30 Aug 2025

High school football: Nick Swanson runs wild in Lakeville South’s win over Mounds View

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With Connor Cade, Jonah Shine and Bo Bokman all graduated, who would stand up and take the reins at the forefront of Lakeville South’s potent rushing attack this fall?

It took all of one play for Nicolas Swanson to raise his hand. Swanson took the handoff on the Cougars’ first offensive play of the season Friday in Lakeville and went 77 yards to the house to kick off the Cougars’ 34-7 season-opening victory over Mounds View.

Swanson got the party started early, and delivered last call late, with a 67-yard touchdown dash to extend the lead to three scores midway through the final frame.

The senior finished with 14 carries for 244 yards. He and Griffen Dean figure to feast all fall behind an offensive front that features the likes of Asher Collins, Carson Scholl and Mitchel Kelvie on the line with big tight ends such as Brady McCloud — who caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Drake Fritz on a play-action rollout Friday — and Henry Hauge.

The Mustangs responded after Swanson’s initial house call, as a 59-yard strike from Beckham Wheeler to Weston Kuchar set up a 2-yard rushing score for North Dakota State commit Godson Rufus-Okomhanru. Wheeler, who replaces 2024 Mounds View star Jacob Sampson under center this season, completed his first nine passes on Friday.

The 6-foot-4 signal caller had what was described by coach Aaron Moberg at the outset of camp as an “outstanding offseason” and put that work on display on the field Friday.

He completed 12 of his first 15 passes, and two of those misses were drops. But Lakeville South finally flummoxed Wheeler in the fourth quarter, getting pressure that resulted in a game-sealing interception by Diego Neutz in Mounds View territory that set up a Chavon York rushing score.

More of that will be needed this fall for Lakeville South, which probably failed to reach its ceiling a year ago because of shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball.

But, if Friday was any indication, the Cougars could be a far more balanced — and, thus, dangerous — collection in 2025.

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30 Aug 2025

High school football: Defense lifts St. Thomas Academy past Cretin-Derham Hall

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The St. Thomas Academy defense repeatedly set the table Friday night, and Dominic Baez and the offense took advantage.

Baez, a senior running back, rushed for a 2-yard touchdown in the first half and caught a 33-yard touchdown pass in the second as the Cadets downed Cretin-Derham Hall 27-14 in the season opener for both teams at TCO Stadium in Eagan.

St. Thomas Academy set the tone defensively from the start, keeping the pressure on Cretin-Derham Hall senior quarterback Izaak Johnson in the first half and furnishing the Cadets’ offense with ideal field position.

A big sack and fumble on the game’s opening drive forced the Raiders to punt from their own 13, and an ensuing penalty allowed St. Thomas Academy to start at the Cretin-Derham Hall 24.

The Cadets didn’t miss a beat, moving into scoring position where Baez’s touchdown run gave them an early 7-0 lead.

Johnson — who had a big first half passing — withstood the pressure to complete an 8-yard scoring strike to senior Ja’Dale Thompson on the Raiders’ next possession. But the extra point attempt was blocked, allowing St. Thomas Academy to keep a one-point advantage.

Cretin-Derham Hall advanced all the way to the Cadets’ 19 on its next drive, but after a two-yard loss and a pair of incompletions, Johnson was sacked for a loss of nine on fourth down.

Then, after a St. Thomas Academy punt, Johnson was sacked for a third time on first down, and Cretin-Derham Hall ended up kicking the ball away from its own 26.

The Cadets took over at the Raiders’ 43, helping set up junior Toren Piltingsrud for a 34-yard field goal as time expired, giving St. Thomas Academy a 10-6 halftime lead.

The margin expanded to 17-6 when junior Tristan Karl connected on a 3-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass to senior Grant English on the first possession of the second half.

Cretin-Derham Hall then elected to gamble on fourth down and was stopped well short, turning the ball over at its own 28.

Two plays after that, Baez – who was stopped for a loss of five on the first play of the drive – caught a short pass and raced 33 yards down his own sideline for his second touchdown of the night, expanding the Cadets’ lead to 24-6.

Piltingsrud then connected on his second field goal of the night with 4:58 to play, and Sam Heath added a late 13-yard touchdown catch for the Raiders with 1:10 remaining on the clock.

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30 Aug 2025

Former Twin Luis Arraez receives warm welcome back: “He did great things for us”

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Standing just beyond the infield dirt in shallow left field, San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez paused his pregame preparations and set his eyes up on the scoreboard.

There, he was treated to a tribute video that took him through some of his most memorable moments as a Twin. He watched his first career hit and home run. He saw the walk he worked against New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz after entering a game mid-plate appearance and inheriting an 0-2 count. He relived a clip of himself breaking up future Padres teammate Dylan Cease’s no-hit bid in the ninth inning.

When the video was over, he tipped his hat to a cheering crowd and waved his hand. And when he came up to the plate for his first-inning at-bat, he gave former teammate Ryan Jeffers a hug before waving to Twins fans once again. And then, as those same fans had seen many times before, he sent a single to right field.

