BACK TO THE DOME

 HARLAN (Nov. 3) -- The Dome drought is officially over for Harlan Community football.
 Six years removed from their last game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, the 6th-ranked Cyclones are headed back east following Friday night’s impressive 41-15 win over No. 4 Sergeant Bluff-Luton in a Class 3A quarterfinal playoff game at Merrill Field.
 HCHS led just 20-15 at halftime before outscoring the unbeaten Warriors 21-0 in a dominant second-half performance.
 The Cyclones (10-1) will face fifth-ranked Pella (10-1) in a 3A semifinal Thursday at 5:36 p.m. It will be the program’s first game inside the UNI-Dome since a 35-14 loss to Decorah in the 2011 semifinals. The five-season Dome-less streak was the Cyclones’ longest since playing their first game there in 1981.
 “It feels amazing. This was our goal, this was our destiny - the Dome,” said HCHS senior tailback Nick Foss, who increased his season touchdown total to 38 on Friday with four rushing scores as well as a 91-yard kickoff return TD.
 “We said we wanted to bring Harlan back to what it was in the past and that’s kind of what we’re getting at. It’s just good to see what we had as our mindset is coming to reality.”
 Senior offensive lineman Patrick Fah added that the entire team worked hard in the weight room and during summer 7-on-7 workouts to ensure that the Cyclones would erase the memory of last year’s 4-5 season.
 “We’ve worked really hard to get to where we are now. It just feels really good for it to finally pay off,” Fah said.
 “This senior class is fantastic. I love every guy on that team. Freshmen year we went undefeated and we were talking about making the Dome our senior year and that was our big goal. We kind of knew... We had a feeling.”

Harlan Community 41, Sgt. Bluff-Luton 15
SB-Luton  0    15    0    0 -- 15
HCHS       7    13    14    7 -- 41
HCHS: Nick Foss 55-yd. run (Kyle Knudson kick) - 1st qt., 6:23.

HCHS: Foss 12-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 2nd qt., 5:28.
SB-L: Sam DeMoss 85-yd. kickoff return (Ty Boekelman run) - 2nd qt., 5:15.
HCHS: Foss 91-yd. kickoff return (kick failed) - 2nd qt., 5:00.
SB-L: Deric Fitzgerald 7-yd. pass from Dylan Laughlin (Colin Margellos kick) - 2nd qt., 0:05.
HCHS: Foss 2-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 3rd qt., 9:46.
HCHS: Deren Schmitz 6-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 3rd qt., 0:52.
HCHS: Foss 1-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 4th qt., 4:02.

HCHS Individual Statistics
    Rushing -- Nick Foss 23-211, Deren Schmitz 7-72, Caleb Bieker 6-29, Team 1-(-1).
    Passing -- Schmitz 7-15-1, 128.
    Receiving -- Kevin Campbell 1-43, Johnathan Monson 3-39, Foss 2-26, Derec Weyer 1-20.
    Punt returns -- None.
    Kickoff returns -- Foss 3-122 (1 TD).
    Punting -- Schmitz 3-75 (25.0).
    Kickoffs -- Kyle Knudson 7-257 (36.7).
    Tackles -- Jon Owens 13 (5s/8a), Bieker 12 (8s/4a), Foss 8 (5s/3a), Tanner Fink 7 (3s/4a), Caleb Brouse 7 (2s/5a), Wyatt Schaben 6 (6a), Jacob Bartley 4 (1s/3a), Jared Moser 4 (1s/3a), Jake McLaughlin 4 (4a), Monson 3 (2s/1a), Weyer 3 (1s/2a), Jacob Bruck 2 (2s), Schmitz 2 (1s/1a), Hunter Manz 1 (1s).
    Tackles for loss -- Brouse 2 (1s/1a), Foss 1 (1s), Bieker 1 (1s), Bartley 1 (1a), Moser 1 (1a), Owens 1 (1a).
 QB Sack -- Brouse 1 solo.
 Interceptions-return yards -- Moser 1-22, Monson 1-27.
SB-Luton Individual Stat Leaders
    Rushing -- Britton Delperdang 22-128, Dylan Laughlin 6-37.
 Passing -- Daniel Wright 18-26-2, 142; Laughlin 1-2-0, 7.
 Receiving -- Sam DeMoss 6-74.