Tenley Griffith Fans 200th Batter, but Hali Smith Carries Shamrocks to First Win

Tenley Griffith struck out her 200^th batter Monday against North Harrison, but the previously winless Shamrocks snapped the Hawks’ five game winning streak and got their first win of the season as Hali Smith carried the team on her shoulders, delivering one of the best pitching performances of her career by striking out 10 Hawk batters and keeping a potent Gilman City lineup in check. Gilman City could not climb out of a 4-0 hole as the Shamrocks, who had trouble protecting the lead all year and who had trouble with adding on runs when ahead, finally did so in Monday’s game in their 10-6 win. Addison Milligan said that Shamrock coach Justin Joiner did nothing special for Monday night’s game. “We were just locked in,” she said.

Lani Briggs started the game with a bad-hop single to second. Jaxcynn Hansel tapped a bunt in front of the plate, and catcher Avery Chadwick threw away the force try to second to put runners on second and third. Ava Rinehart tripled to the right field wall to put the Shamrocks up 2-0. Addison Milligan was plunked and stole second. Raegan Hogan tapped a ball in front of the plate and beat it out. Rinehart timed the throw to first perfectly and took off on the throw, making it in safely to make it 3-0. Katherine Parkhurst, who had started hitting the ball well in the Worth County game, kept up her improvement as she grounded out to short to bring in Addison Milligan to make it 4-0.

Tenley Griffith walked to start the Hawk first, but Hali Smith was on and was overpowering even the good hitters in the Hawk lineup. Finally, Nova Smith singled from right and Griffith, trying to give her team a spark, scored all the way from first to get Gilman City on the board, down 4-1.

A four-run lead was not safe for the Shamrocks, as they had led Worth County 7-3, only for them to come back. But when Gilman City failed to cash in a runner on third with nobody out in the second, Ava Rinehart doubled to the wall in center to start the Shamrock third. Addison Milligan singled her home to make it 5-1. Milligan later came home on a passed ball to make it 6-1.

Alli Burke finally got Gilman City going when she crushed a ball fair just inside the first baseline. It sliced away from Katherine Parkhurst and Burke was in standing up with a triple. An errant pickoff throw allowed her to come home. Nova Smith was plunked to start the Hawks again. Avery Chadwick grounded out to advance her, and Kayleece Puls, who kept the hot bat going with three hits Monday after getting three in the Grundy County game, singled her home to make it 6-3.

The Shamrocks had played errorless ball through the first three, but they looked like they would finally start to unravel in the fourth as a pair of errors brought home Tenley Griffith to cut the Hawk deficit to 6-4. But a dropped pop fly put Ava Rinehart on base, and Addison Milligan tripled her home in the Shamrock fifth to make it 7-4. Milligan came home on a wild pitch to make it 8-4.

With two outs in the sixth, Tenley Griffith tripled to the left center field wall; everyone wanted coach Danny Lisle to send her home, but Lani Briggs had the ball at deep short and was ready to throw home for what would have been a close play. Emily Chalfant walked. Alli Burke singled to right center to score Tenley Griffith to make it 8-5. But Chalfant was out trying to go first to third as Lani Briggs threw a perfect strike to Addison Milligan for the tag.

Once again, just as it looked like Gilman City would catch up, North Harrison added on. Hali Smith reached on an error. Raegan Hogan hit a hard shot to Kayleece Puls at short; she made a great diving stop, but had no play against the speedy Hogan. They took second and third on a wild pitch. Katherine Parkhurst hit a grounder to second. Hali Smith made the kind of daredevil play that Anna Gladstone used to do all the time for Worth County and Avery Gregg did for the Hawks last year. She dared Gilman City to throw her out, drew the throw to third, and took off for home, making it safely to make it 9-5 as Hogan took third. Hogan came home on a wild pitch to make it 10-5.

Later in the inning, Tenley Griffith struck out Shayla Vandiver for her 200^th career strikeout for the Hawks.

With two outs in the seventh, Kayleece Puls walked to keep the game going and took second on a passed ball. Emmery Smith got a single off her cousin Hali and kept the Hawks chances alive, making it 10-6 as Puls scored. But Hali Smith got her 10^th strikeout to end the game.

 

20 Statewide Commissioners Attend Nodaway County Commission Meeting on Data Centers

Thursday’s meeting of the Nodaway County Commission had the normal group of data center opponents present. But there was also a group of around 20 commissioners from around the state who shared their experiences with data centers. They were members of the County Commissioner’s Association of Missouri, of which Scott Walk is the board president. One of the duties of the president is to host a meeting of the group every year in his home county.

Jeff From reported that he had a discussion with Dan Scheffler of Scale Microgrids which lasted almost two hours. “A lot of the things he told me were great to hear, but they need to be documented,” said Mr. From. “That’s a big deal.” Mr. From offered to help do cost/benefit analysis for the county, accounting for all the impacts, both positive and negative.

In response to a question from Tim Schafer to the assembled group of commissioners, several opened up about their experiences in dealing with data centers. Like everyone else, one of the Audrian County commissioners said they were still in the learning phases of data centers.

One county commissioner reported on how their county passed a moratorium on data center development, framing it as an effort to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. The goal is to require data centers to prove that they can meet health and welfare standards and set up a process of inspection.

Kyle White of DeKalb County said that his county was in a unique situation; while the county as a whole does not have zoning, they have a township system, and three different townships have zoning. White Cloud Township in Nodaway County is seeking to pass zoning in November to regulate data centers.

If DeKalb County were to pass zoning, then Mr. White explained that zoning in the individual townships would trump the countywide zoning. Similarly, if Nodaway County were to pass zoning, it would not affect Maryville, which has its own zoning.

Lacy Miller of Marion County said that her county has had zoning since 1972. They have two cities with zoning. She said that they can’t single out any specific industry, or it will be challenged in court. They have a 40-page zoning manual with all the different regulations. One time, a hog farm wanted to put in a wash, only to get pushback from the other two commissioners. The project was delayed by several weeks. It was a $2.5 million project that employs 12-15 people. It took them four years to finalize regulations for solar farms.

Joe Galthouse said that there was a 6,000-acre solar farm that located in his county, and that one farmer put 3,000 acres of their land into the project. “We never even heard of solar in 2019,” he said.

Mr. From said that if the project is going to be built, that it should be built as cleanly as possible. “We want the commissioners to check all the boxes. Maybe they will relocate elsewhere. That’s fine,” he said. “I understand why landowners are doing what they are doing. I leased to the solar farm that was going to locate here, and then they backed out.” Mr. From called for transparency in the process. “When they approached me about the solar farm, I told my neighbors what was going on. That didn’t happen here,” he said.

Mr. White said that in the course of the process, many officials have gotten death threats, and a few have even quit. “There is so much hate in the human heart,” he said. “It’s sad to see it come to that point.”

Bruce Skoglund, a supporter of the project and a former superintendent of South Nodaway, talked about his fears of the legislature doing away with the Hold Harmless clause, which area superintendents fear could mean hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars in lost revenue. “When I look at the data centers, it means a windfall for our schools,” he said. “As a superintendent of a small school, I lost good teachers to St. Joseph and Maryville. If they don’t locate here, they’re going to locate somewhere.”

Dave Teeter, who formerly taught and coached at Worth County and who is now a commissioner of Montgomery County, talked about the impact the Google and Amazon data centers would have on his counties. The combined worth of the two centers in his county is around $25 billion. He noted that the Montgomery County schools will have more money per capita than anywhere else in the country. “I grew up here,” said Mr. Teeter. “Change is hard, but I know what schools are going to face.” Like everyone else, Mr. Teeter, as a teacher at Montgomery County, saw how the school was training up people, only to see them go elsewhere. “It’s a challenge,” he said. “We have lost 30% of our population. We could not keep doing what we were doing.”

Like everywhere else, Mr. Teeter talked about the pushback he got as a commissioner. “We were accused of taking bribes.” Talking about his job as a commissioner, Mr. Teeter said, “I understand what you guys go through. You’ve got a difficult job.” He noted that in Montgomery County, the FFA did a research project on what industry would be best for the county, and they chose having a data center. “They did an outstanding job of listing all the pros and cons. We did everything we could to protect human health.”

Talking about his background, Mr. Teeter said, “I grew up in Worth County. I went to Northwest. This is still home for me. One thing my dad told me was to never forget where you came from. I hope Nodaway County can weather this storm and that the positives can outweigh the negatives. This is still a place where I hold dear.”

Commissioner Chris Burns said that the draft development agreement was still in the hands of the attorney. “It’s still so vague that it doesn’t answer any questions,” he said. They are in the process of hiring a person to help the commissioners collect info. He noted that the developer didn’t have all the answers either. As an example, Mr. Burns said, “They’re still looking for a place to connect water from.”

“I’m frustrated like everyone else,” said Mr. Burns. “We have to wait for answers like everyone else.” Bruce Skoglund said that when the solar farm was considering locating in Nodaway County, it took a long time to get answers then. “If we’re not going to get answers, then we need to extend the moratorium,” said Mr. From.

Scott Wilson said that the turbine project from White Cloud Generating would generate 500 gallons of water per minute alone. “The data center would be separate. They’re not helping,” he said.

Kim Swyers asked what would happen if there were a significant archaeological find. Commissioner Burns said that DNR rules govern environmental and historical considerations and that it would take time to rule on the factors. Ms. Swyers noted that one such project found a mastodon that was 20,000 years old.

Mike Wilson noted that the Lottery promised money for schools, but that when it was passed, the state just cut the funding correspondingly. “It’s going to happen again,” he said.

Bruce Skoglund talked about his time at King City when they were putting in the wind turbines. “Do I think they will try to get rid of Hold Harmless? Yes, they might,” he said. He said that the purpose of the governor’s newly-touted report card was to make small schools look bad.

Nodaway County Assessor Rex Wallace noted that there had been an effort in the legislature to redistribute the tax money from wind farms from local schools to statewide, but that he, Allen Andrews, the State Representative for the area at the time, and another legislator got it stopped. He noted that while South Nodaway got money this year from the new Evergy substation, that next year, it would be state assessed, meaning it would be distributed statewide. “We don’t get money from the Royals or the Cardinals,” he noted. “If the data center wants to locate here, they need to pay taxes like everyone else.”

Mr. Skoglund said that in Gentry County, the commissioners there wanted to turn it into a pilot project and distribute the money from the wind farms to all three of the school districts there, which would have drastically reduced the revenue for King City, but that he got it stopped.

“They want to build the facility here because it’s right next to the Evergy substation,” said Scott Wilson. “You’re negotiating from a position of strength.”

 

Opinion -- Hawley Opens Investigation Into OpenAI

by Senator Josh Hawley's Office

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), as Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, launched an investigation into OpenAI for their AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026. The investigation will also probe the existential risk of new AI products.

In a letter to CEO Sam Altman, Senator Hawley wrote, "As Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I am investigating your AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026 in light of new, disturbing evidence regarding the incident. My investigation will probe this AI hacking incident, along with growing allegations of the existential risk of new AI products."

He continued, "As you may know, in the public domain, more AI experts are warning about the existential risks of AI.  Just this week, three Anthropic researchers expressed publicly that there is a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all human beings within the next decade. Your own chief scientist wrote just days ago that 'no lab has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.' And there are immediate questions about the consequences of these hacks from rogue AI agents. What happens to critical infrastructure, banks, and utilities if AI agents hack into their systems? How can personal data of millions of Americans be properly safeguarded? And who is held labile when AI goes rogue?"

Senator Hawley concluded, "The American people deserve to know the details of what went on in the Hugging Face incident and other incidents of AI models going rogue. This investigation will seek those answers. To facilitate that, please produce all documents and information specified in the attached annex no later than October 1, 2026.  If you have questions about the scope of these requests, please contact my office to discuss."

Read Senator Hawley's letter to Open AI below. 

September 9, 2026

Sam Altman

Chief Executive Officer

OpenAI

San Francisco, CA 

Dear Mr. Altman:

As Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I am investigating your AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026 in light of new, disturbing evidence regarding the incident. My investigation will probe this AI hacking incident, along with growing allegations of the existential risk of new AI products.

OpenAI and its partner auditors’ August 26, 2026 reports indicate that, during your cybersecurity evaluations of your GPT-5.6 Sol model and a more capable undisclosed model (termed “highly-persistent internal model”), a self-organized swarm of more than 1,200 AI agents broke out of their testing environment.  Those agents then set up an unauthorized messaging channel and exchanged over 70,000 messages and files with each other.  Some 700 of these agents went on to launch a successful coordinated attack on Hugging Face’s machine learning development platform, gaining access to its production systems and private source code.  These AI agents were looking for the answer key to their evaluations and actively tampered with evidence of their activity to cover their tracks.  In short, they went rogue.

Such evidence of autonomous collusion and subversion of human oversight is alarming enough, but greater still is the evidence that OpenAI knew that the AI agents were exhibiting rogue behavior and let the evaluations continue anyway. By May 2026, OpenAI knew that its agents had been using unsanctioned message boards.  On June 26, the agents discovered an exploit that gave them administrator access to your software repository manager and were using it to leave messages for each other. And on July 4-7, despite knowing that there was a high volume of agents interacting with and gaining administrator access to a compromised testing environment, OpenAI leadership rebuilt the compromised server and approved restarting evaluations without understanding what the agents were doing.

This is reckless.  And this is merely what we know from what limited information you disclosed to and allowed your partner auditors to investigate.  The auditors were given complete transcripts of AI agent activity for only two days, when the events leading up to the Hugging Face breach took place over weeks. They had limited visibility into the circumstances leading to the attack and its aftermath. Specifically, the auditors were not given access to study what happened during July 13-19, 2026, during which your report indicates that agents launched a second wave of attacks on OpenAI’s internal systems. The auditors did not have any ability to query the “highly-persistent internal model,” which was involved in 95% of the agents’ attack activity. And OpenAI redacted many important details regarding this primary model involved in the attack, among other things.

