MARTENSDALE (Sept. 14) -- The AHSTW football team beat Martensdale-St. Marys 65-8 last Friday night despite running just 25 plays from scrimmage. Let that sink in for a moment. Eight of those 25 offensive snaps went for touchdowns to go along with a 90-yard kickoff return TD by Drake Partridge. The 3rd-ranked (Class A) Vikings (4-0) averaged 15 yards per play and outgained the Blue Devils 378-113 in total offense.

 EXIRA (Sept. 14) -- Senior quarterback Josh Pettepier completed 24-of-31 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns last Friday night as Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton stayed unbeaten with a commanding 51-20 win over Glidden-Ralston in a matchup of unbeaten football teams. The 2nd-ranked Spartans improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in 8-Player, District 8 and currently own a one-game advantage on six teams at 1-1.

 GLENWOOD (Sept. 15) -- Harlan Community won its final two matches of the day to win the bronze pool of last Saturday’s Red Oak Volleyball Tournament, which was moved to Glenwood because of renovations at the Red Oak school. HCHS finished with a 2-4 match record on the day (4-9 in sets), with all four losses coming against teams rated in the top 10 of their class. In the first round of pool play, the Cyclones lost to No.

 HARLAN (Sept. 14) -- With 6:20 left in the first half Friday night, Harlan Community found itself in a 7-7 deadlock with Atlantic.

 CARROLL (Sept.

 HARLAN (Sept. 13) -- It wasn’t always pretty, but the Harlan Community volleyball team managed to even its Hawkeye Ten record at 2-2 here Thursday night with a three-set sweep of Atlantic, 27-25, 25-13, 25-22. HCHS (8-8 overall) survived a hard-fought opening set, then finished set two on a 15-4 surge. The Cyclones took a dominating 15-2 lead in set three before struggling down the stretch.

 AVOCA (Sept.

 CARROLL (Sept. 11) -- The Harlan Community volleyball team got swept Tuesday night, but not without challenging top-ranked (3A) Kuemper Catholic in all three sets of a 20-25, 21-25, 18-25 Hawkeye Ten defeat. Just three days after losing to the Knights 11-21, 9-21 in the South Central Calhoun Tournament, HCHS showed a lot more fight in Kuemper’s home gym. Set one was tied 19-all before the Knights scored six of the last seven points.

 STORM LAKE (Sept. 11) -- The Harlan Community girls cross country team moved up eight spots to No. 4 in this week’s 3A state rankings, then went out and backed it up with authority at Tuesday’s Storm Lake Invite. Placing all seven varsity runners between sixth and 21st, the Cyclones posted a winning score of 55 to hold off eighth-ranked Spencer (60) and No. 2 Le Mars (76) in the final team standings.

 AVOCA (Sept. 11) -- Sophomore Chloe Falkena earned a 13th-place medal and four of her teammates finished in the top half of the field here Tuesday as the AHSTW girls cross country team claimed third place in their annual home meet at the Avoca Golf and Country Club. Atlantic won the girls’ team title with a score of 28, led by individual champion Taylor McCreedy and four other Trojans in the top 10.

 HARLAN (Sept. 14) -- The Harlan Community football team will close out its non-district schedule at Merrill Field on Friday, hosting Atlantic in a 7:00 p.m. matchup between 2-1 teams. HCHS is looking to build on its No.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Sept. 8) -- Harlan Community cross country coach Doug Renkly knew that his girls squad had the potential to be pretty darn special this year. But this good, this soon?

 ROCKWELL CITY (Sept. 8) -- The Harlan Community volleyball team placed fourth out of seven teams in Saturday’s round-robin South Central Calhoun “Master Blaster” Tournament, finishing 3-3. HCHS scored decisive wins over Kingsley-Pierson, River Valley and East Sac County while losing to South Central Calhoun, 8th-ranked (2A) Ridge View (in three sets, 2-1) and top-ranked (3A) Kuemper Catholic, which won the tournament with a 6-0 mark.

 MANNING (Sept. 6) -- The IKM-Manning volleyball team opened conference play with a 3-1 loss to 11th-ranked (2A) Treynor on Thursday night as the first set proved pivotal in the final outcome. The Wolves led 22-18 in set one but were outscored 8-2 down the stretch and lost 26-24. The momentum carried over into set two which the Cardinals also took 25-14.

 CARROLL (Sept.