EXIRA (Oct. 25) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton football team finished its season below the .500 mark  last Friday following a 42-7 Week 9 home loss to fifth-ranked Coon Rapids-Bayard. The Spartans tied for fourth place in 8-Player, District 8 with a record of 3-4 and finished 4-5 overall.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Oct. 25) -- St. Albert won the battle for second place in Class A, District 9 last Friday, starting fast and beating AHSTW 48-21. Both teams finished 5-4 overall and fell short of qualifying for the playoffs.

 HARLAN (Oct.

 MOUNT AYR (Oct.

 ATLANTIC (Oct.

 ATLANTIC (Oct. 24) -- Thursday’s Class 3A State Qualifying Meet was quite bittersweet for the Harlan Community boys cross country team. On the positive side, HCHS junior Trey Gross clinched his return to state with a fifth-place showing on the challenging terrain of Atlantic’s Nishna Hills Golf Course.

 HARLAN (Oct. 23) -- “Survive and advance.” That was the reaction from Harlan Community volleyball coach Willie Baughman Wednesday night after the Cyclones rallied past Adel-DeSoto-Minburn for a five-set victory in the first round of Class 4A regional play. Fighting from behind the whole way, HCHS scored the last three points of the match to outlast the Tigers 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13.

 NEOLA (Oct. 22) -- Going into this week’s regional tournament, the AHSTW volleyball team hadn’t won a single set vs.

 OAKLAND (Oct. 22) -- Riverside defeated Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton in three sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-16) Tuesday night in a Class 1A first round regional volleyball match. The Spartans finished the season 6-22 overall. Riverside (24-12) will host CAM in a regional quarterfinal on Oct. 28.

 HARLAN (Oct. 25) -- For the Harlan Community football team, the playoff picture remains partly cloudy going into Friday’s Week 9 home game and regular season finale vs. Winterset. Following last week’s 40-0 romp at Creston, HCHS moved up three spots to No.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Oct. 19) -- The Harlan Community volleyball team finished 0-4 at the Lewis Central Tournament October 19 and closed the regular season with an 11-26 overall record. HCHS went 0-3 in pool play, losing to fifth-ranked (Class 5A) Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln and Glenwood by 2-0 scores and falling in three sets vs. top-ranked (1A) Sidney, 8-21, 21-17, 4-15. The Cyclones lost another three-setter vs.

 CRESTON (Oct. 17) -- Ten all-conference medalists, two individual runners-up, one team champion and nearly another.

 CRESTON (Oct.

 SIOUX RAPIDS (Oct.

 AVOCA (Oct. 18) -- The AHSTW football team picked up its fourth win in the last five games Friday night, beating Southwest Valley 25-12 to improve to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in Class A, District 9.