As you may know, in the public domain, more AI experts are warning about the existential risks of AI. Just this week, three Anthropic researchers expressed publicly that there is a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all human beings within the next decade. Your own chief scientist wrote just days ago that “no lab has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” And there are immediate questions about the consequences of these hacks from rogue AI agents. What happens to critical infrastructure, banks, and utilities if AI agents hack into their systems? How can personal data of millions of Americans be properly safeguarded? And who is held labile when AI goes rogue?

The American people deserve to know the details of what went on in the Hugging Face incident and other incidents of AI models going rogue. This investigation will seek those answers. To facilitate that, please produce all documents and information specified in the attached annex no later than October 1, 2026. If you have questions about the scope of these requests, please contact my office to discuss.

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley

Chairman

Subcommittee on Disaster Management,

Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs

Birthdays & Anniversaries for October 2026

October Birthdays

1 – LaVerne Farrell; 2 – Emmalynn Allee, Ivalee Johnson; 3 – Robin Davidson, Teresa Winemiller, Weston Hill; 4 – Paige Reidlinger, Nikki Hamblin; 5 – Genee Haun, Jason Swaney, Tyler Schmitz; 7 – Derry DeMott; 8 – Wyatt McClain, Mary Deane Hawk, Mary Scott, Tyler Steinman, Ginger Pitts, Chase Thummel, Lori Titus; 9 – Cindy (Fisher) Lawhorn, Lee Cossins, Lisa (Lynch) Ross; 10 – Donitta Auten; 11 – Andrew Davidson; 12 – Tyler New; 13 – Cage Gladman, Tobyn Gladman, Mackenzie Morrow, Berkley Davidson; 17 – Evelyn K. Ann Stewart, Betty Fletchall; 19 – Connie Drake, Robin Andrews, Joan Force, Creyton David Troutwine; 20 – Jerry Forney, Luca Khol’e Wall, Chandra (Allee) Hopkins, Sharon Rawlings, Matt Holaday, Delaney Davidson, Sharon Miller; 21 – Patricia (Florea) Gladman, Riggs Joseph Larson; 22 – Dorilla (Grace) Hawk; 23 – Mary-Kate Anderson; 24 – Geneveive Walker, Tanya Hann, Philis Wiley; 25 – Nancy Lewis, Danielle Parman, Christie Green; 26 – Jennifer Crabtree, Brenda Thurman; 27 – Amee’ (Nelson) Wilmes; 28 – River Ray Parish; 28 – Ida Smyser, Robert Morrow; 29 – Rachel Jones; 31 – Tracey (Wyer) Johnson, Kipton Thummel, Lennox Wagers.

October Anniversaries

1 – Jessica & Hunter Stufflebean; 2 – Jana (Runyan) & Duane Finch, Cindy (Dugdale) and Daryl Owens; 3 – Sarah (Collins) & Clayton Scott; 4 – Patty (Thummel) & Jack Fisher, Kathy & David Cottrell; 5 – Lisa (Lynch) & Charlie Ross, Anita (Nelson) & Rick Morgan; 7 – Chelsea & Josh Kollitz (Josh Daniels); 8 – Lluvia & Matthew Petersen; 10 – Brenda & Nick Abplanalp, Aubrey (Staton) & Jordan Huntsman; 11 – Karee & John Titus; 12 – Emma (Hart) & Kade Pankau; 14 – Kaitlyn (Davidson) & Matt Sapps, Megan (McClain) & Luke Coffelt; 15 – Elaine & Martin Jones; 17 – Carolyn & Buddy Hall; 21 – Deborah (Dugdale) & Tom Wishman, Sarah (Lynch) & Wes McCord; 22 – Megan & Taylor Wallace; 30 – Suzi & Chris Spainhower, Lacy (Rudkin) & Brian Gladman; 31 – Tracey (Wyer) & David Johnston. 

Tenley Griffith, Kayleece Puls Bash Three Hits in Hawk Win

Tenley Griffith and Kayleece Puls each got three hits and Griffith and Emmery Smith combined on a one-hitter as Gilman City’s winning streak reached five games with a 16-0 win over Grundy County Thursday. Tenley Griffith had two triples, and Alli Burke had one. Burke, Avery Chadwick, and Nova Smith had doubles. Hailey McClure and Puls stole bases. After struggling to handle anything in the field against Mercer, they cleaned up their play, playing errorless ball Thursday.

Hailey McClure reached first on an error to start the Hawk first. She stole second, and Alli Burke hit a pop fly that dropped in for a double as McClure scored to make it 1-0. Nova Smith grounded out to third as Burke advanced to the bag after the throw. Avery Chadwick doubled to right to score Burke to make it 2-0. Chadwick took third on a passed ball. Kayleece Puls singled to left to score Chadwick to make it 3-0.

McClure made a catch in right field to help keep the Panthers off the board in the first.

Caitlynn Chalfant singled to center. She took second on a passed ball. Parker Crabtree beat out a bunt single as Chalfant took third. Crabtree took second on a passed ball. Tenley Griffith tripled to right field as both runners scored to make it 5-0. Hailey McClure singled to center to score Griffith. Nova Smith doubled to left to advance McClure to third. Avery Chadwick reached on an error as McClure scored to make it 7-0. Kameron Mars (running for Smith) took third. Kayleece Puls singled to left as Mars scored and Chadwick took second to make it 8-0. Puls and Chadwick took second and third on defensive indifference. Emmery Smith reached first on an error as Chadwick scored and Puls stayed at second to make it 9-0.

Parker Crabtree got a workout at second in the Grundy County second, cleanly fielding all three chances in the frame. She collected a fourth straight chance in the Panther third.

Gilman City struck again in the fourth. Emily Chalfant walked. Kayleece Puls singled her to second. Puls and Chalfant took second and third on a passed ball. Emmery Smith hit a pop fly single beyond the reach of the second baseman as Chalfant scored and Puls took third to make it 10-0. Tenley Griffith singled, hitting a pop fly beyond the reach of the shortstop to score Puls to make it 11-0.

Alli Burke tripled to start the Hawk fifth. Nova Smith was plunked. Kameron Mars (running for Smith) took second on defensive indifference. Emily Chalfant reached second on an error as Mars and Burke scored to make it 13-0. Kayleece Puls reached first on a dropped fly ball as Emily Chalfant took third. Puls took second on defensive indifference. Emmery Smith grounded out to score Emily Chalfant to make it 14-0 as Puls took third. Caitlynn Chalfant grounded out to score Puls to make it 15-0. Malory Chalfant walked. Tenley Griffith tripled to score Malory to make it 16-0.

Megan Tracy Pitches Tigers Back to Win Column

Worth County’s softball team used a frantic rally in the fifth to force extra innings and rode the arm of Megan Tracy to a 10-7 win over North Harrison in eight innings, snapping a two-game losing streak. After their forgettable 14-2 loss to Princeton, they had to turn around and play Stanberry, another contender in the GRC West. Kristen Tracy’s ankle healed faster than expected, and she got to bat, but Stanberry completely outplayed Worth County, building up an 8-3 lead. But then Worth County put together a frantic rally in the seventh, scoring four runs before coming up short 8-7 in a game that all but knocked them out of the GRC West title race. 

Princeton is unbeaten for the season. They have three conference games left, with North Harrison, North Andrew, and Albany, and unless they drop at least two of them and Worth County wins out, Worth County will be out of the running this year.

The good news for Worth County for Thursday’s game was that Kristen Tracy healed up enough to the point where she played part of the game. If she comes back healthy this week, the Tigers will have plenty to play for even if the GRC West title is out of reach for this year.

North Harrison has been searching for their first win, but they got out of the first inning with no damage done when Kaydence Downing walked, only for shortstop Lani Briggs to pull off a 6-3 double play.

Worth County has been trying three different pitchers in Kristen Tracy’s absence. Kaydence Downing started but fought the strike zone in walking Lani Briggs and Jaxcynn Hansel. Ava Rinehart beat out an infield hit, but Worth County threw to third to force out Briggs. Hali Smith doubled to right center to score one. Ava Rinehart scored on a wild pitch. Addison Milligan flied out to score Hali Smith to put the Shamrocks up 3-0.

Worth County got one back in the second. Braelyn Fletchall and Addison Gray singled and Keira Hardy walked to load the bases. Brooklyn Smith grounded out to put Worth County on the board.

They tried Brooklyn Smith on the mound, and she held the line in the second. Jaxcynn Hansel singled and Ava Rinehart walked, but Hali Smith forced Hansel at third for the final out.

The Tigers knotted it up in the third. With one out, Kambree Briner singled to left and took second on a wild pitch. Audrey Runde reached first on a dropped throw as the ball got away, scoring Briner to make it 3-2. Megan Tracy grounded out to advance Runde. Braelyn Fletchall hit a pop fly to right center; three different Shamrocks chased it, but it dropped for her second hit as Runde scored to tie it at 3-3.

Raegan Hogan walked and Addison Milligan singled. Katherine Parkhurst singled to load the bases. Becca Welling walked to force in a run to make it 4-3 and turn over the lineup. The Shamrocks started teeing off on Smith, with Lani Briggs and Jaxcynn Hansel getting singles to make it 6-3. Ava Rinehart grounded into a force, but another run scored to make it 7-3. 

But Worth County has been playing from behind all year. They were down 3-0 against Stanberry in the tournament and came back. They were down 2-0 against King City and came back. They were down 8-3 against Stanberry and nearly came back. After Megan Tracy stopped the bleeding on the mound, Kaydence Downing singled just past Jaxcynn Hansel at third. The ball got away, and she took second. Kambree Briner singled to center. Audrey Runde walked. They took second and third on a passed ball. Braelyn Fletchall singled to right to score two to make it 7-6. Addison Gray grounded out to advance her to second. Fletchall took third on a wild pitch. Keira Hardy hit a golf swing and hit a soft sinking line drive that second baseman Shayla Vandiver dove for but couldn’t come up with as Fletchall scored on the scratch hit to tie it at 7-7. It would have been worse had not shortstop Lani Briggs snagged Kristen Tracy’s screamer backhanded for the tine out.

Megan Tracy set the Shamrocks down in order in the fifth, while Lani Briggs relieved Hali Smith on the mound and stopped the bleeding. Smith, now at short, snagged Megan Tracy’s sinking line drive on the backhand to keep Worth County off the basepaths in the top of the sixth.

Ava Rinehart walked to start the Shamrock sixth. Hali Smith flied out to Kaydence Downing in right, and Raegan Hogan hit a screamer to left, but Brooklyn Smith snagged it with a backhand to rob her of extra bases. Addison Milligan reached on an error, but pitcher Megan Tracy struck out Shayla Vandiver to end the inning.

Katherine Parkhurst hit the ball as hard as she has all her life and hit a sinking line drive to center, but Tiger centerfielder Addison Gray dove to her knees and caught it for the first out. Becca Welling was called out on strikes. Lani Briggs singled and Jaxcynn Hansel hit a seeing-eye single between third and short. Ava Rinehart was intentionally walked. Megan Tracy threw Hali Smith some high, hard heat and struck her out to preserve the tie.

Brooklyn Smith and Kristen Tracy walked to start the Tiger eighth. Jane Hawk ran for Tracy. Smith and Hawk took second and third on a wild pitch. Kambree Briner singled to center, and the ball got away as she took second as the Tigers broke the tie and took a 9-7 lead. Audrey Runde hit a towering fly ball to left, but Becca Welling snagged it for the second out. Megan Tracy hit a pop fly over Hali Smith at short and stretched a single into a double as Briner scored to make it 10-7.

Raegan Hogan hit a slap but Kambree Briner, who was stationed right next to Megan Tracy on the mound to guard against the slap, scooped it up for the first out. Addison Milligan walked, but Shayla Vandiver struck out. Katherine Parkhurst crushed another solid knock down the left field line. It was well into foul territory, but Brooklyn Smith nearly crashed into the wall as she snagged it for the final out.

***

Will and Linda Brown were there to cheer on Megan and Kristen Tracy, who were fixtures in Linda’s office when they were kids, Linda was the country treasurer, and Julie Tracy was the collector at the Courthouse. But they were also there to cheer on their great-granddaughter, Katherine Parkhurst.

Brock Healy, Tigers Hold Off Resurgent Princeton

Worth County turned back a resurgent Princeton squad Friday 30-20, not gaining any separation until the final quarter.

With the North Harrison kids joining the cooperative as well as everyone else coming back, Princeton was a totally different team than the one which went 0-10 last year and that Worth County hung 94 points on last year. Their first test was against Mound City. The Panthers are built to run and to stop the run, and the result was a defensive slugfest in which Mound City controlled the ball and the time of possession, moved the ball all night long, but couldn’t score. Mound City ran 61 plays in that game, 55 of which were running plays, while Princeton ran 35 plays.

The difference in Princeton’s 30-0 win over the Panthers was the combination of Gage Fortner and Wyatt Maize, who picked right back up where they left off the year before, when they played for Pattonsburg. Fortner completed 15 of 21 passes for 219 yards, and Wyatt Maize had 10 catches for 198 yards and three scores, including a 61 yard strike.

On the defensive side, Princeton was as different as night and day, getting six tackles for losses and keeping Mound City out of the end zone. Kash Holt and Gavin Tatum had 11 tackles each. Bowe Ussery had 10, Mitchell Walker had 7, Ryker Fortner and Randy Wilson had 6, Devin Alton had 5, Wyatt Maize and Kolton Schurke had 4, Dynten Hale and Max Walkup 3, and Michael Parsons and Gavin Stockman 1 each. Gavin Stockman had a fumble recovery.

Against Rock Port, Princeton went toe to toe with them for the whole first half, trailing 34-27. But a botched kickoff at the start of the second half gave Rock Port the ball deep in Princeton territory, and they took it in and scored. They would pull away to a 64-41 lead before Wyatt Maize ran back a kickoff to cut it to 64-47 late.

Rock Port relied heavily on Brock Holmes again, giving him the ball 36 times for 192 yards. They diversified their passing game as Princeton held down Jack Meyerkorth as well as anyone the last two years, holding him to three catches for 59 yards. But Logan Ellis had 4 catches for 116 yards and Reid Ellis, who burned Worth County three different times, had 3 catches for 73 yards.

