Warriors’ speed offers Week 2 test for Cyclones

 HARLAN (Aug. 31) -- Considering it lost by 28 points in Week 1, the Sergeant Bluff-Luton football team posted some pretty respectable numbers against Lewis Central.
 Daniel Wright, a 6-foot-6 junior quarterback, was on target, completing 22-of-29 passes for 134 yards (only 6.1 per completion), one touchdown and no interceptions.
 Senior tailback Britton Delperdang carried the ball 20 times for 134 yards (a solid 6.7 average) and four Warrior receivers finished with at least three catches.
 Still, SB-L couldn’t hang with the Max Duggan-led Titans - ranked second in Class 3A this week by the Associated Press - and lost 42-14.
 “They were great between the 20s,” said HCHS head coach Curt Bladt of Sergeant Bluff-Luton. “They kept competing and they kept coming hard. They’re a good solid group.”
 The 10th-ranked Warriors (0-1) will now face Bladt’s fifth-ranked Cyclones (1-0) Friday night (7:00 p.m.) at Merrill Field in a rematch from last year’s 3A playoff quarterfinal round. HCHS won that game 41-15, outscoring SB-L 21-0 in the second half and handing the Warriors their only loss of the season.
 Both squads return a bunch of talent from last fall, including six offensive starters and five on defense for Sergeant Bluff. Wright passed for 1,608 yards and 20 TDs as a sophomore while Delperdang rushed for 1,678 yards and 18 scores, averaging eight yards per carry. Receivers Conner Groves, Deric Fitzgerald and Sam DeMoss are back as well.
 The Warriors aren’t big - 270-pound right guard A.J. Ellington being the exception - but nearly all of their linemen start on just one side of the ball and the overall team strength is speed.