row as they look to maintain their position sharing the lead in the Grand River Conference East standings.The Bulldogs (4-0, 3-0 conf.) welcome Putnam County’s Midgets (2-2) to Burlington Field at 7 p.m.

Capped by a gutsy comeback win on the road by Brookfield’s softball team Tuesday, it was a relatively-productive week for county non-football varsity sports teams since the middle of last week.By team, here’s a roundup of the Sept.

Still perfect in their new league, the 2024 Brookfield High School football Bulldogs will revisit their recent past tonight.With a 46-0 bombing of guest Maysville/Winston last week, Brookfield improved to 2-0, both overall and in the Grand River Conference East.They’ll relive their past momentarily this evening, hitting the road to faraway Ewing to face former Clarence Cannon Conference compadre Highland (0-2) at 7 o’clock.

In milder-than-normal conditions, but with some pesky precipitation as a complication for some – particularly softball, preseason practices for 2024 high school fall sports programs around the county swung into action this week.