For Princeton, Gage Fortner had 18 completions in 27 attempts for 311 yards. Wyatt Maize had 11 catches for 200 yards and other receivers started stepping up as well. Judd Henke had 2 catches for 51 yards and Mitchell Walker had 3 catches for 44 yards, Bowe Ussery had 1 catch for 13 yards and Kolton Schurke had 1 catch for 3 yards.

Mitchell Walker, who picked up a lot more muscle during the offseason, came alive for Princeton. After he was bottled up by Mound City, he came alive with 11 carries for 159 yards, including a 65-yard burst. Wyatt Maize had 2 carries for 68 yards. Gage Fortner had 6 carries for 38 yards. For his efforts, Wyatt Maize got named the GRC Player of the Week.

Mitchell Walker had 11 tackles for Princeton. Kash Holt had 9, Gavin Tatum, Ryker Fortner, and Max Walkup 8, Randy Wilson 5, Wyatt Maize 4, Judd Henke, Kolton Schurke, and Gavin Stockman 3, Reed Mitchell 2, and Michael Parsons and Dynten Hale 1.

Worth County had every chance to put Princeton away early as they overcame a false start, with Hayden Sanders getting a block from Bo Collins and getting the ball to the Princeton 31. Then, Jude Archer accelerated his way past the Princeton defenders and to the house with 9:02 left. Archer made a leaping catch in the end zone to make it 8-0.

Then, when Kash Holt dropped a sure six points and Bo Collins forced a fumble that Jordan Dannar recovered, it looked like Worth County would put the game away early. Carries by Cole Ruby got it down to the 17, and Hayden Sanders got blocks from Jace Burns and Jude Archer to the 11. Jude Archer fumbled the ball on the 7, but got back on top of it at the 7. Cole got to the five before being turned back by Wyatt Maize and Mitchell Walker. But a halfback pass from Jude Archer fooled nobody as he planted the turf, and Hayden Sanders missed Jude Archer open in the end zone and was sacked. Another halfback pass likewise fooled nobody as Gavin Tatum sacked Archer at the 18 to give Princeton the ball back on downs.

That sequence gave Princeton hope, and they wasted no time responded as Judd Henke made a spectacular catch with Bentin Roberts draped all over him at the Tiger 31 to flip the field. With Caleb New out, Princeton was going after Roberts, his replacement, but Bentin was up to the challenge. He broke up a pass on the next play. Princeton took too long to get the play in and Hayden Sanders charged in and got a sack at the 32. But short passes to Holt and Maize gave Princeton a first down at the Tiger 21.

Jude Archer broke up a long pass as Ryder Smyser came in with a heavy rush. But Mitchell Walker picked up where he left off last week and picked up ten to the Tiger 11. On the next play, a mixup on coverage by Worth County left Ryker Fortner wide open, and he grabbed the score with 2:40 left in the first. Jude Archer and Bo Collins broke up the conversion pass to keep Worth County ahead 8-6.

But the penalty bug that plagued the Tigers the first two weeks and that has wiped out one long return after another reared its ugly head. Wyatt Scadden ran back the kickoff for an apparent touchdown, only for it to be called back to the 31 by a holding penalty. Instead of a score, Worth County went three and out as nobody could block Mitchell Walker on that series, and he was making a living in the Tiger backfield.

Princeton started at its own 15, and Gage Fortner scrambled to the 31. A bubble screen to Walker netted ten yards to the 39. Princeton took too long to get the play in and nearly got a Delay of Game penalty and barely got the snap off, but Fortner aired it out to Wyatt Maize, who caught it on the two. Princeton got a Delay penalty that put them on the seven, only for Gage Fortner to scramble to the five and for Mitchell Walker to take a counter to the house as the tackling broke down that play. Ryker Fortner was tackled inches short and the Princeton lead stood at 12-8 with 10:58 left in the half.

Worth County started on its own 16 and got 10 yards off a counter to the 26. Hayden Sanders picked up five to the 31 and got a block from Bo Collins to get to the 38. Jude Archer got around the edge to the Princeton 36. Hayden Sanders was dropped by Mitchell Walker at the 35, but broke two tackles and muscled his way to the Princeton 2.

A holding penalty brought the ball back to the 12, but two carries by Cole Ruby got the ball into the end zone with 6:08 left. Hayden Sanders injured his hip flexor on the series, and Brock Healy was pressed into service. Princeton was flagged for Roughing the Passer, and Jude Archer ran it in to put the Tigers up 16-12.

A bad snap pinned Princeton back at the 10 on the next series, and Jude Archer ran back the punt to the Princeton 39. Hayden Sanders tried to come back, but couldn’t do anything with it, and Worth County went three and out.

