Cyclones rout Trojans 49-13, enter district play 3-1

 ATLANTIC (Sept. 20) -- The Harlan Community football team finished non-district play on a strong note Friday night, dominating an overmatched Atlantic squad in nearly all facets of the game en route to a 49-13 road win.
 Junior tailback Brenden Bartley had a breakout night with 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Johnathan Monson also scored twice and Brody Frederick added a special teams TD off Will McLaughlin’s blocked punt as the Cyclones built a 35-0 halftime lead and improved to 3-1 on the season.
 HCHS will open district play (Class 3A, District 9) this Friday (Sept. 27) by hosting ADM (3-1) in a Homecoming game at 7:00 p.m. Atlantic (1-3) will begin Class 2A district play at Kuemper Catholic (1-3).
 “We focused all week on coming out and getting after them right away, so that’s what we did and I’m proud of the guys for that,” said HCHS coach Todd Bladt.
 “Overall, we came out hot, we had a little bit of a lull right after halftime... but other than that, if we can learn from some of our mistakes and clean that up we’re prime for some district play.”
 The Cyclones outgained the Trojans 253-26 in first-half yardage and finished with a 407-124 advantage, eclipising 400 total yards for the first time this season.
 HCHS set the tone by dominating field position in the first quarter, starting its first three drives on Atlantic’s 47, 43 and 36-yard lines and taking a 14-0 lead. The Trojans, meanwhile, began seven straight first-half drives inside their own 30, ending in five punts (one blocked for a TD), an interception and halftime.
 Chunk plays on offense were a welcome sight as well for HCHS.
 Monson, who passed for 123 yards on just four completions (4-of-12), connected with Connor Bruck for 21 yards and Joey Moser for 35 yards in the first half before finding Jordan Schechinger deep for a 54-yard gain in the third quarter. He also broke loose for a 24-yard run on the Cyclones’ opening drive and netted 49 yards on seven carries with two TDs. Bartley (22 rushes for 168) delivered first-half gains of 27 and 50 yards and had touchdown runs of four and three yards before the break.
 Harlan’s six plays of 20-plus yards added up to 211 - 15 more yards than its Week 1 total output at Denison.

Harlan Community 49, Atlantic 13
    HCHS: Johnathan Monson 1-yd. run (Matt Kloewer kick) - 1st qt., 7:35.
 HCHS: Joey Moser 9-yd. run (Kloewer kick) - 1st qt., 1:47.
 HCHS: Brenden Bartley 4-yd. run (Kloewer kick) - 2nd qt., 5:53.
 HCHS: Brody Frederick 7-yd. blocked punt return (Kloewer kick) - 2nd qt., 3:32.
 HCHS: Bartley 3-yd. run (Kloewer kick) - 2nd qt., :13.1.
 Atlantic: Collin Mullenix 35-yd. pass from Garrett McLaren (kick failed) - 3rd qt., 7:08.
 HCHS: J. Monson 8-yd. run (Kloewer kick) - 3rd qt., 4:12.
 HCHS: Joseph Fah 9-yd. run (Kloewer kick) - 4th qt., 10:34.
 Atlantic: Tyler Moen 10-yd. run (Beau Dickerson kick) - 4th qt., 3:30.
HCHS Individual Stat Leaders
    Rushing -- Brenden Bartley 22-168, Johnathan Monson 7-49, Mason Griffith 4-29, Joey Moser 2-18. Passing -- J. Monson 4-12-0, 123. Receiving -- Jordan Schechinger 2-67, Moser 1-35, Bruck 1-21.
    Tackles -- Will McLaughlin 2s/7a, Allen Fries 3s/5a, Jameson Bieker 0s/5a, Fah 2s/2a, Isaiah Ahrenholtz 2s/2a, Lucas Stanley 2s/2a. Tackles for loss -- Fries 2s/1a, McLaughlin 1s/1a. QB Sacks -- Fries 2s/0a, Jesse Schwery 1s/0a, Bieker 1a, Eli Monson 1a.
 INT-return yds. -- Ahrenholtz 1-1. Blocked punt -- McLaughlin.