The annual college football reunion for Ridgewater College (formerly Willmar Community College) players, coaches and managers is 11 a.m. Saturday at American Legion Post 167 in Willmar.
Players from the first four seasons (1967 – 1970) are especially encouraged to attend. The Warriors will host Minnesota State and Technical College Fergus Falls at 3 p.m. at Hodapp Field.
Stenson grabs first-round Tour lead
The only person who wasn’t contemplating a course record at the Tour Championship on Thursday was the guy in a position to do it.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson seemed to be on path to match a course record Thursday, but settled for a 7-under 63 to take the first-round lead at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
Stenson was 8-under after a birdie at No. 12 when he began to lose traction. He made four straight pars before making a bogey at the 17th and losing any chance to match the record 60 shot by Zach Johnson in 2007.
“At that stage I was just trying to get up and hit the fairways, give yourself chances, because they’re tricky holes,” Stenson said. “It’s all about just keeping it going.”
Stenson hit 11 fairways and 13 greens in regulation. He eagled the par-5 ninth hole to shoot 29 on the front nine, one short of the tournament record held by Tiger Woods.
Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, who entered the week first and second on the FedEx Cup points list, posted solid rounds. Day shot a 1-under 69, a round that included a triple bogey, and is tied for 11th. Spieth shot a 2-under 68 and is in a group of six tied for fifth.
Prep coach in blindside incident loses job
The assistant San Antonio high school football coach thought to have ordered his players to blindside a referee during a game no longer works for the Texas school district that employed him, a school official told an investigation panel on Thursday.
John Jay High School secondary coach Mack Breed asked players to hit the official during the game, according to statements the school district has received in an incident captured on a video seen millions of times that also set off a national debate about violence on the playing field.
“Coach Breed made verbal statements after the game to some of his colleagues and to his head coach where he did indicate in various ways that he had directed students to make some kind of contact with the official,” said Brian Woods, the superintendent of Northside Independent School District, which oversees John Jay.
Woods also told the hearing of the governing body for school sports in Texas, the University Interscholastic League, that Breed later changed his story. Breed is not expected to appear before the committee.
The video clip of the game in September between John Jay and Marble Falls High School shows two John Jay defensive backs lining up behind the official, with one running into him from behind and the other driving into him just after he was knocked down.
The two players were ejected from the game, which John Jay lost 15-9.
“Our initial investigation was that Coach Breed had indicated to the two young men to make some kind of contact with the official, or to ‘make him pay.’ One of those young men confirms that, the other does not,” he said.
John Jay players made statements that the official had made racial slurs against players from their team. No adult or coach has confirmed the accusations, Wood said at the hearing held outside of Austin.
The official, Robert Watts, who did not testify at the hearing, has strongly denied the allegations of making racial slurs, and Michael Fitch, executive director of the Texas Association of Sports Officials, added its investigation has not uncovered any evidence that such comments were made.
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“No coach, no official, no adult, no opposing team player has provided any evidence of personal knowledge of a racial slur,” Fitch said.