Bentin Roberts gave Worth County another chance with a pick at the Princeton 39, but once again, Worth County shot itself in the foot with a holding penalty that moved them backwards and they were forced to punt. There was a heartstopping moment for both sides as Worth County juggled the snap and Wyatt Scadden barely got it away, and Wyatt Maize nearly muffed the punt before recovering it.

Cole Ruby and Ethan Lininger flushed Fortner out of the pocket and he stepped out of bounds on Princeston’s next series. Jude Archer broke up a pass, and Bo Collins dropped Walker on a counter play to end their last threat of the half.

Worth County was up 16-12 at the half and had a golden opportunity to take control after Jude Archer got a block from Jordan Dannar and made it to the 37. With Hayden Sanders out, Brock Healy guided the Tigers down to the Princeton 24. But on third and one, a mixup on the snap was swarmed under by Princeton, and then took over on the 27.

A pair of catches by Judd Henke put Princeton into Worth County territory at the 34. A screen pass to Mitchell Walker put the ball on the 20, and the tackling broke down for Worth County as Wyatt Maize took a shovel pass 20 yards to the house with 8:15 left in the third to put them ahead. Judd Henke caught the extra point pass to make it 20-16.

Princeton went for the kill with an onsides kick, but it was shanked and Worth County had a golden opportunity to go back in front. But for the fifth time, Worth County failed to convert a drive that began in Princeton territory as three false start penalties and a sack on a halfback pass play that fooled nobody derailed the drive. At that point, Worth County was up to eight penalties.

Wyatt Maize ran back the ball to the 33, but Princeton got the penalty bug as a holding penalty killed the drive.

For the sixth time, Worth County got the ball into Princeton territory, only to come up short. They started at their own 27, and Brock Healy picked up six to the 33. Jude Archer met a swarm led by Devin Alton and three others at the 35. But Cole Ruby picked up the first down to the 40. Walker dropped Jude Archer at the 39 for a loss, only for Brock Healy to connect with Jude Archer at the Princeton 20. Brock scrambled to the 14. Jude Archer was stopped at the 15, but a short pass to Cole Ruby set up fourth and one at the 11. But a bad snap killed the drive, and Archer was swarmed under at the 12.

With a golden opportunity to run out the clock, Princeton started marching down the field, with Mitchell Walker getting three carries for 13 yards to the 25. Ryder Smyser dropped him for no gain, but Wyatt Maize caught an eight yard pass to the 33 and Walker caught one for 21 to the Tiger 26. But then Wyatt Maize met a brick wall at the 26, and Mitchell Walker met Bo Collins at the 25. A bubble screen went nowhere, and a fourth down pass was broken up by Jude Archer, and Worth County had the ball at their own 27. A false start put them back to the 22, but Bo Collins’ catch and run put the ball on the 35, where it was third and two. Jude Archer caught a short pass for a first down at the 40, and Jude Archer made a juggling catch at the Princeton 28. Bo Collins caught a short pass to the 21, and then Cole Ruby accelerated, got a block from Jude Archer, dove for the pylon, and hit it for the score to put Worth County back in front 22-20 with 4:55 left in the game.

Princeton has one of the most dangerous return men in the area in Wyatt Maize, but Dylan Smith ran him out of bounds at the 27. A holding penalty put the ball on the 17. Princeton tried its counter play to Mitchell Walker, but Ethan Lininger dropped him at the 13 and Ryder Smyser cleaned up. On the next pass play, Bo Collins tipped it in the air, had it zeroed in for a pick-six, only for Gage Fortner to come out of nowhere from his quarterback slot and knock it out before he could gather it in. A delay of game put Princeton on the 8, and Wyatt Maize caught a short pass at the 15. On fourth and 22, Princeton elected to go for it with 3:11 left, but Jordan Dannar broke it up to give Worth County the ball on downs.

Cole Ruby picked up six to the nine and then met Kash Holt and Gavin Tatum at the 8. Cole Ruby’s cutback picked up three and a first down at the five. Jude Archer was met for no gain. Instead of going down at the one like Rock Port did during the first week, Brock Healy ran it in with 1:03 left to make it 28-20. The play could have been a blessing in disguise for Princeton, who could have taken it in and scored and tied with an extra point conversion. But Wyatt Scadden caught the extra point pass to put the game out of reach at 30-20.

Worth County held its breath on the ensuing kickoff as Wyatt Maize caught the return, but Bentin Roberts, Brock Healy, and Hudson Cameron met him at the 39. Bo Collins and Ethan Lininger hurried Fortner, and his deep throw to an open Bowe Ussery was behind him. They aired it out to Wyatt Maize, but Wyatt Scadden played perfect safety help and the ball was too far. Another home run ball was too far for Ryker Fortner and Worth County knelt out the clock.