HARLAN (Aug.

 HARLAN (Aug. 27) -- The Harlan Community football team will basically have a brand new crew on special teams this year with first-year varsity players filling many roles in the kicking and return games. Senior Matt Kloewer will start 2019 as the team’s placekicker and punter, but there are others in the mix.

 HARLAN -- During the last two football seasons, Harlan Community has compiled an 18-5 record, won three playoff games and ranked among the top five Class 3A teams in total offense with a two-year total of 8,500 yards. Many of the faces who contributed to those potent offenses have moved on, including one of the best all-around football players in program history (Nick Foss) as well as the school record holder for passing yards in a single gam

PATRIOTS CHOICE CONTRACTING SPORT COMPACTSTrack Champion: Scott Brown (Council Bluffs, IA)

 STATE -- Harlan Community senior Brett Sears was named captain of the Class 3A All-State Team while teammates Luke Schaben and Connor Bruck also received all-state recognition from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association on Sunday, August 11. Sears, who will continue his baseball career at Western Illinois University, had a big weekend for awards after playing four games in the IHSBCA’s All-Star Series August 8-11.

 LA CROSSE, WI. -- Drew Bladt and his father Greg Bladt of Harlan each rode 100 miles in the JDRF Century Ride August 10 to raise awareness and money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Together, they were able to raise $12,800 with the assistance of Hy-Vee and The Lounge. The four-day event was held August 8-11 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

2019 Hawkeye Ten Conference Summer Sports All-Academic Award Winners(Senior letterwinners attaining cumulative 3.5 GPA during high school career)SOFTBALL Atlantic: Karsyn Rush, Baylee Newell; Clarinda: Bryn Morgenstern, Addison Shane, Aliyah St.

 STATE -- Harlan Community senior Morgan Schaben was one of just 45 players statewide named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association’s Academic All-State Softball Team. The daugher of Gary and Jackie Schaben, Portsmouth, Schaben was also a first-team all-state selection on the field this past season.

 CARROLL -- Harlan Community senior Brett Sears capped his prep baseball career by playing in four games as part of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association’s All-Star Series, held August 8-11 at Merchants Park. Sears played for the Small Schools West squad, which went 1-3 and placed fourth.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team will hold its annual preseason “soap” scrimmage, hosted by the Harlan Lions Club, on Thursday (Aug. 22) at Merrill Field. The freshmen team will scrimmage at 6:00 p.m., followed by the varsity scrimmage at approximately 7:30. The area’s other three prep football teams will hold public scrimmages on Friday (Aug. 23).

 HARLAN -- If 2018 was viewed as a small step, the 2019 season must be considered a giant leap for the Harlan Community softball program. Following three sub-.500 records during head coach Brooke Wilson’s first three years at the helm, including a 15-17 mark last summer, this year’s Cyclones got back on the winning track in a big way. Dominating the Hawkeye Ten Conference at times, HCHS won its first outright league title since 2013 with a spa

 HARLAN -- If all good things must come to an end, it was a heck of a ride for the Harlan Community baseball team. On the heels of eight straight trips to the state tournament, including a 3A championship in 2016 and runner-up finishes in 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018 - a run that saw them average 29 wins per year - the Cyclones had another great season in 2019 but fell one victory shy of their ultimate goal. Ranked in the top five nearly wire-to-

 PORTSMOUTH -- The National League defeated the American League 12-9 in the annual Iowa Western League All-Star Game held Wednesday, August 7. The AL All-Stars trailed 12-3 before scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it close. Both squads finished the seven-inning game with nine hits and stranded seven men on base. The Home Run Derby held before the game was won by Justin Schaben of Portsmouth.

 HARLAN (Aug. 12) -- The Harlan Community volleyball team began practicing for the 2019 season Monday morning as it looks to improve on last year’s 18-21 match record. Third-year head coach Willie Baughman expects to start the season with a roster of approximately 35 players in grades 9-12.

 AREA -- Approximately 40 cross country runners from Harlan Community and AHSTW took part in the inaugural Bruiser Cup 5K Fun Run held Friday, August 9, at Prairie Rose State Park. High school and middle school students participated in the preseason event as a kickoff to the 2019 season. Runners from both schools were divided into two teams - “Black” and “Blue” - to comprise the Bruiser Cup combatants.