It’s been nearly three full seasons since Luis Arraez, a fan favorite while with the Twins, played a game at Target Field. But the infielder received a warm welcome upon his return to Target Field on Friday evening.

The Twins traded Arraez for starting pitcher Pablo López in the offseason ahead of the 2023 season. The Twins visited Miami that year. Had he stayed with the Marlins, he would have returned to Target Field as a visitor late last season. Instead, he was traded to the Padres midseason and played against the Twins in San Diego.

“When I (woke) up, I just opened the door and then I told my wife, ‘Wow, this is the team that gave me the opportunity to play baseball,’ ” Arraez said. “They signed me in 2013 when I was 16 years old, and then this is my first team. I’m excited to be here.”

Arraez acknowledged the fan support and also mentioned hall of famer Rod Carew and Twins first base coach Ramon Borrego as among those who helped him along his way. Borrego was one of Arraez’s minor league managers, and he credited him with helping improve his defense, calling him one of his “favorite coaches.”

The 28-year-old broke onto the scene in 2019 and gradually won the second baseman job from veteran Jonathan Schoop. He spent four seasons in a Twins uniform, winning a batting title in the final one. He then went on to win a batting title the next season in Miami and a season later, in 2024, with San Diego. His numbers have slightly dipped this season, but Arraez entered Friday with 147 hits, good for fifth in the majors.

“He did great things for us. He really did,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I always said if you have a runner in scoring position, there’s no hitter you’d want up at the plate more than Luis Arraez, because if you just need to score a run, he can bring that run in. And he just does nothing but continue to get hits.

“He was a pleasure to work with, he was a good teammate, he was a good citizen. He was a very good Twin,” Baldelli added. “And he got a lot of hits for us.”

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30 Aug 2025

Late crime-busting sheriff Buford Pusser inspired Hollywood. Investigators say he killed his wife

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By AUDREY McAVOY

A late Tennessee sheriff who inspired a Hollywood movie about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was murdered by his enemies, authorities in Tennessee said Friday.

The finding will likely shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie that immortalized him as a tough but fair sheriff with zero tolerance for crime, authorities said.

There is enough evidence that if then-McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser were alive today, prosecutors would present an indictment to the grand jury for the murder of Pauline Mullins Pusser, said Mark Davidson, the district attorney for Tennessee’s 25th judicial district. Investigators also uncovered signs she suffered from domestic violence.

Prosecutors worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reexamining decades-old files on Pauline’s death in 2022 as part of its regular review of cold cases, agency director David Rausch said. Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser’s version of events and the physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and exhumed Pauline’s body for an autopsy.

Authorities acknowledged the news may shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser’s fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie he inspired or the 2004 remake. Many officers joined law enforcement because of his story, Davidson said. The sheriff died in a car crash seven years after his wife’s death.

“This case is not about tearing down a legend. It is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said at a news conference streamed on Facebook. “The truth matters. Justice matters. Even 58 years later. Pauline deserves both.”

Evidence does not back up sheriff’s story

The case dates to Aug. 12, 1967. Buford Pusser got a call in the early morning hours about a disturbance. He reported that his wife volunteered to ride along with him as he responded. Buford Pusser said that shortly after they passed Hope Methodist Church, a car pulled up and fired several times into the vehicle, killing Pauline and injuring the sheriff. Buford Pusser spent 18 days in the hospital and required several surgeries to recover. The case was built largely on his own statement and closed quickly, Rausch said.

During the reexamination of the case, Dr. Michael Revelle, an emergency medicine physical and medical examiner, studied postmortem photographs, crime scene photographs, notes made by the medical examiner at the time and Buford Pusser’s statements and concluded that Pauline was actually more likely that not shot outside the car and then placed inside it.

He found that cranial trauma suffered by Pauline didn’t match crime scene photographs of the car’s interior. Blood spatter on the hood outside the car contradicted Buford Pusser’s statements. The gunshot wound on his cheek was in fact a close-contact wound and not one fired from long range, as Buford Pusser described, and was likely self-inflicted, Revelle concluded.

Pauline’s autopsy revealed she had a broken nose that had healed prior to her death. Davidson said statements from people who were around at the time she died support the conclusion that she was a victim of domestic violence.

Brother says investigation gave him closure

Pauline’s younger brother, Griffon Mullins, said the investigation gave him closure. He said in a recorded video played at the news conference that their other sister died without knowing what happened to Pauline and he is grateful he will die knowing.

“You would fall in love with her because she was a people person. And of course, my family would always go to Pauline if they had an issue or they needed some advice and she was always there for them,” he said. “She was just a sweet person. I loved her with all my heart.”

Mullins said he knew there was some trouble in Pauline’s marriage, but she wasn’t one to talk about her problems. For that reason, Mullins said he was “not totally shocked.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation plans to make the entire file, which exceeds 1,000 pages, available to the public by handing it over to the University of Tennessee at Martin once it finishes with redactions. The school will create an online, searchable database for the case. Until then, members of the public can make appointments to review it in person or can purchase a copy, said university Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr.